Wild Bill Posted December 15, 2011 Report Share Posted December 15, 2011 There's hope! This could be a giant shot in the arm! http://sync.sympatico.ca/news/contentposting.htm?newsitemid=15590525&feedname=cp-science&show=false&number=10&showbyline=true&abc=abc&pagenumber=4 "SEATTLE - The tycoons of cyberspace are looking to bankroll America's resurgence in outer space, reviving "Star Trek" dreams that first interested them in science. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen made the latest step Tuesday, unveiling plans for a new commercial spaceship that, instead of blasting off a launch pad, would be carried high into the atmosphere by the widest plane ever built before it fires its rockets. He joins Silicon Valley powerhouses Elon Musk of PayPal and Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com Inc. in a new private space race that attempts to fill the gap left when the U.S. government ended the space shuttle program." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Bill Posted December 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2011 There's hope! This could be a giant shot in the arm! Just a bump! It breaks my heart that no one seems to care! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Manny Posted December 16, 2011 Report Share Posted December 16, 2011 "People who are hungry, people who are starving, they matter more than your..." spy telescopes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Bill Posted December 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2011 "People who are hungry, people who are starving, they matter more than your..." spy telescopes Space enterprise could feed ALL the hungry and supply them all with clean energy! You would keep us in the trees, bitching that we're running out of leaves! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkman Posted December 18, 2011 Report Share Posted December 18, 2011 NASA's shoes are pretty big for some billionaires to fill, but thanks to Obama, they have the chance to run with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyeball Posted December 18, 2011 Report Share Posted December 18, 2011 Space enterprise could feed ALL the hungry and supply them all with clean energy! You would keep us in the trees, bitching that we're running out of leaves! Space enterprise on the scale your suggesting likely takes the concerted effort of an entire species leveraging most of the resources of their planet to do so. I think we might have blown our opportunity by squandering our's on creating the 1% and the effort to expand that to encompass another 5 - 10% will surely exhaust what's left. I suppose a handful of bil/tril and zillionaires might have the means to live the dream but I think they'll soon find that what's as true below is even more true above, it's one thing to reach a pinnacle on your own but to stay there requires a collective effort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Bill Posted December 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2011 (edited) Space enterprise on the scale your suggesting likely takes the concerted effort of an entire species leveraging most of the resources of their planet to do so. I think we might have blown our opportunity by squandering our's on creating the 1% and the effort to expand that to encompass another 5 - 10% will surely exhaust what's left. I suppose a handful of bil/tril and zillionaires might have the means to live the dream but I think they'll soon find that what's as true below is even more true above, it's one thing to reach a pinnacle on your own but to stay there requires a collective effort. Well, China apparently doesn't agree with you! They're on their way to having a manned Moon base! And they intend to make a lot of money at it! You have to study the issue to realize that the expensive part is just getting up there (and even that is getting cheaper!). Once you're there it's relatively cheap to do all kinds of things that will make you as rich as Croesus! Things that I never imagined until I started reading about it. One is ball bearings! Apparently, you can make ball bearings in zero g orbits that are perfectly round - better by a factor of a 'zillion' than anything we can make on earth. Perfect ball bearings can make transmissions that are FAR more efficient, among other things! Those alone could make someone a billionaire! If companies like Bonam's SpaceX lower the payload cost to the point where a reasonable number of manufacturing companies can afford it I think we will see an explosion of enterprise in earth orbit, let alone based on the Moon. It would happen almost overnight. One constant about business is no one wants to be the first at something new. It's expensive and requires opening up your mind to recognize an opportunity in an unfamiliar area. That being said, no one wants to be SECOND! Edited December 19, 2011 by Wild Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonam Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 If companies like Bonam's SpaceX Sadly, SpaceX isn't my company. I'm not Elon Musk. Other than that, much agreed with your post Launch costs per unit mass are certainly the greatest limiting factor on space enterprise and exploration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Bill Posted December 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 Sadly, SpaceX isn't my company. I'm not Elon Musk. Other than that, much agreed with your post Launch costs per unit mass are certainly the greatest limiting factor on space enterprise and exploration. Of course I know, Bonam! I was referring to SpaceX as the company you work for, or as the enterprize you champion, or as in 'my county'. Ownership as in a collective idea, not (sadly!) as millions in your pocket! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonam Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 Speaking of SpaceX, less than two months til they send their Dragon spacecraft to dock with the ISS. http://www.dailytech.com/SpaceX+to+Make+ISS+Endeavor+in+February+2012/article23491.htm Amazingly, they are months ahead of their original schedule. How often could NASA say that about a project? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Bill Posted December 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 Speaking of SpaceX, less than two months til they send their Dragon spacecraft to dock with the ISS. http://www.dailytech.com/SpaceX+to+Make+ISS+Endeavor+in+February+2012/article23491.htm Amazingly, they are months ahead of their original schedule. How often could NASA say that about a project? Won't they have to slow down and do some more "weightlessness experiments"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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