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Domain: transorbital.net

Stories and comments across the archive that link to transorbital.net.

Comments · 33

  1. Re:Don't start planning that vacation just yet by DJRumpy · · Score: 1 · on Richest Planetary System Discovered With 7 Planets

    I missed this one. They are also looking at real designs for Antimatter Drives:

    http://www.transorbital.net/Library/D001_S01.html

  2. Re:matter from light? by Valtor · · Score: 1 · on Lasers Approach Their Ultimate Intensity Limit

    That's interesting.

    http://www.transorbital.net/Library/D001_S01.html

  3. Re:Psuedoscience by QuantumG · · Score: 1 · on Warp Engines In Development?

    when antiprotons annihilate with protons, the annihilation process does NOT produce gamma rays immediately. Instead, the products of the annihilation are from three to seven particles called pions. On the average there are three charged pions and two neutral pions. The neutral pions have a very short lifetime and almost immediately convert into two high energy gamma rays. The charged pions have a normal half-life or 28 ns. Because they are moving at 94% of the speed of light, however, their lives are lengthened to 70 ns. Thus, they travel an average of 21 m before they decay. These charged pions contain 60% of the annihilation energy.

  4. TransOrbital to Image the Lunokhod Landing Sites by wthompson · · Score: 2, Interesting · on Russian Rovers on the Moon

    TransOrbital, Inc. has plans to image the landing sites of both the Apollo and Lunokhod programs during their TrailBlazer mission. A description of the mission is available here. There is also some info on the Lunokhod rovers available here.

  5. TransOrbital to Image the Lunokhod Landing Sites by wthompson · · Score: 2, Interesting · on Russian Rovers on the Moon

    TransOrbital, Inc. has plans to image the landing sites of both the Apollo and Lunokhod programs during their TrailBlazer mission. A description of the mission is available here. There is also some info on the Lunokhod rovers available here.

  6. Re:Next Step by Strange+Ranger · · Score: 1 · on The Case for the Moon

    > ...an immense energy resource, just waiting to be tapped

    > There are tons of resoures that can be tapped on the moon, helium-3, for instance

    Ok, so senate hearings, increased interest, that's all good stuff. But if the above is true, those are commercial reasons to go the moon. We really need our government to fix this:

    Transorbital(R) is the only private company to be authorized by the US State Department and NOAA for commercial flights to the Moon.

    What are the barriers to becoming "authorized"?

  7. commercial deep space exploration by tri44id · · Score: 1 · on Bad Testing Doomed NASA's Hypersonic X-43A
    The X-Prize isn't the only commercial space venture in town. Commercial injection of unmanned satellites into low or geosynchronous earth orbit is a thriving business. TransOrbital appears to be on track for a commercial lunar landing.

    The so-called "scientific research" that is advertised as the reason for maintaining the space station is really a smokescreen for the true reason. "I want to go to Mars! Personally, not as a telepresence in a robot! Or at least send my children or grandchildren there." But no politician can justify this goal in a global environment with jihadists who intend to use our own technology to drive us back to the 11th century.

    The X-prize is the next to the last step in getting NASA out of the routine LEO human transport business. The last steps will be the commercial human-to-orbit prize and the transformation of the FAA into the FASA, where it will regulate both atmospheric and space transportation. Then NASA will have no more excuses to hide the true reasons for maintaining the ISS, which are to solve the problem of long-duration human support for the two to four-year Mars journey. Everyone will be better off.

  8. Actually, a US company (not NASA) is too by apsmith · · Score: 2, Informative · on Europe Heads for the Moon in July

    Why is it these great stories about the Moon appear in the middle of the night when I'm sleeping! Oh well...

    TransOrbital's lunar mission has actually been featured here on
    slashdot a few times but nobody seems to remember private space ventures when public projects come up. Sigh...

    Anyway, if you'll peruse those links to past /. articles you'll see that they had a long delay due to regulatory issues, but finally got the approvals they need around the middle of last year, and actually launched a test vehicle last December. The schedule is to do it for real later this year... so it should happen! Along with Smart-1.

  9. Take the long view. by FTL · · Score: 2 · on Should NASA Try To Refute Crackpots?
    My personal opinion would be to take the long-term view. Let the conspiracy nuts dig themselves deeper and deeper at your expense. Then in a few years the evidence will start rolling in.

    You've got TransOrbital's TrailBlazer mission which will take photos of the landing sites. Followed a few years later by TransOrbital's Electra II which will drive rovers up to the landing sites. And within 15 years we'll have Chinese astronauts on the Moon (they say by 2010, but personally I think that's about 5 years too optimistic).

    None of these things will convince the conspiracy nuts. Nothing would. But that's not the point. The point is to discredit them in the eyes of the public.

  10. Take the long view. by FTL · · Score: 2 · on Should NASA Try To Refute Crackpots?
    My personal opinion would be to take the long-term view. Let the conspiracy nuts dig themselves deeper and deeper at your expense. Then in a few years the evidence will start rolling in.

    You've got TransOrbital's TrailBlazer mission which will take photos of the landing sites. Followed a few years later by TransOrbital's Electra II which will drive rovers up to the landing sites. And within 15 years we'll have Chinese astronauts on the Moon (they say by 2010, but personally I think that's about 5 years too optimistic).

    None of these things will convince the conspiracy nuts. Nothing would. But that's not the point. The point is to discredit them in the eyes of the public.

  11. 2003 should see at least a robotic return by apsmith · · Score: 5, Informative · on 30 Years Since Last Man on the Moon

    Surprisingly, since Apollo 17 left 30 years ago there were not only no further manned missions, but also almost no further robotic missions. The Moon became a "been there done that" world, when in fact there are still a huge number of mysteries about it.

    Apollo could only scratch the surface: they had to be very careful about safe landing spots which favored the relatively rare Mare regions, they couldn't dig more than a couple of meters into the surface, they didn't go anywhere near the poles or the far side, which have quite different terrain and likely mineral deposits, etc. Despite some evidence of volcanic activity only Apollo 14 landed in one of the regions of volcanic interest, and the crew there were the least geologically educated of the lot so the samples taken were not terribly useful. etc. etc.

    We have more high-resolution pictures of Mars than we do of the Moon - the only really high-res shots (1 meter or better) were from the Apollo command modules as they circled, and those cover just narrow strips of the Moon's surface.

    Missions since Apollo amounted to a handful of Russian Luna missions through 1974, then a long gap, a Japanese experimental flight (HITEN) in the 1980's, and Clementine and Lunar Prospector in the 1990's. Clementine was run by the Dept. of Defense, not NASA, and Lunar Prospector was Alan Binder's baby at Lockheed Martin, done on the cheap for $60 million. That's basically the total NASA spending on the Moon since Apollo - less than 2% of the cost of the Mars missions that have failed!

    NASA's negelect of the Moon seems to be continuing, but scheduled for next year we have at least 1 government (ESA's SMART-1) and 1 private (TransOrbital's TrailBlazer
    ) mission on track. The Japanese space agency also plans a Lunar-A mission that may launch next year. So things are starting to look up!

    And for those interested in a exploration and development of the Moon, why not join the Moon Society!

  12. Bulk to start with, plenty to follow on by apsmith · · Score: 2 · on How the West Wasn't Won

    First of all, just having any quantity of mass outside of Earth's gravity well is a huge plus - mass is absolutely essential for radiation shielding for one, and as reaction mass for rocketry (there are several relatively high-ISP rocket fuels that could be made out of lunar materials, and almost anything would work for nuclear or ion/plasma drives). The biggest component of the lunar surface is oxygen, which has a number of uses... second is silicon. And of course for any sort of significant construction effort you need structural materials in bulk.

    At first a lot of things will have to be brought up from earth, and there will certainly be human or robotic (tele-operated?) work to actually make the habitats/instruments/spacecraft needed. In the long run what the moon is low on (as far as Apollo measurements could tell) are the volatile elements: hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, sodium, etc. These may possibly be available in sufficient quantities elsewhere - measurements by Clementine and Lunar Prospector in the last 10 years gave pretty strong evidence for hydrogen (presumably in water ice) at the poles. If not the poles, needs for hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen may have to be met from near-earth comets or asteroids in the long run; in the short run from earth - at least these elements tend to be light!

    The space between Earth and Moon has, of course, essentially none of those physical elements, which is why the article (rather overdone) made the analog of space a "desert". It really does make sense to try to get to the other side of Earth's gravity well and get something moving over there.

    TransOrbital, which has appeared on /. a few times, is part of a private effort to make the commercial potential of the Moon a reality - they have a test launch coming up December 20th. The Moon Society, where I am currently on the board of directors, is devoted to research and development of the Moon, and recently endorsed the Space Settlement Initiative, one possible way to make all this really happen, and soon.

    There's plenty of ways for any of you to get involved - all of these efforts and the cheap launch side of things can all use as much support as possible...

  13. But it doesn't mention the most likely company by vik · · Score: 3, Informative · on Worldwide Focus On Going To The Moon

    Funny how the article doesn't even mention the only company to yet have actually got permission from the US Government to launch to the moon, TransOrbital Inc.

    Vik :v)

  14. Re:Commercial uses ? by mr_teem · · Score: 3, Interesting · on First Commercial Moon Mission Approved

    So Transorbital has gotten permission (whyever) for sending up a single probe that will a) take detailed pictures, b) drop a "time capsule" on the moon and c) collect lots of telemetry useful to space scientists. The first probably has a market--a detailed lunar atlas would be pretty neat and the other pictures would sell. The second pays for the trip itself but doesn't produce anything of value so it's just a sink for my disposable income. :-) And the third I'm assuming exists but there probably isn't much reason to talk about it--it isn't sexy enough.

    Future plans involve dropping navigation beacons? Okay--so they've got a map and beacons. They could sell those to anyone who wants the information. They have a few other one-way craft planned, too.

    But commercial uses have to make money. The first commercial use would have to be mining. But that only works if it is cheaper to shove equipment up the gravity well and catch it on the way down than digging somewhere on Earth. Anything else is way too expensive today. Maybe that's changing and Transorbital is betting that it is.

  15. PERSONAL MEMENTOS TO THE MOON by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on First Commercial Moon Mission Approved

    ObNoSh -

    From TransOrbital Online Catalog: The spacecraft will also carry personal relics, mementoes, or treasures to the moon. TransOrbital will approve, on a case by case basis, the transportation of ANY INERT OBJECT to the moon. These items may be any relic such as valentines, love letters, rings, objects with metaphysical characteristics, anything and everything personal that cannot harm the spacecraft. The rate to transport relics to the moon is $2500 per gram. Note: due to the velocity at which the 2001 TrailBlazerTM spacecraft will impact at the end of the mission, as well as the unknown nature of the lunar surface at the point of impact, no guarantee can be made as to the state of the payload following its arrival on the surface.

  16. Re:Mission Trailblazer ? by ncc74656 · · Score: 2 · on First Commercial Moon Mission Approved
    What does Telebit think of this name?

    There's no trademark infringement if the products or services involved are in unrelated fields. That's how you can end up with a modem, a truck, and a spacecraft that have the same name.

  17. Decent links page, though. by nucal · · Score: 2 · on First Commercial Moon Mission Approved
    They do have a decent astronomy links page, including an amusing Bad Astronomy site.

    At least it wasn't an X-10 pop-up ....

  18. Re:Why does this company have to get US permission by Captain+Pooh · · Score: 1 · on First Commercial Moon Mission Approved

    If you read the Press Release the reason TransOribital says, is beacause they must satisfy a number of design requirments and directives which took them 2 years to complete.

  19. Lack of communication in the space biz by apsmith · · Score: 5, Informative · on Back to the Moon?
    It always amazes me how limited the picture most people seem to have, even in the media, of the huge variety of space-related efforts that are going on. If it isn't on NASA's list (even if NASA people are involved in it) or occasionally on a European or Japanese list, it's as if it doesn't exist. Here's a short list of lunar missions and projects currently in development, private and public: Many of these have received approval - some of the commercial missions seem to have had a bit of trouble finding funding or overcoming regulations and have announced delays of a year or so, but then the government missions have been delayed too.

    What's missing on this list? Where's NASA you say? Interestingly NASA has spent over 50 times as much on Mars missions as on missions to the Moon since Apollo 17 left in Dec 1972. But that may change now that the NRC has put a lunar return among the highest priority missions.

    Want to be involved? Check out the National Space Society and the Moon Society and you may help make some of these things happen!
  20. Lack of communication in the space biz by apsmith · · Score: 5, Informative · on Back to the Moon?
    It always amazes me how limited the picture most people seem to have, even in the media, of the huge variety of space-related efforts that are going on. If it isn't on NASA's list (even if NASA people are involved in it) or occasionally on a European or Japanese list, it's as if it doesn't exist. Here's a short list of lunar missions and projects currently in development, private and public: Many of these have received approval - some of the commercial missions seem to have had a bit of trouble finding funding or overcoming regulations and have announced delays of a year or so, but then the government missions have been delayed too.

    What's missing on this list? Where's NASA you say? Interestingly NASA has spent over 50 times as much on Mars missions as on missions to the Moon since Apollo 17 left in Dec 1972. But that may change now that the NRC has put a lunar return among the highest priority missions.

    Want to be involved? Check out the National Space Society and the Moon Society and you may help make some of these things happen!
  21. Re:another possibility by Fweeky · · Score: 3 · on Drake on Drake: ET Life A Certainty
    The ships would decelerate at their destination by releasing a second sail that would reflect the light from the home laser back to the ship
    What?!

    It launches a second sail ahead of itself, the laser hits that and it reflects the light back; the second sail gets pushed away and lost, but if you can focus it you can keep it pointed at the main craft and slow it down.

    I'd draw a bit of ASCII art, but SlashDot is too lame to let me use spaces. Instead, look at something like this paper, describing a roundtrip lightsail.

  22. Re:The only problem is... by apsmith · · Score: 2 · on Putting An Observatory On The Moon's 'Dark' Side

    While it's true we don't have anything that can lift what the Saturn-V could lift now, that's mainly because there's been no market for such massive launches in the last few decades. This proposal could open that market, but even without such heavy lifters the mission is quite doable. The way you do it is in-orbit assembly of the mission from smaller components - the Shuttle can lift about 1/4 of a Saturn-V, and Boeing's Delta-IV can lift a similar amount; there are several active proposals for a lunar return using a total of 4-5 launches to get the components and crew up there, and involving the construction of re-usable components - a lunar transfer vehicle for example which would act like the Apollo command module in a way, except never actually return to Earth but keep shuttling back and forth. And of course a permanent lunar base that could be developed and built upon heading toward long-term habitation.

    Most of the costs in the Shuttle are sunk costs anyway, so the more missions that can be done with the Shuttle, the marginal costs per mission are actually not that big. That's not the way NASA and government accountants like to allocate costs though, which is part of NASA's problems with ISS... (and the recent directive to cut back even further in annual launches - while still paying the salaries of all those mission and support people...)

    Anyway, before we do anything again with people we'll likely have a number of robotic lunar missions first. In fact a private one is coming up soon, and you can help it out and send along a personal memento (words or image) for just $20-30 or so: TransOrbital's TrailBlazer mission.

  23. Not a launch license by kingdon · · Score: 1 · on TransOrbital: The Commercial Race To The Moon

    They don't need a US launch license, which you get from the space people at the FAA. They are going to be on a multiple payload launch of a Russian Dnepr rocket. This means that if they aren't ready in time, they have to duke it out with the other missions which are going on that rocket.

  24. Don't even have the licenses to launch. by A+Commentor · · Score: 4, Informative · on TransOrbital: The Commercial Race To The Moon

    From there May 31, 01 press release. There where just getting applications ready to submit inorder to get approval for launch... None of the other press releases state that they have received approval, or that they have even submitted the applications...

    I think they are much further off than 4th Quarter of 2001...

  25. Blimps contravein missle treaties! by vik · · Score: 2 · on Space Blimps

    I have discovered through my work with TransOrbital Inc. on our lunar orbiter due for launch in December that putting an inflatable up is an administrative nightmare. You see, they get classed as deployabe, untethered ICBM decoys due to some short-sighted treaty wording. Daft, eh?

    Vik :v)

  26. Re:Planet Geek - BTDT by vik · · Score: 1 · on Constructing A Geek House

    I joined the Artemis Society http://www.asi.org to do that, but it's taking a wee while to happen. It's got as far as booking a launch on a converted SS18 ICBM for a satellite (TB2001) that should prove I'm serious enough.

    Once the world wakes up (and the TransOrbital lunar satellite should provide some impetus for that), I'm sure interplanetary travel will eventually be practical for the individual. I'm fairly confident that will happen within my lifetime.

    Meanwhiles, back at the ranch, we'd like to build the ranch. "Geek Compound" as we call it, is envisaged to be built in a relatively isolated community centred around a high-speed data pipe and a self-contained pizza bakery in a warmish part of New Zealand. Other geeky features of this little village include a hydroponic greenhouse (trial system on my web page), use of renewable power sources and impressive perimeter monitoring systems. Good fences make good neighbours.

    'Cos I'm married to this wonderful geek lady called Suz, it'll have to be done on a couples basis. Cats welcome, and dogs too as long as they aren't too stringy.

    Vik :v)

  27. EBay auctioning TransOrbital deivery service by vik · · Score: 1 · on A For-Profit Trip To The Moon

    TransOrbital, Inc. (http://www.transorbital.net) offers service to put a business card on the Moon at auction on ebay. Details below.

    Link to Auction:

    Let the trading begin--your item is listed!

    http://cgi.ebay.co m/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=333215424

    Title of item: Your Business Card Sent to the Moon in 2001
    Minimum bid: $500.00
    Reserve price (if any): $0.00
    Quantity: 1
    Auction Ends on: Thursday, May 25, 2000 at 09:57:43 PDT

    Questions answered:

    Gregory Nemitz
    VP, TransOrbital, Inc.
    USA 619-528-0520
    gnemitz@transorbital.net

  28. Rocket Doesn't add up by monta · · Score: 1 · on A For-Profit Trip To The Moon

    The spec's say they have a 100 lbs force rocket accellerating a 440 lb rocket. Am I missing something here? They need something more like 2200 lbs force engine. -Monta

  29. Re:trash by rebbie · · Score: 2 · on A For-Profit Trip To The Moon
    While I agree with your point about fscking up the solar system, tbe cards are to be mounted inside the spacecraft and not just sccattered on the lunar surface.

    As far as the other advertising goes, didn't you hear about the Pizza Hut rocket that -- I think -- Russia launched a year or so ago? They sold ad space on the side of the thing. What's wrong with that?

    Somehow an ad on the side of a private rocket sounds a LOT better to me than "3COM Park" "Nokia Sugar Bowl" or "Continental Airlines Arena."

  30. Interplanetary Litterbugs? by *igor* · · Score: 1 · on A For-Profit Trip To The Moon
    'twould seem, from their products that their ongoing mission is to explore strange new worlds and leave your business card there.

    I do hope we come up with a better business model before we have a rather annoying cleanup job...

  31. Read the small print by vik · · Score: 5 · on Extraterrestrial Real Estate for Sale

    Uh, guys, isn't this a novelty item?

    Nobody owns the moon. Ownership is prohibited by a few treaties. Details of the legal aspects of owning the moon can be found off the Artemis Society homepage, specifically in the Frequently Raised Objections section.

    As an aside, TransOrbital Inc. is going to be taking pictures of the moon using a telescope in lunar orbit, so people will be able to have a picture of "their" plot if they choose.

    Vik :v)

  32. Re:Other commercial lunar development efforts by pblase · · Score: 1 · on Plan for Privately-Funded Moon Base

    >I'm really wondering what the point of TransOrbital is. Isn't there enough photography of the moon for current purposes? The point of TransOrbital is to build inexpensive spacecraft, and to provide tools and resources for other people who want to do missions outside of Low-Earth-Orbit. As for lunar photography, there are never enough photos, isn't that Kodak's basic theme? For the TrailBlazer mission, we're planning on taking lunar surface imagery at a resolution not previously available, and high-res video of other targets of opportunity. Paul Blase Chief Technical Officer TransOrbital, Inc.

  33. Other commercial lunar development efforts by jfoust · · Score: 2 · on Plan for Privately-Funded Moon Base

    Artemis is not the only effort devoted to going to the Moon and making money, although their plan is arguably the boldest. Some other companies with lunar projects:

    • LunaCorp has been working for several years on developing rovers to traverse the lunar surface, which could be controlled on Earth (by paying customers, of course). Originally they were planning a long journey across the Moon, visiting several Apollo and other landing sites, but their focus is now on a mission to the lunar poles to look for water ice believed to exist there. (LunaCorp's server appears to be offline at the present time, unfortunately.)
    • Applied Space Resources (ASR) is working on a spacecraft mission to go to the Moon and return several kilograms of rock and soil samples to be sold on the open market. They believe they can accomplish their initial mission for a cost on the order of NASA's Lunar Prospector mission ($60-70 million).
    • TransOrbital, which seems at least loosely affiliated with Artemis, is planning a spacecraft mission to go into lunar orbit and return high-resolution images and video to be sold.

    These and some other commercial lunar projects were discussed at the first Commercial Lunar Base Symposium in Houston in July. This article has some more details about the conference. Those in the Los Angeles area might want to check out the Space Frontier Conference, Sept. 23-26, where commercial lunar efforts will be one of the topics.