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First-Ever Private Spaceport Nears Final Approval
bobhagopian writes "According to the article on Space.com, the Federal Aviation Administration is nearing the final stages of certifying the Mojave Airport as the first-ever private spaceport. Both Scaled Composites and XCOR Aerospace (the two leading competitors in the X-Prize competition) currently fly out of Mojave Airport. The approval of a commercial spaceport will certainly facilitate the creation of even more private-sector space technologies."
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There will finally be a place for *visitors* to land
and visit!
That they'll change all the signs to the Mojave Airport to the Mojave Spaceport? That would be really cool and I bet those signs 'll disappear every week or so:)
is mojave a proper locale for a wretched hive of scum and villainy?
Great... now rappers won't be content with having their own armada of Escalades... the only question is: How does one attach 24s to a shuttle?
-- n
But when the aliens land there, how will Homeland Security be able to verify the required government issued ID?
Probably not a real issue; once aliens sample what passes for food in an Earth airport, err, I mean SPACEport the word will travel quickly and they will all stop coming.
"The bigger the lie, the more they believe." - Det. Bunk
...are the actual space ships. I'm definitely looking forward to many of the X-Prize contenders, but so far they're only building simple rockets to go up and down. It's a great in-between stage, but I'm looking forward to the day when orbital rockets will be built.
The one caveat to that is that a manned orbital rocket would probably be launched from the ocean rather than land. The reason for that is that water makes a plentiful rocket fuel. Tote along a reactor (nuclear is preferable, but diesel will do), convert sea water to LHOx, and launch your rocket. (This was the premise behind the Sea Dragon craft.) While a nuclear generator would probably be out of the range of a private company, using a diesel and/or solar reactor to make the fuel could cut the costs of the launch considerably.
Oh, and it's environmentally friendly.
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No, but it's commercial so he will have to find some way to pay. Maybe he can bring along some three-breasted aliens like the one from Total Recall...
The Mojave Airport is a really cool place... you drive by it and there's nothing but random planes, everything from jetliners to fighter jets. They're mostly an aircraft storage yard. Picture of their storage yard Link to their main site
Was there any real reason for non-explorers to visit North America back in the 1400-1500s?
I mean, aside from the wow-factor of, "I've been to the New World!", there wasn't really a reason for the average civilian to go. It's not like they're going to visit relatives or anything.
Space is big. Space is dark. Now we have a place to park
Think of it as a sign of confidence and commitment. It means even the government is beginning to realize that the private sector has a better chance of making space exploration a going concern. Sort of an approving nod. Official recognition is usually a good thing. With all the red tape involved, making the efort main stream is absolutely necessary. This is a start.
Tourists will do all kinds of things. Favorite activities will be looking out of the window, all kinds of strange zero gravity sports, and of course zero-gravity sex.
And who says that civilians can not do science in space? There is a lot of science that has not yet been done by NASA, so you can expect many of the initial customers to be from universities and private research labs.
Private property is the central institution of a free society (David Friedman)
I don't think civilians will go to space merely for the wow factor. I mean, space tourism will have a small niche, but I don't see it getting big just yet. However, getting civilian companies into the business of launching satellites, hiring private astronauts, and other such things seems (to me, anyway) the future of the business. We need to stop relying on NASA and the Europeans to launch our satellites. We all know that governments are ridiculously bad at spending more than need be. Civilians companies are much, much better at it (though not perfect). And that's the whole idea, right? To lower the cost of getting into space? NASA and government-backed space agencies don't have the same impetus to lower costs and raise productivity.
What is your penile percentile?
What about the Green River Intergalactic Spaceport in Wyoming?
That's a good location:
- Just over 1/2 mile up.
- Latitude 38 (not ideal but still good)
- Handy highways.
- Town and roads to the West, lots of nice empty desert to ditch in to the east (which is the direction you're headed if you want the earth's help getting to orbit).
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The reason there was a mass influx unto the New World is because there was money in it. And that is the same way you'll see an influx into space from the private sector : once there is money in it. And yes, I know 15 quadrrillion dollars worth of minerals on each asteroid, the moon is a giant lump of He-3, and we can beam down solar energy from microwave stations.
Make the harvesting of asteroids feasible and profitable. Find a present-day use for He-3, and then find a way to collect it that is feasible and profitable. Make the microwave-beaming-thing feasible and profitable, too. Then you will see people enter space.
There is a reason for everything. Sometimes that reason just sucks.
It remains to be seen whether Mojave will in fact get approved. Either way, Southwest Regional Spaceport near Las Cruces NM had already been announced by Ansari/X-Prize, as the spaceport site chosen for at least an annual X-Prize event, and expecting the X-Prize contenders who (win or lose) continue on and offer services to the public. Plus, according to the articles which may or may not be accurate, Mojave is being considered for horizontal launched craft. SRS is not being restricted to horizontal launch. My money says SRS will become a regular gathering place for the next step in rocketry, those growing out of amateur/hobbyist rocketry ($100 gets you a model that goes Mach 1 and a mile up) and those following hot on the jets of Ky "Rocketman" Michaelson and CSXT's recent first private rocket into space.
"I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid." -- Bishop 341-B
What a great idea, people would never take something for free when they can just buy it someplace else!
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
So...what are the civilians going to DO in space?
Good question. I'll let you know in 20 years.
50 years ago, you might well have asked why someone would want a computer in their home. I doubt anyone could have given you a particularly good answer to that one at the time. So, I think the answer is that we don't know. Hopefully something fantastic. Of course, it also quite possible that the whole thing becomes a huge waste white elephant.
Err, there's already one out there in Oklahoma, called, funnily enough;
SpacePort, Oklahoma.
Google it up, there's alot of good info about it, and makes a pretty good site too. Just enough out the way.
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... a mission to Mars could be bit pricy for a car owner.
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Both Scaled Composites and XCOR Aerospace (the two leading competitors in the X-Prize competition) currently fly out of Mojave Airport.
Scaled Composites is taking part in the X-Prize competition, but XCOR is not. They are developing their products to break into a market of suborbital payloads and microsatellites, as well as the passenger market (they are currently under contract with Space Adventures to provide the space travel experience to "adventure travelers" for $98,000 when the technology is ready). You can read more about their goals on their website.
The X-Prize website hosts a list of the teams competing for the X-Prize.
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Those of us in northern California have also been known to refer to it as "Los Angeles".