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TransOrbital: The Commercial Race To The Moon
apsmith writes: "Some of the companies that were preparing for a race to commercialize space and return to the moon (like Idealab's "Blastoff.com") have vanished with the stock market meltdown. But TransOrbital, a privately held company, is still plugging away, and claims to be on schedule for launch in the 4th quarter of 2001. The funding model seems to be generating lots of pretty pictures and selling them. Though for just $2500 you can also send your business card to the Moon!" Sounds like they've pushed their schedule a little bit since last mention, but considering the scope of the project, nearly any launch date would still be respectable.
Hi, first of all I'd like to say this is my first post here, I finally started an account today! Would just like to say that there is another company pursuing 'commercial' space exploration/development also. They are called SpaceDev (Space Development). They are actually publicly traded, under the symbol SPDV. I bought stock in them at under 50 cents a couple years ago, and I am planning on holding on to it. I don't put much money in the market, but I thought this particular co. was interesting. They are not as geared towards actualy missions, they are currently providing equipment, satellites, rockets, etc. to NASA and Boeing. Not alot of people have heard of SpaceDev. When they first went public, they also bragged that they would be the first commercial space-mission business, but it hasn't happened yet. I find this all very neat though, wondering if we will see Disney's Magic Kingdom on the Moon soon...!? Pretty cool... I'm all for it, why should the govt. have a monopoly on space exploration? Space is the new frontier (not to sound like a Trekkie), and as far as I know, the government hasn't claimed the moon/sun/planets as part of U.S territory just yet(correct me if I'm wrong), so maybe we will have like a Christopher Columbus for our generation, except sailing to Mars?! dah
MY GOD, PEOPLE! GET SOME BLOODY PRIORITIES!
We have them. Don't you get it? While all the religious people are back on Earth fighting and killing each other off towards extinction, all of the intelligent, thinking people of the world will have created means to leave and start a new, peacefull society without greed, hunger, poverty, or opression.
And we will have done it all with Science.
First step was a footprint.
Second step is a business card.
Third step is a Wal-Mart.
"Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"
Moderation Totals: Wrong=2, Stupid=3, Total=5.
Gadzooks, this guy's on every channel. Every story I've read has this very same inane comment (albeit with a different topic of discussion) somewhere in it. I've got my priorities and among them is moving on with my life.
Virtue finds and chooses the mean.
Aristotle, Ethica Nichomachea