Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Space Elevator
I came across another competition that has companies working on tech for a space elevator. http://www.spaceelevatorgames.org/. This would be great. Easy access to space. Safe and quick with low cost. And not just to space but to orbit and higher. They have teams working on the elvator which they call Power Beaming at http://www.spaceward.org/elevator2010-ts. And they have teams working on the tether too. http://www.spaceelevator.com/ and http://wiki.spaceelevator.com/ are references for people interested in how they are trying to do this. The main drawback is the tether. They need a very strong and light weight material that won't destroy it's self from it's own weight. It will have to be very long, about 60,000 miles. I am not sure why, but they have their reasons. They are hoping that eventually Carbon Nanotubes will be the answer to the tether problem. Until then, it's a great idea. There are 6 teams competing on the Power Beam: http://space-elevator.mcgill.ca/, http://www.mclimber.org/, http://www.lasermotive.com/, http://www.kcspacepirates.com/, http://www.usst.ca/, and http://www.nssspaceelevator.org/. No teams have signed up for the tether competition yet. The prize is $4 million. I will be watching this race as well. It is a bit more mundane then the Space Tourism Race involving spaceships, but, it is vital. Cheap, reliable, and yes even mundane access to space is key to making access available to everyone. The last info on the competition was in 2009. I hope they have a 2010 update soon.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Virgin Galactic Takes the Lead on the New Space Race
I must say, I am fan of Virgin Galactic. In this article on SPACE.COM Richard Branson spills some of his plans for Virgin Galactic. http://www.space.com/news/spaceport-america-virgin-galactic-spaceshiptwo-101022.html.
Some very interesting things were in that article. We all know that December 17, 2010 is scheduled to be the last Space Shuttle launch. Richard Branson plans to take over for the Space Shuttle. He stated in this article that he is starting with suborbital launches, then moving up to orbital launches, then finally to contracting with NASA to bring astronauts to the space station. He is poised to make Virgin Galactic THE LEADER in the Space Commerce Industry. Contracting with NASA to be their space taxi? WOW! This is one man that plans big and knows how to execute his plans.
Space X, however, got the contract with Bigelow Aerospace to transport people to the first hotel in space in 2014. http://bigelowaerospace.com/ That is one hotel I want to stay at.
Once we get a private company that can take people to a space station things will get a whole lot more interesting. That opens up trips to the moon, which opens up the prospects of a colony there. Then the moon could be used as Earths orbit launch site. The moon is the most likely spot to build larger ships that will take people even farther.
I imagine mining in space will eventually be the big money maker. Once materials can be obtained off planet then more space stations and colonies on moons and other planets will be alot easier to build. Transporting materials off planet is very costly. Even with the privatization of space commerce it will still be cheaper to use materials that are found off planet.
We all know that private enterprise moves alot faster then the government. We could feasibly have a moon colony and a Mars colony in 20 years or less. The only thing left is to find out a way to profit from it all. Private commerce is money driven. So, when someone figures out how to make more money from space then tourism provides, we will see space commerce explode.
This is the first step to it all. There of course will be competition. That is what free enterprise is about. Opening up space starts with tourism. This leads to more research and eventually to living out of this world. I can't wait. I am watching this closely. I want to be part of this new life. The final frontier is open for business.
Some very interesting things were in that article. We all know that December 17, 2010 is scheduled to be the last Space Shuttle launch. Richard Branson plans to take over for the Space Shuttle. He stated in this article that he is starting with suborbital launches, then moving up to orbital launches, then finally to contracting with NASA to bring astronauts to the space station. He is poised to make Virgin Galactic THE LEADER in the Space Commerce Industry. Contracting with NASA to be their space taxi? WOW! This is one man that plans big and knows how to execute his plans.
Space X, however, got the contract with Bigelow Aerospace to transport people to the first hotel in space in 2014. http://bigelowaerospace.com/ That is one hotel I want to stay at.
Once we get a private company that can take people to a space station things will get a whole lot more interesting. That opens up trips to the moon, which opens up the prospects of a colony there. Then the moon could be used as Earths orbit launch site. The moon is the most likely spot to build larger ships that will take people even farther.
I imagine mining in space will eventually be the big money maker. Once materials can be obtained off planet then more space stations and colonies on moons and other planets will be alot easier to build. Transporting materials off planet is very costly. Even with the privatization of space commerce it will still be cheaper to use materials that are found off planet.
We all know that private enterprise moves alot faster then the government. We could feasibly have a moon colony and a Mars colony in 20 years or less. The only thing left is to find out a way to profit from it all. Private commerce is money driven. So, when someone figures out how to make more money from space then tourism provides, we will see space commerce explode.
This is the first step to it all. There of course will be competition. That is what free enterprise is about. Opening up space starts with tourism. This leads to more research and eventually to living out of this world. I can't wait. I am watching this closely. I want to be part of this new life. The final frontier is open for business.
Friday, November 26, 2010
The Start of a New Era in Space Travel
Ok. So, I didn't become a Rocket Scientist or Aerospace Engineer like I thought I was going to do when I was a kid. I love space and the tech behind getting us there. I watched Star Trek and all of it's offspring, Star Wars, Buck Rogers, Battle Star Glactica, and any other Space oriented Sci Fi movie or TV show I could. I read alot of Sci Fi books too. It is what I enjoy. Now, I will dream out loud, on the net, about space and getting there.
So much has happened lately that is changing the final frontier into something a lot more like Star Trek. All those Sci fi movies are in my head when I dream of space, what it's like, and how to get there. We are a long ways from that. But, I can see it in the future.
Can you believe we have companies booking trips to space? It's amazing. It's right out of my dreams. This article http://www.usatoday.com/travel/columnist/mcgee/2010-02-24-space-travel_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip takes a look at the new Space Tourism industry that started with SpaceShipOne winning the Anasari X prize in 2004. Virgin Galactic baught the contract and now has SpaceShipTwo. They have already sold $50 Million in advance tickets at $200,000 a pop. People are excited.
Now there are several companies shooting for the stars. Here are a few: http://www.xcor.com/, http://www.spacex.com/F9-001.php, http://www.blueorigin.com/letter.htm, http://www.armadilloaerospace.com/n.x/Armadillo/Home, http://masten-space.com/, http://www.upaerospace.us.com/, http://www.virgingalactic.com/, http://www.spaceadventures.com/. Boeing is getting involved and selling seats too now: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2010-09-16-boeing-spaceship_N.htm.
Wikipedia has a more complete list here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_private_spaceflight_companies.
There is a private company making space stations too: http://bigelowaerospace.com/. There is even a Government agency to control them all now! lol http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/.
We even have our own Federation: http://www.commercialspaceflight.org/.
Spaceports are being built in several locations too. One in New Mexico is called Spaceport America: http://www.spaceportamerica.com/.
The future is here and now. It's a great time to get involved. The Space tourism industry is building momentum and will soon launch. Several companies are rumored to start creating astronauts as early as 2011. I am waiting anxiously. There are some big name companies getting involved too, like Boeing and Lockheed Martin. This lends credibility and money to this venue. This is the expanding of human horizons and moving us out into the solar system and eventually further. New technologies develop when there is a need and a demand for them. And so, I think we will see a lot of next levels tech being developed. This will stimulate growth in alot of fields as humans start to expierence the rigours of space travel with a much larger cross section of society. I can't wait to see what happens next!
So much has happened lately that is changing the final frontier into something a lot more like Star Trek. All those Sci fi movies are in my head when I dream of space, what it's like, and how to get there. We are a long ways from that. But, I can see it in the future.
Can you believe we have companies booking trips to space? It's amazing. It's right out of my dreams. This article http://www.usatoday.com/travel/columnist/mcgee/2010-02-24-space-travel_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip takes a look at the new Space Tourism industry that started with SpaceShipOne winning the Anasari X prize in 2004. Virgin Galactic baught the contract and now has SpaceShipTwo. They have already sold $50 Million in advance tickets at $200,000 a pop. People are excited.
Now there are several companies shooting for the stars. Here are a few: http://www.xcor.com/, http://www.spacex.com/F9-001.php, http://www.blueorigin.com/letter.htm, http://www.armadilloaerospace.com/n.x/Armadillo/Home, http://masten-space.com/, http://www.upaerospace.us.com/, http://www.virgingalactic.com/, http://www.spaceadventures.com/. Boeing is getting involved and selling seats too now: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2010-09-16-boeing-spaceship_N.htm.
Wikipedia has a more complete list here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_private_spaceflight_companies.
There is a private company making space stations too: http://bigelowaerospace.com/. There is even a Government agency to control them all now! lol http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/.
We even have our own Federation: http://www.commercialspaceflight.org/.
Spaceports are being built in several locations too. One in New Mexico is called Spaceport America: http://www.spaceportamerica.com/.
The future is here and now. It's a great time to get involved. The Space tourism industry is building momentum and will soon launch. Several companies are rumored to start creating astronauts as early as 2011. I am waiting anxiously. There are some big name companies getting involved too, like Boeing and Lockheed Martin. This lends credibility and money to this venue. This is the expanding of human horizons and moving us out into the solar system and eventually further. New technologies develop when there is a need and a demand for them. And so, I think we will see a lot of next levels tech being developed. This will stimulate growth in alot of fields as humans start to expierence the rigours of space travel with a much larger cross section of society. I can't wait to see what happens next!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)