How many launches has Boeing performed? All of the shuttle, and deltas come quickly to mind. I would say that it is quite a few launches.
Now, you are correct about Boeing being expensive, but, I think that you will find SpaceX is going to be ecstatic with this amount of money. That is more true considering that SpaceX has a fully functioning, human rated, and soon, tested rocket with the F9. Likewise, they have a fully functional and soon tested capsule. Then, they have a fully functional and tested engine ( super dracos). What remains is for them to add the dracos into the capsule, modify the capsule to support LIDs, then do multiple launch tests. I would not be surprised to see that dragonrider is undergoing test launches by end of next year or early 2014. Keep in mind that they will be doing FH at the same time, so, final tests might be mid 2014.
We now have the top runners earning this. These companies make the most sense. These were certainly the ones that I was hoping for, but I think that most wanted/expected this. With this approach, it gives us 3 human launchers.
Now, the real issue is that the neo-cons oppose this. They have put all sorts of pressure on NASA to NOT do this. They wanted cst-100 from Boeing to get 1, Liberty (atk/europe/boeing) to get 1, and then ULA/L-Mart to get.5. Basically, they wanted to cut out ANY of the new space. No doubt we will be hearing cries from the house that his was not suppose to have happened and that they will attempt to punish NASA in many ways on this one.
Now, what is IMPORTANT is to back Bigelow and get their closet added to the ISS in the next year or two. That will allow them to put up their private space stations quickly. In addition, private space, esp. SpaceX, needs to get human launch in 2014. By doing that, it will enable us to run 7 at the ISS, and will allow BA to finally get ready for their private space station. Finally, SpaceX's FH really needs to fly. Once it does, then BA will have no issues with putting up their BA-330 cheaply, but could also put up a much larger station built just for the FH.
So much growth possibilities and yet, I am betting that before the end of this year, the neo-cons will be attacking NASA hard core for not doing their will and sending all the jobs to their districts.
Small islands? U have never been to these islands. Even Oahu, which is the main island, is 5x the size of Denver area, with 1/3 of the population. And on the other islands, the population density is equal to the lowest densities of the lower 48. let me put it in another prospective. The big island is a little bit smaller than Connecticut but has less than 200K ppl. Likewise, if you take maui and oahu, they are just under the size of rhode island, yet, they hold 90% of the population at over a million ppl.
In addition, the islands are looking to cross-connect with a transmission line.
Actually, they are installing solar and wind as well as wave on the islands. Likewise, there is actually plenty of places even on oahu to put solar and wind to power the population. In addition, they are talking about installing a transmission between the islands. But the AE that I was thinking of, is geo-thermal from Hawai'i. Finally, it makes loads of sense to have electric cars on all of the islands since most are well within the range of even the leaf. For this state, it actually makes good sense to have tax breaks for American made electric cars (or at least from nations that are not dumping and manipulating their money).
It is amazing that the USA is NOT investing more into getting Hawaii moved onto AE for energy and tesla is not pushing their car there.
The reason why is because right now, nearly ALL of Hawaii's energy is from oil.
Tesla could jump the production line to an easy 30K or even 40K for the model S and would still sell 100% of those cars on Hawaii.
Oddly, Hawaii is setting up free electrical charging posts.
And the moon unless the neo-cons continue to try to kill off private space. Even now, the republicans have cut a deal with NASA to fund 2.5 bids. However, the neo-cons are now attempting to tell NASA WHO will win those: ATK's Liberty will get 1, Boeing will get 1, and L-Mart will get.5. IOW, the neo-cons are attempting to cut out ALL of the new space, including SpaceX.
And yet, my friends in new delhi could not use the internet. OTOH, my in-laws in Chennai and some coders that I know in Hyderabad (via verizon) said that the net was quick and fast. However, they could not connect to ppl in new delhi either, though they could via cell.
[sarcasm]But hey, I am sure that you know everything that there is to know about India. And I am sure that my relatives and friends are liars and that BSNL really had their stuff together, even though BSNL is WELL known for being a bunch of screw-ups.
Why do you think this will fail? Just because they have tested ALL of it, but not the full thing? Well, I hate to tell you this, but that is how ALL missions occur.
Actually, nuke power plants DO dump their waste into the air. We call them coal plants. After all, more uranium and thorium is dumped from them, then real nuke power plants.
Sad. We have the technology to solve so many issues, but fear gets in the way.
Not really. We actually had our design and work was started on Space Station Freedom under Poppa Bush. In fact, the first unit for freedom can be seen in Denver. It was to start being put up in 1994 and would have been finished by 1998. It was to cost about 12-25B to America. In addition, we had multiple rocket systems started back then. In particular the core technology that went into SpaceX's engine. Also, NASA came up with the precursor to COTs and sent it to CONgress to be approved. Sadly, the neo-cons killed many NASA's rocket initiaves in 1994, and told NASA to not back private space.
BTW, it was Clinton that killed Freedom to work with Russia (wanted to keep their aerospace industry going to keep them from going to Iraq, Iran, etc). In addition, we brought Europe on board so that all gained experience in space.
If we had Freedom, then there is little doubt that we would have had a replacement launch system by now. The reason is that with the money saved, we would have used a few billion to produce several different Launch systems by now.
Agreed. It is long past time that nations like America quit outsourcing everything, esp. when costs are higher in nations like Germany and France.
More importantly, it is time for America and other western nations to block access to their markets from nations that put up trade barriers, esp. illegal ones. Page 10 and 11 of this is a good read on the issues.
The biggest one for America is that China requires that all computers and support be located within their border. As such, it is illegal per the agreement with USA and WTO.
BTW, it was not America that started protectionism. It was Europe. From 1500's through mid 1800's, Europe was colonizing all over the world. But, once there, they would pull resources back to europe and make things with them. However, others were prevented from doing any real manufacturing. The American Colonies were absolutely prohibited from manufacturing ANYTHING of value. If we were caught by the king's soldiers, they executed the person. In addition, in Europe, everybody who wanted to immigrate out, had to get permission. If they had ANY trade skills, they were prevented from doing so. Likewise, every business would bring in journeymen, train them, and have contracts that prohibited them from leaving.
America DID have protectionism around late 1800's onwards, until we started pushing FTAs. Sadly, we have done those wrong. We SHOULD have required that all nations come up to at least American environmental and labor levels, if not up to Canadian levels (which are much better than America).
When America did this, it did not agree treaties or belong to a WTO. China has treaties with us that says that they will not do these things. In addition, they have their agreements with WTO that says that they will not do these things. At this time, America would be wise to slowly raise barriers against China and just say no to them as long as they remain in a cold war.
poppycock. First off, there is no league of nations. Long gone. It is the United Nations.
Secondly, China is constantly dumping on foreign markets and constantly being found guilty of such. Likewise, it is know that they are manipulating their money which goes against the 2000 accords, as well as against IMF and WTO. Then they jumped from 90 trade barriers to over 400.
No, we are not planning that. Do not be foolish. The issue is that we have 2 ppl out of 6 up there, and we are covering 2/3 of the costs. Likewise, we actually covered much of the initial build-out (again, something like 2/3 of it). That is just plain foolish. So, what is going on, is that we are trying to get the partners to start paying their fair share. That is only fair.
But there is little doubt that we will continue the ISS probably until 2025. Or we will turn it over to our allies.
China has kept their interest and intentions hidden. As such, it is difficult to know what is going on. While I prefer to have peace with them, it is obvious that the communist party is in a cold war with the west.
As it is, I would rather continue working with our current allies on the ISS and getting into space with private space. Our allies want to go to the moon with USA. I say that it makes sense. However, we need to have them picking up more of the tab for what is going on. It is stupid that we have paid 10's of billions to Russia and EU EACH to do work that we could have and more importantly, should have done cheaper.
Not entirely. My guess is that NASA is handing out money for studies to keep this going before getting to the real money. If they can prolong this, when SpaceX comes out with a successful FH, then NASA heads can make the argument that SLS is a waste of money and kill it. I would not be surprised to see SpaceX announce right after the FH success about the Merlin-2 that they are developing.
And yet, I will trust NASA to get me to the highest speeds, furthest distance, and least amount of maintenance or least bugs, LONG before I trust Renault, Mercedes or Ferrari.
Actually, there was one interesting statement that was made prior to C2-C3 launch. Basically, they said that they have temporarily set aside other work to focus on that launch, and that included their hydrogen engine AND Merlin 2. So, there is some work continuing on these, but to what degree is unknown. It could be 1-4 ppl total working on both engines. It could be more.
But seeing how Musk operates, he used to talk openly (basically selling them) about everything, but then changed to only talking about items that are quite close to production. For example, in Tesla, they are working on Blue Star (sub 30K cars), and yet, they keep it quiet. Instead, they speak about model S and X, which are White Star cars that they just delivered the S, and will deliver the X next year.
Slashdot Mirror
How many launches has Boeing performed? All of the shuttle, and deltas come quickly to mind. I would say that it is quite a few launches.
Now, you are correct about Boeing being expensive, but, I think that you will find SpaceX is going to be ecstatic with this amount of money. That is more true considering that SpaceX has a fully functioning, human rated, and soon, tested rocket with the F9. Likewise, they have a fully functional and soon tested capsule. Then, they have a fully functional and tested engine ( super dracos). What remains is for them to add the dracos into the capsule, modify the capsule to support LIDs, then do multiple launch tests. I would not be surprised to see that dragonrider is undergoing test launches by end of next year or early 2014. Keep in mind that they will be doing FH at the same time, so, final tests might be mid 2014.
We now have the top runners earning this. These companies make the most sense. These were certainly the ones that I was hoping for, but I think that most wanted/expected this. With this approach, it gives us 3 human launchers.
.5. Basically, they wanted to cut out ANY of the new space. No doubt we will be hearing cries from the house that his was not suppose to have happened and that they will attempt to punish NASA in many ways on this one.
Now, the real issue is that the neo-cons oppose this. They have put all sorts of pressure on NASA to NOT do this. They wanted cst-100 from Boeing to get 1, Liberty (atk/europe/boeing) to get 1, and then ULA/L-Mart to get
Now, what is IMPORTANT is to back Bigelow and get their closet added to the ISS in the next year or two. That will allow them to put up their private space stations quickly. In addition, private space, esp. SpaceX, needs to get human launch in 2014. By doing that, it will enable us to run 7 at the ISS, and will allow BA to finally get ready for their private space station. Finally, SpaceX's FH really needs to fly. Once it does, then BA will have no issues with putting up their BA-330 cheaply, but could also put up a much larger station built just for the FH.
So much growth possibilities and yet, I am betting that before the end of this year, the neo-cons will be attacking NASA hard core for not doing their will and sending all the jobs to their districts.
Small islands? U have never been to these islands. Even Oahu, which is the main island, is 5x the size of Denver area, with 1/3 of the population. And on the other islands, the population density is equal to the lowest densities of the lower 48. let me put it in another prospective. The big island is a little bit smaller than Connecticut but has less than 200K ppl. Likewise, if you take maui and oahu, they are just under the size of rhode island, yet, they hold 90% of the population at over a million ppl.
In addition, the islands are looking to cross-connect with a transmission line.
They ARE investing. Just slowly. I would rather see it sped up.
Actually, they are installing solar and wind as well as wave on the islands. Likewise, there is actually plenty of places even on oahu to put solar and wind to power the population. In addition, they are talking about installing a transmission between the islands. But the AE that I was thinking of, is geo-thermal from Hawai'i. Finally, it makes loads of sense to have electric cars on all of the islands since most are well within the range of even the leaf. For this state, it actually makes good sense to have tax breaks for American made electric cars (or at least from nations that are not dumping and manipulating their money).
The price of living on Hawaii is NOT for the average citizen. Living there is like living in San Fran or even Vail. Lots of money floats around there.
It is amazing that the USA is NOT investing more into getting Hawaii moved onto AE for energy and tesla is not pushing their car there.
The reason why is because right now, nearly ALL of Hawaii's energy is from oil.
Tesla could jump the production line to an easy 30K or even 40K for the model S and would still sell 100% of those cars on Hawaii.
Oddly, Hawaii is setting up free electrical charging posts.
And the moon unless the neo-cons continue to try to kill off private space. Even now, the republicans have cut a deal with NASA to fund 2.5 bids. However, the neo-cons are now attempting to tell NASA WHO will win those: ATK's Liberty will get 1, Boeing will get 1, and L-Mart will get .5. IOW, the neo-cons are attempting to cut out ALL of the new space, including SpaceX.
And yet, my friends in new delhi could not use the internet. OTOH, my in-laws in Chennai and some coders that I know in Hyderabad (via verizon) said that the net was quick and fast. However, they could not connect to ppl in new delhi either, though they could via cell.
[sarcasm]But hey, I am sure that you know everything that there is to know about India. And I am sure that my relatives and friends are liars and that BSNL really had their stuff together, even though BSNL is WELL known for being a bunch of screw-ups.
I mean you guarantee it. Right?[/sarcasm]
Why do you think this will fail? Just because they have tested ALL of it, but not the full thing? Well, I hate to tell you this, but that is how ALL missions occur.
Why would ANYBODY want an idiot like Shatner to narrate this. Next, that idiot will start his 'singing'.
Does not help if your lines are down.
Actually, nuke power plants DO dump their waste into the air. We call them coal plants. After all, more uranium and thorium is dumped from them, then real nuke power plants.
Sad. We have the technology to solve so many issues, but fear gets in the way.
Not really. We actually had our design and work was started on Space Station Freedom under Poppa Bush. In fact, the first unit for freedom can be seen in Denver. It was to start being put up in 1994 and would have been finished by 1998. It was to cost about 12-25B to America.
In addition, we had multiple rocket systems started back then. In particular the core technology that went into SpaceX's engine. Also, NASA came up with the precursor to COTs and sent it to CONgress to be approved. Sadly, the neo-cons killed many NASA's rocket initiaves in 1994, and told NASA to not back private space.
BTW, it was Clinton that killed Freedom to work with Russia (wanted to keep their aerospace industry going to keep them from going to Iraq, Iran, etc). In addition, we brought Europe on board so that all gained experience in space.
If we had Freedom, then there is little doubt that we would have had a replacement launch system by now. The reason is that with the money saved, we would have used a few billion to produce several different Launch systems by now.
Agreed. It is long past time that nations like America quit outsourcing everything, esp. when costs are higher in nations like Germany and France.
More importantly, it is time for America and other western nations to block access to their markets from nations that put up trade barriers, esp. illegal ones.
Page 10 and 11 of this is a good read on the issues.
The biggest one for America is that China requires that all computers and support be located within their border. As such, it is illegal per the agreement with USA and WTO.
BTW, it was not America that started protectionism. It was Europe. From 1500's through mid 1800's, Europe was colonizing all over the world. But, once there, they would pull resources back to europe and make things with them. However, others were prevented from doing any real manufacturing. The American Colonies were absolutely prohibited from manufacturing ANYTHING of value. If we were caught by the king's soldiers, they executed the person. In addition, in Europe, everybody who wanted to immigrate out, had to get permission. If they had ANY trade skills, they were prevented from doing so. Likewise, every business would bring in journeymen, train them, and have contracts that prohibited them from leaving.
America DID have protectionism around late 1800's onwards, until we started pushing FTAs. Sadly, we have done those wrong. We SHOULD have required that all nations come up to at least American environmental and labor levels, if not up to Canadian levels (which are much better than America).
When America did this, it did not agree treaties or belong to a WTO. China has treaties with us that says that they will not do these things. In addition, they have their agreements with WTO that says that they will not do these things. At this time, America would be wise to slowly raise barriers against China and just say no to them as long as they remain in a cold war.
Yup, it worked well for USSR.
poppycock. First off, there is no league of nations. Long gone. It is the United Nations.
Secondly, China is constantly dumping on foreign markets and constantly being found guilty of such. Likewise, it is know that they are manipulating their money which goes against the 2000 accords, as well as against IMF and WTO. Then they jumped from 90 trade barriers to over 400.
Fair? Not even close. Here, go look for yourself.
No, we are not planning that. Do not be foolish. The issue is that we have 2 ppl out of 6 up there, and we are covering 2/3 of the costs. Likewise, we actually covered much of the initial build-out (again, something like 2/3 of it). That is just plain foolish. So, what is going on, is that we are trying to get the partners to start paying their fair share. That is only fair.
But there is little doubt that we will continue the ISS probably until 2025. Or we will turn it over to our allies.
China has kept their interest and intentions hidden. As such, it is difficult to know what is going on. While I prefer to have peace with them, it is obvious that the communist party is in a cold war with the west.
As it is, I would rather continue working with our current allies on the ISS and getting into space with private space. Our allies want to go to the moon with USA. I say that it makes sense. However, we need to have them picking up more of the tab for what is going on. It is stupid that we have paid 10's of billions to Russia and EU EACH to do work that we could have and more importantly, should have done cheaper.
So will fox, Pravda, National Enquiror, and Xinhua. And they do it all without facts.
Personally, I will trust snopes long before trusting some of the BS around the world.
Not entirely. My guess is that NASA is handing out money for studies to keep this going before getting to the real money. If they can prolong this, when SpaceX comes out with a successful FH, then NASA heads can make the argument that SLS is a waste of money and kill it. I would not be surprised to see SpaceX announce right after the FH success about the Merlin-2 that they are developing.
And yet, I will trust NASA to get me to the highest speeds, furthest distance, and least amount of maintenance or least bugs, LONG before I trust Renault, Mercedes or Ferrari.
Actually, there was one interesting statement that was made prior to C2-C3 launch. Basically, they said that they have temporarily set aside other work to focus on that launch, and that included their hydrogen engine AND Merlin 2. So, there is some work continuing on these, but to what degree is unknown. It could be 1-4 ppl total working on both engines. It could be more.
But seeing how Musk operates, he used to talk openly (basically selling them) about everything, but then changed to only talking about items that are quite close to production. For example, in Tesla, they are working on Blue Star (sub 30K cars), and yet, they keep it quiet. Instead, they speak about model S and X, which are White Star cars that they just delivered the S, and will deliver the X next year.