X-Prize Overview: To The Edge Of Space, Cheap

_randy_64 writes "The X-Prize competition has gotten a lot of coverage on Slashdot - either because it's cool and geeky or because John Carmack is involved. The Baltimore Sun has a decent background/overview article on the contest in Sunday's edition."

Comments

Correction to Parent: Hubble Space Telescope Costs

[jstockdale]

Well although the parent is quick to point out the $200m cost of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in comparison to the $400m shuttle launch cost thats just plain incorrect.

The correct figures are as follows (taken from http://hubble.nasa.gov/faq.html + NASA STS-82 docs):

Initial Cost: $1.5 Billion
Yearly Cost: $230-250 Million
STS-82 Repair:
Parts: $387 Million
Flight: $430 Million

So if we tally the costs over the first 15 years of operation (up to say ~2000) we come to: $5.3 Billion