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Private Space Firm XCOR May Establish HQ In Midland, Texas
MarkWhittington writes "A deal is in the works to establish a corporate headquarters in Midland, Texas for XCOR, a commercial space company that is developing a suborbital space tourism vehicle, the Lynx. The deal will likely also involve certifying Midland International Air Port as a space port so that the Lynx can operate there. XCOR is characterizing the move as an expansion as it still intends to maintain operations at the Mojave Spaceport in California."
Putting a spaceport in Midland, Texas is not so unreasonable. It is not very different, in terms of infrastructure, from any Rust Belt town. It has the added advantage of being both in the middle of nowhere and in a state where the business will be given a fairly free hand. More importantly, it is relatively close to Houston (and I say that in the sense of close that only a Texan could use).
Sub-orbital does not mean 'beneath space'. Hell, you could fly higher than the Moon on a 'sub-orbital' trajectory. The term 'sub-orbital' indicates you aren't in a closed orbit—at some point, you'll fall back to Earth.
How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
I don't know what kind of space you're talking about, but the one being used for the purpose of these craft is above 60 miles altitude... figure the service ceiling for a 747 is what, 41,000 ft, 8 miles, uh, you're about 50 miles shy of space, but who am I to split hairs.
Friend, I'm betting some ignorant clod standing at the dock in Spain in the 17th century, said "There goes that Columbus whack-o-doodle, sailing off the edge of the world, I hope a great big fat sea monster swallows him whole." He redefined what was possible for being human.
The future is up there. Because what's down here is extinction. Not tomorrow, or the day after, but someday, perhaps soon. Because big, nasty events happen here. 'We have mega-volcanoes, tectonic hoohah, and tsunamis that can wipe out entire coastlines. We have Extinction Level Events, and bio hazards, and wars and technological snafus galore. Have you not been reading the news? The west is on fire, and the east is melting. More records were broken in last month than ever before in history, and the weather people are now saying that the duration and strength of the current heat wave places it in a completely new category, redefining what is even possible for a heat wave. So its time for us to at once begin cleaning up our messes, but also be aware of the mortality of our species and make arrangements to get off this little rock, because we've begun to wear out or welcome. Or perhaps you'd prefer a 99.9% die-off and going back to an agrarian society (minus oil, coal and the means to leave if things got ugly.)
That was the estimated final price, and they stopped short of that, at 2 billion.
I question everything. Because the world is a dynamic place, and you invariably get different answers today, than yesterday, so you missed that one. A 20 minute ride in a tin can to see the curve of the world the way Alan Shepard first saw it in 1960 (and as I recall that effort took more than a couple tax dollars), well that would be pretty awesome (and who am I to tell a person with $20,000 to burn how to burn it.) Anyway, that money goes to developing a technology that can get people into space for a "Reasonable Price", and I'm personally waiting for the Hilton hotel that does figure eights between earth and the moon.
If you told those folks in Spain about what would be available in the new world in a couple hundred years back in 1692, they'd pee themselves laughing or have you taken for a nice spin down in the dungeon with Torquemada to get those demon out. The fact that you have neither vision, nor the interest to discover what is possible for humanity doesn't grant that you should turn a cynical eye at those that do. A wiser person than I once said "The meek shall inherit the earth, the rest of us shall receive the stars."
As far as workers, if I were an aerospace engineer I would be more interested in working on cool stuff like this with long term civilian potential than the fact that it is in the middle of nowhere. This is an exciting time to be a young person, more exciting than 20 years ago when the Space Shuttle was in the heyday.
I know what clear lake was like before JSC. I can only imagine what backwater the area around KSC was like. Los Alamos was only a boys school before the the national lab was installed. There is nothing to limit what we are going to be doing with commercial space travel except our imagination.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
WTH are you talking about? Texas has no state income tax, but does have a corporate "franchise tax" ( in essence, an income tax). The majority of government function is paid by property taxes, both individual and business. Businesses come here because we are business-friendly and the people know how to work for a living (no to cast aspersions elsewhere). The State recognizes that without business, people don't work, and people who don't work can't pay taxes or buy food.
There are essentially 3 trajectories a rocket can take: 1) Sub-orbital, item will return to earth 2) Orbital, item will orbit the earth 3) Escape, item will leave the earth's gravitational hold While I get what point you're trying to make, you confuse your own point by stating "you could fly higher than the Moon on a 'sub-orbital' trajectory" because by definition in order to get to the moon the item must use an escape trajectory.
The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.