Slashdot Mirror
X-Prize Cup Site Chosen: New Mexico
savuporo writes "MSNBC reports: "The X Prize Foundation and the New Mexico Office of Space Commercialization are joining forces to stage the multifaceted X Prize Cup, a two-week-long event that allows for privately financed, passenger-carrying space vehicles to compete for prizes.' The first Cup is expected to be held summer, 2006, while 2005 will probably see a 'Public Spaceflight Exposition.'"
full video available through this link
ogrish.com has a poor quality edited down version, but the one above is a full five minutes of head cutting goodness!
I wonder how many UFO chasers will come out of the woodwork when some metal falls from the sky.
Steal This Sig
Hmmm... I think I would rather stay home in my parent's basement and work on the patches to the latest awesome Linsux text editor that I'm working on. Someday I will create a sourceforge project!
3rd tier US private industry is catching up to the Chinese government!
So, where would the best place to hitchhike be, after all, I do need to get back home to my home planet one of these days...
I am guessing that I will have to do a bit more than flash the driver (as if I was female anyway) to get a ride, arrgghhh. Maybe they follow the unspoken rules of the road (watch Dogma)!
Like arts? Like cheesy little Indie mags? Check out www.artwerkmag.com, and don't laugh at the bad coding please.
Whoa, let's make sure we use the name, "Ansari X-Prize" Hell, if I'd paid my way into that name, I'd be damned annoyed if my name wasn't mentioned!
at raising the competition's profile, in a positive way.
And going up with the Russians doesn't count.
You'd hope they would host this in the United States instead of a foreign country!
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
New Mexico seems like a perfect place for it. The odds of it hitting anything of value are pretty slim. Definately better odds than not getting hit by a falling bullet from some cholo shooting his gun in the air on New Year's...
my sig's at the bottom of the page.
Ha.. I read that as "Public Spaceflight *Explosion*". Probably not a word you would want to use in that context ;)
First you get the lucky destinction of having Trinity getting Hot first in the sands of New Mexico only to be followed by this Rocket Launch!
I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours. -- Hunter S. Thompson
They should merge this with the various human-powered vehicile competitions held on desert flats and roads from Nevada to New Mexico. I for one want to see a human-powered space vehicle.
Um, ok. and they'll all stand nearby while high powered rockets, designed and built by just about anybody, take off and land... mmmmm that sounds safe.
I hope the viewing area is as far away as during shuttle launches.
Seriously, should we be considering something like this yet? with passengers and spectators?
09F91102 no, 455FE104 nope, F190A1E8 uh-uh, 7A5F8A09 that's not it, C87294CE no. Ah! 452F6E403CDF10714E41DFAA257D313F.
Whoa, slow down there, maestro. There's a *New* Mexico?
Makes sense, considering that Goddard was launching sophisticated liquid-fueled rockets outside of Roswell prior to World War 2, and of course, White Sands Missile Range is also in New Mexico. Also, New Mexico is (imho) the most beautiful state in the United States, but also one of the poorest. It needs a boost like this.
--
SKYKING, SKYKING, DO NOT ANSWER
washingtonpost.com
American Beheaded on Web Video
Militants Say Killing Was Revenge for U.S. Abuses at Iraqi Prison
By Sewell Chan and Ariana Eunjung Cha
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, May 12, 2004; Page A01
BAGHDAD, May 11 -- A 26-year-old Pennsylvania businessman missing in Iraq since early April was shown being decapitated by five masked Islamic militants in a fuzzy video posted on the Internet on Tuesday. The militants claimed in the video that the grisly killing was in revenge for the abuses suffered by Iraqis at the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.
In the video, Nicholas Berg, of West Chester, Pa., outside Philadelphia, was shown sitting on the floor in an orange jumpsuit, with his black-clad captors standing behind him. After reading a statement saying they sought to avenge the suffering of Iraqi prisoners at the hands of U.S. soldiers, the men decapitated him.
Berg's death is apparently the first act of vengeance for the widely broadcast images of Iraqi detainees being abused and sexually humiliated at Abu Ghraib late last year. The scandal has prompted outrage internationally, and particularly in the Arab world.
The grisly slaying, reminiscent of the killing of American journalist Daniel Pearl in Pakistan in early 2002, is likely to send new waves of fear among the thousands of foreign contractors and entrepreneurs who have been lured to Iraq by the promise of financial opportunity and a chance to rebuild its war-ravaged infrastructure. Dozens of foreigners have been kidnapped over the past month, but nearly all were released.
U.S. officials said they could not verify the authenticity of the video. The U.S. consular officer in Baghdad, Paul Boyd, told Berg's family in a phone call Monday that he had been decapitated and that his body was found on a highway overpass outside Baghdad over the weekend, Berg's mother said.
The undated video, posted on the Web site of Muntada al-Ansar, an organization with ties to the al Qaeda terrorist network, attributed the crime to Abu Musab Zarqawi, a Jordanian accused of organizing attacks against occupation forces in Iraq. Zarqawi has been sought by U.S. authorities since last year in connection with the killing of an American diplomat in Jordan.
A message, "Abu Musab al-Zarqawi slaughtering an American," flashed across the video in Arabic. The video did not make clear whether Zarqawi was one of the masked men or had only ordered the killing.
Berg was in restraints but appeared calm. "My name is Nick Berg, my father's name is Michael, my mother's name is Suzanne," the man says on the video. "I have a brother and sister, David and Sarah."
One of the men read a statement in Arabic, saying that they had offered to exchange Berg for several detainees at Abu Ghraib but that U.S. authorities had refused.
"So we tell you that the dignity of the Muslim men and women in Abu Ghraib and others is not redeemed except by blood and souls," the man says. "You will not receive anything from us but coffins after coffins . . . slaughtered in this way."
The men then put a large knife to Berg's neck as he screamed, according to news service descriptions of the end of the video. They shouted "Allahu akbar," or "God is greatest," before decapitating him and holding his head up to the camera.
Suzanne Berg said in a telephone interview Tuesday afternoon that she had not viewed the video. "I don't know if I want to see it," she said. "It's just so awful."
Nicholas Berg came to Iraq hoping to win a contract to help rebuild communications antennas destroyed during last year's invasion. Several other entrepreneurs have been killed recently, hampering the American-led effort to revive Iraq's sluggish economy and war-battered infrastructure. A Danish businessman was found dead last month, and two Finns were shot to death during a business trip in March.
Gunmen attacked a convoy of American contractors in western Iraq on Tuesday. Wendy Hall, a spokeswoma
And Santa Fe kinda looks like Mos Eisley as you are driving into it in your Land Speeder. Perfect place for a space port. :)
planet texture maps and more
Do they mail that to the United States? Sounds interesting.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
I'm not sure how the "Exposition" and "Cup" events relate to the actual X-Prize, but I was under the impression that the X-Prize would be won before 2005.
Scaled Composites seems to be doing quite well and I was expecting a good college try from them sometime this summer or fall. Would these events be a post-prize scenario, or is 2005/2006 a more realistice time-frame for the first sub-orbital flight?
True believers seek redemption from the sin of death.
This past January the Aviation Technology Group announced they'd base the manufacturing plant for their Javelin (think $5M F18) here as well.
Now the Xprize? Cool. We'll take it!
"Pepsi presents Ansari X-Prize"?
Any bets on how long it will take for this information to be added to the Ansari X Prize Wikipedia node?
The article listed the following prize categories:
1. Fastest turn-around time
2. Maximum number of passengers carried in one flight
3. Total number of passengers carried during the entire X Prize Cup event
4. Maximum altitude attained
5. Fastest flight time from take-off to landing
Overall I think this is an excellent idea, but some of the prize categories seem to be... interesting choices. Take for example number 2, "Maximum number of passengers carried in one flight." I instantly have a mental image of dozens of people being packed like sardines into a spacecraft, and the horrible tragedy and PR fiasco which would occur if something went wrong. Having a category like that really doesn't seem like a hot idea.
There's also number 5, "Fastest flight time from take-off to landing." Is this really that interesting a problem? I can't see any connection to potential commercial applications. It seems like it would be more a measure of how much acceleration the human occupants could tolerate than anything else.
The wretched hive of scum and villany would be Albuquerque, not Santa Fe. The scum are priced out of SF.
Ever wonder, 'what the hell am I doing?'
While building an X-Prize class of vehicle is an impressive achievement, it's a long, long way from putting somebody into orbit and retrieving them again. You require a hell of a lot more thrust to put somebody into orbit, the heat shielding requirements for the way down are much tougher, and you've got to be able to maintain life support for at least several hours rather than a few minutes.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo
--Andy Finkel (J. Klass?)
I myself am a space enthusiast. Personally, I have no problem with the private sector wanting in on space flight, and in fact, I think it would be good for the troubled American economy. The only thing is these companies have no practical experience with putting humans into space, and they seem to be jumping in head first rather than 'testing the waters' so to speak. Remember, NASA has had more than 40 years experience putting humans into space, and they by no means just dove right in. I don't know fully about the tests being conducted with these spacecraft, but from what I can gather these companies are in over their heads. They are attempting to start their 'space business' by putting 20 or 30 people in space at a time, when they should really start out slow for safety's sake. What's going to happen if these companies rush to put massive numbers of people in space, forgetting about safety and we have another Challenger or Columbia, but this time with civilians, and more of them? The industry really needs to slow down, or else we are in for a terrible tragedy.
Sorry for interrupting the festivities, but I think we have a problem.
Should private space craft become widely available, it would be theoretically possible to deliver (at the very least) a kinetic energy bomb to any point on the earth, at many times the speed of sound, using nothing more sophisticated than box cutters.
How to fix?
At last! I can ram a rocket up my mother-in-law's butt and put her into orbit AND win a prize! The bonus - She'll burn up on re-entry (evil grin).
Free Firefox news reader.
To the Governor of New Mexico:
Dear Sir or Madam,
Congratulations! New Mexico has been determined to be sufficiently desolate and barren enough that the possibility of launchpad explosions and space debris raining from the sky pose little or no threat to the general population of your great state. Therefore, we are pleased to annouce that we are awarding the X-Prize Competition Site to New Mexico. We also looked at a small, uninhabited atoll in the Pacific Ocean but we found that it would be cost-prohibitive to provide portable toilets at that location on such short notice.
Yours,
The X-Prize Competition Site Selection Committee
The Orteig Prize awarded $25 000 to the sole man who flew non-stop on a single-engine aircraft 3635 miles from New York to Paris within a matter of hours (33.5 hours).
It's interesting how the model for this prize has evolved from modest air planes to surrealistic, yet impressively feasible spaceships.
how the hell did this get modded as insightful
I knew I should have taken that left turn at Albuquerque ...
are sad. It was a joke.
Can everybody in the US please get over the need to relate everything in the entire world to terrorism?
There was one attack, 2.5 years ago. It was a horrible thing, but if someone wants to do something like it again there are uncountable ways that are easier than getting their hands on an as-yet-nonexistent private orbital craft and a weapon capable of surviving re-entry.
"...always new atoms but always doing the same dance, remembering what the dance was yesterday." -Richard Feynman
Tahya al-moqawama al-Iraqiyah!
His post was a joke (and i thought it was funny).. but the article wasnt written as a joke.
If the ship comes down and bounces back up to orbit, does that count as two trips?
What about the longest sustained flight?
I'm guessing that the events are aimed at promoting safe transportation of people and cargo but there is not specific mention of the amount of time that a craft will be 'airborn' for. Even mach 3 on a sub-orbital flight will take a few hours to make it coast to coast. During this time the craft might launch to the proper altitude and then glide the rest of the way. The amount of time spent in powered flight affects height and speed and therefore the distance travelled.
What if the organisers had an event where competitors have to lift a pre-determined mass to a minimum altitude and keep above there for as long as possible?
They've already started?
http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/New_Index/f light_data/flt_data.htm
"Weapons should be hardy rather than decorative" - Miyamoto Musashi
I think that goes for OS's too
To 7ou by Penisbird practical Purposes,
On top of that I live in Florida. The cape is really a turn-key operation and isn't setup to easily handle new payloads and rockets. Florida also doesn't have any large barren areas, it's either trees or swamps.
I don't think anything but White Sands was ever really an option, although playing that Florida might be an option might be a good bargaining chip to ratchet up the price that NM pays.
I wonder if I can schedule my next launch to coincide with this.
Wait... now there's a New Mexico?
blog & fiction: jd87
I am surprised that the FAA or NTSB do not stop this, or is there some loophole in the law which puts it out of their jurisdiction?
perfect spot for a nest.
"The first Cup is expected to be held summer, 2006, while 2005 will probably see a 'Public Spaceflight Explosion'."
For a moment there I thought they were making a comment about their confidence in the contestants...
Baby steps buddy. Otherwise you end up killing people and losing lots of money on trial and error.
"What's going to happen if these companies rush to put massive numbers of people in space, forgetting about safety and we have another Challenger or Columbia, but this time with civilians, and more of them?"
:->
No problem. That's what the LAWYERS are for.
Sorry, but people DO have the right to take risks with their own personal lives and property. This country //USA// was founded on that principle.
I do not subscribe to the liberal mantra that idividuals are not capable of accomplishing anything.
I also do not see how their risk affects you. You cannot be a victim just because you want to.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
Should private space craft become widely available, it would be theoretically possible to deliver (at the very least) a kinetic energy bomb to any point on the earth, at many times the speed of sound, using nothing more sophisticated than box cutters.
How to fix?
Easy. Outlaw all boxcutters, manufacture huge, expensive machines to detect box cutters, and take away the constitutional rights of anyone known to own or have access to box cutters. I suggest starting the investigations with school teachers. They always seem to have access to sharp pointy things, and, with the grades American students are getting, they clearly are focusing on other things than their jobs.
Or you could just wake up and realize that terrorism deaths were barely a blip in the annual death toll, barely outranking the flu for that year. Still shitty, but not worth removing the rights of some significant portion of a quarter billion people.
Sure I'm paranoid, but am I paranoid enough?
god is great!
The Ansari X-Prize can be claimed only once, and only until the end of 2004.
The X-Prize Cup is a planned regular event - in essence an air show and competition for the suborbital space vehicles being developed in response to the X-Prize.
Be faithful to your obsessions. Identify them and be faithful to them, let them guide you like a sleepwalker. JG Ballard