DARPA Requests Plans for "Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures"

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) — which has been known to fund the development of sci-fi-sounding ideas like flying aircraft carriers or massive streetlights on the Moon — is now seeking public input on its plans to construct massive "bio-mechanical space structures." As spotted by Gizmodo, the agency filed a Request for Information this week for the eyebrow-raising concept. And while we're still not 100 percent sure exactly what they're going after, it sounds rad as hell. According to a description of the request, DARPA is looking into the "feasibility" of creating "useful space structures" over 1,600 feet in length that could "disrupt the current state-of-the-art and position biology as a complimentary component of the in-space assembly infrastructure." Possibilities, according to the document, include "tethers for a space elevator, grid-nets for orbital debris remediation, kilometer-scale interferometers for radio science, new self-assembled wings of a comme ... Read full article.