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Cheap Launch Ends In The Drink

Posted by Hemos on from the if-at-first-you-don't-succed dept.

Baldrson writes: "Wired reports that the only scheduled rocket launch for the CATS Prize has failed. Since the CATS Prize has a deadline of November 8, the enormous hard work and enthusiasm that has gone into this competition will meet with a lot of disappointment. This is unfortunate, because in my original prize announcement, I specifically requested that many individuals put up small amounts of money for their own awards so that there would be no single point of failure. The bright side of all this is that others are now taking that meta-challenge seriously. See, for example the Stark Draper Open Source Rocketry Award."

1 of 41 comments (clear)

  1. Space is hard by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4
    Space is hard. I wanted to go for the CATS prize too, but the price of entering space is still too high... by my estimates, it would take atleast $15,000 to achieve the CATS primary objective.

    It's a stark contrast that the ISS launch occurred in the wee hours of the morning, to the amateur spirit of rocketry. You might find they are strongly related. The first rocketry program - the V1 and later the V2, by the Germans, witnessed an incredible failure rate. NASA too has lost many, many professionally built and engineered rockets. This is a field where failure happens alot in the early stages, and is still not uncommon even in well-established programs.

    I don't see this as a set-back. The fact that the CATS program managed to inspire people send something into orbit and to learn more about physics and the world is still a remarkable achievement. In America we still cling to a rather backwards convention that winning is everything... but in science the reverse is true - new discoveries are frequently ushered in with the words "That's odd", instead of "Eurika!" (I got it!).

    Best of luck to all who undertake the endeavor to reach space. ~ A well-known, but for now anonymous, slashdotter.