comcn writes "The BBC have an article about an amateur "rocketeer" trying to send himself into space. After the £7m prize was announced for the first non-commercial person to get into space, it seems there are now several people aiming to win it. Cool."
Is this guy serious?
by
Shade,+The
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
It's one thing to launch an 11m rocket some 5000ft, it's quite another to build a functioning spacecraft!
At the very minimum it would have to carry a ton of payload; most probably quite a bit more. To get an idea of the kinds of equipment involved, this link on the Delta II provides a good overview of the kind of sheer power and equipment needed to put even a relatively small 5 ton payload into space.
Even the new X-34 being developed by NASA for cheaper space-flight still estimates a $500'000 cost per launch, and that's not even including the construction costs!
That an amateur could attempt this at all is ridiculous, let alone be the first non-governmental outfit to achieve this. You have to wonder what's going on in this guy's head.
To win you need to fly up 100000m. This rocket flew 5000m and the recovery system failed. That 95% remaining height is a big deal and the recovery from that height is going to be a real b*tch. It is not just a matter of putting more fuel in the rocket and stratospheric parachuting is not like the usual parachute descent.
This looks like a fund raising media event more than proof of anything that will win the prize within a year. Still, this is cool.
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Give me LIBERTY, or give me a check.
John's the man
by
Docrates
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
The BBC and CNN do it again. They oversimplify matters so that they sound like better news than they actually are, in order to satisfy their increasing market of people whose IQ is slightly lower than their shoes size. At least this article didn't twist the facts like the BBC has beeng doing during the last few months (I still can't figure out why, and the whistle has been blown broadly).
I'm pretty sure this guy is running low on cash so he hurried up this test in order to get some media attention that would help him get some more funds. It doesn't really matter really, since I already know who's goign to win. That will be Armadillo Aerospace
They had a crash a few months ago and have recovered very well. their plans are the opposite from what most of the other contestant's are doing. They're working on a design that revolves around the ability to seat people on it, instead of trying to get higher than anyone and then picking up the parts. Actually, now that I think of it, I don't even think they're doing this for the prize, which makes them even better candidates.
Of course, now I am also oversimplifying things, but at least I don't make money doing it, so I encourage you to go to John Carmak's site and check out the logs. Maybe someone here can help out with those Windows ME features he's been having problems with (check out the last few log entries)
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There are two kinds of people in the world: Those with good memory.
Slashdot Mirror
It's one thing to launch an 11m rocket some 5000ft, it's quite another to build a functioning spacecraft!
At the very minimum it would have to carry a ton of payload; most probably quite a bit more. To get an idea of the kinds of equipment involved, this link on the Delta II provides a good overview of the kind of sheer power and equipment needed to put even a relatively small 5 ton payload into space.
Even the new X-34 being developed by NASA for cheaper space-flight still estimates a $500'000 cost per launch, and that's not even including the construction costs!
That an amateur could attempt this at all is ridiculous, let alone be the first non-governmental outfit to achieve this. You have to wonder what's going on in this guy's head.
To win you need to fly up 100000m. This rocket flew 5000m and the recovery system failed. That 95% remaining height is a big deal and the recovery from that height is going to be a real b*tch. It is not just a matter of putting more fuel in the rocket and stratospheric parachuting is not like the usual parachute descent.
This looks like a fund raising media event more than proof of anything that will win the prize within a year. Still, this is cool.
--- -- - -
Give me LIBERTY, or give me a check.
The BBC and CNN do it again. They oversimplify matters so that they sound like better news than they actually are, in order to satisfy their increasing market of people whose IQ is slightly lower than their shoes size. At least this article didn't twist the facts like the BBC has beeng doing during the last few months (I still can't figure out why, and the whistle has been blown broadly).
I'm pretty sure this guy is running low on cash so he hurried up this test in order to get some media attention that would help him get some more funds. It doesn't really matter really, since I already know who's goign to win. That will be Armadillo Aerospace
They had a crash a few months ago and have recovered very well. their plans are the opposite from what most of the other contestant's are doing. They're working on a design that revolves around the ability to seat people on it, instead of trying to get higher than anyone and then picking up the parts. Actually, now that I think of it, I don't even think they're doing this for the prize, which makes them even better candidates.
Of course, now I am also oversimplifying things, but at least I don't make money doing it, so I encourage you to go to John Carmak's site and check out the logs. Maybe someone here can help out with those Windows ME features he's been having problems with (check out the last few log entries)
There are two kinds of people in the world: Those with good memory.