the research done in the past is also available to NASA. Using this research, NASA WOULD have to spend 10 to 20 times what Scaled Composites spent. And that's IF NASA ever goes back to manned space flight...... as another poster pointed out, NASA of today is/already has pissed all over the NASA of the past (which is the NASA from which the research you refer to came). The NASA of today is a bloated politcal money-sink run by a visionless accountant.
who's dismissing these contributions?! all anyone seems to be saying by my read is that NASA couldn't do this, today. Or tomorrow. NASA has become bloated, inefficient, and mired in political and administrative red tape. I mean, fer chrissake! they're headed by someone with no previous experience in the field (O'Keefe). He's an administrator with the vision of an accountant!!
And it's been how many years now since a shuttle went up? The astronauts who died over all the years wouldn't want to see this! They knew the risks! Yet NASA is all like, "oh, it's so dangerous to go into space, we better not risk it." Such a LOAD!!
bloated
inefficient
stagnant
lacking vision
these are the things NASA has BECOME. The NASA of the past, from which all this wonderful research has come, is long dead. NASA today is nothing more than a political money-sink. It doesn't have to stay that way, and I, for one, believe that what Scaled Composites has done (and the X-Prize influence in general) should be a serious wake-up call to NASA to get their gears re-aligned or become the past.
if, today, NASA decided to do an SS1 type mission, it would cost 10 to 20 times what Scaled Composites spent, and take several more years and delays, and manpower......
so what if NASA and the Air Force and Russian Space Agency et.al. did the research that helped Rutan build and fly SS1?@!?! NASA today has access to that same research, and they STILL wouldn't be able to build and fly something like SS1 for anywhere near as cheaply as Scaled Composites has done.
THAT is the point!! Kudos to NASA (and others) for past research, but they are bloated beyond reason today. Not to mention crippled by politics and administrative red tape.
considering that the research has already been done and is available to everyone... the point is that NASA could not do SS1 for the cost Scaled Composites did it for.
Scaled Composites didn't have to do the initial research.... so what?! TODAY NASA would not have to do that research again either. Yet NASA would STILL have to spend 10 to 20 times what Scaled Composites spent.
That IS significant. And this is just a first step, designed specifically to win the X-Prize. The research will go on, and you can bet some private company (if not Scaled Composites) will achieve orbit for a fraction of the cost of NASA's bloated budget.
Just now, listening to Coast to Coast with George Noory (formerly Art Bell), he had Seth Shostak of the SETI Institute on discussing this story. He said, basically, that the reporter (at NewScientist) was kinda lookin for a story, so he found one, if you know what I mean. Mr.(Dr.?)Shostak said the first he heard of this was within the last couple days, and when he contacted the SETI@Home folks(which is NOT part of the SETI Institute, but they certainly have a working relationship) to find out what was going on, they also weren't really sure what the hoopla was about. Apparently the reporter didn't fully understand the intricacies of the signal hunt, if you will, and got WOWed by a marginal-to-non wow. Oh well. But if Coast to Coast isn't buying it...
sorry to burst the bubble. i'm disappointed, too. 8#
Quote: " I'll cry if NASA does get the go ahead for a Mars mission and comes up with a scheme where dozens of shuttle missions (either the remaining three vehicles or next generation shuttles) are required to build the spacecraft in orbit from small components."
The place to build a craft for travel in space is IN SPACE. One can build a MUCH more efficient SPACEcraft that way. (NASA has gotten the go-ahead for a manned Mars mission, BTW) And as far as "trucks" to LEO, well... basically. But yes, we need new trucks. Ours are "old" and inefficient, and we can build much better ones now. Launch and re-entry are hard on any space vehicle, and our current shuttles have, IMHO, taken their share of abuse and should be retired. I mean, shit!, the current shuttle is still using 386 to 586 level computers!!! And current thought/technology is looking at flying into space, not rocket blasting, as a possibility. We need to increase efficiency and decrease cost. Has no one here heard of Project Prometheus?! NASA's 10-year plan for a manned trip to Mars? Using nuclear powered spacecraft. Able to cut the trip from 6 months to 2 months? And they only want (and got) a budget increase of $800 million for the next 5 years. Cripes, we've been going to space for around 50 years. This exploration and technology is still in its infancy. Don't people understand this? 2(two) catastrophic failures in 120-150 missions in NOT a bad record. We've had WAAAAYYYY!! more submarine accidents on this planet.
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the research done in the past is also available to NASA. Using this research, NASA WOULD have to spend 10 to 20 times what Scaled Composites spent. And that's IF NASA ever goes back to manned space flight. ..... as another poster pointed out, NASA of today is/already has pissed all over the NASA of the past (which is the NASA from which the research you refer to came). The NASA of today is a bloated politcal money-sink run by a visionless accountant.
nor was he trying to. this time.
who's dismissing these contributions?! all anyone seems to be saying by my read is that NASA couldn't do this, today. Or tomorrow. NASA has become bloated, inefficient, and mired in political and administrative red tape. I mean, fer chrissake! they're headed by someone with no previous experience in the field (O'Keefe). He's an administrator with the vision of an accountant!! And it's been how many years now since a shuttle went up? The astronauts who died over all the years wouldn't want to see this! They knew the risks! Yet NASA is all like, "oh, it's so dangerous to go into space, we better not risk it." Such a LOAD!! bloated inefficient stagnant lacking vision these are the things NASA has BECOME. The NASA of the past, from which all this wonderful research has come, is long dead. NASA today is nothing more than a political money-sink. It doesn't have to stay that way, and I, for one, believe that what Scaled Composites has done (and the X-Prize influence in general) should be a serious wake-up call to NASA to get their gears re-aligned or become the past.
if, today, NASA decided to do an SS1 type mission, it would cost 10 to 20 times what Scaled Composites spent, and take several more years and delays, and manpower. .....
so what if NASA and the Air Force and Russian Space Agency et.al. did the research that helped Rutan build and fly SS1?@!?! NASA today has access to that same research, and they STILL wouldn't be able to build and fly something like SS1 for anywhere near as cheaply as Scaled Composites has done.
THAT is the point!! Kudos to NASA (and others) for past research, but they are bloated beyond reason today. Not to mention crippled by politics and administrative red tape.
considering that the research has already been done and is available to everyone ... the point is that NASA could not do SS1 for the cost Scaled Composites did it for.
.... so what?! TODAY NASA would not have to do that research again either. Yet NASA would STILL have to spend 10 to 20 times what Scaled Composites spent.
Scaled Composites didn't have to do the initial research
That IS significant. And this is just a first step, designed specifically to win the X-Prize. The research will go on, and you can bet some private company (if not Scaled Composites) will achieve orbit for a fraction of the cost of NASA's bloated budget.
Just now, listening to Coast to Coast with George Noory (formerly Art Bell), he had Seth Shostak of the SETI Institute on discussing this story. He said, basically, that the reporter (at NewScientist) was kinda lookin for a story, so he found one, if you know what I mean. ...
Mr.(Dr.?)Shostak said the first he heard of this was within the last couple days, and when he contacted the SETI@Home folks(which is NOT part of the SETI Institute, but they certainly have a working relationship) to find out what was going on, they also weren't really sure what the hoopla was about.
Apparently the reporter didn't fully understand the intricacies of the signal hunt, if you will, and got WOWed by a marginal-to-non wow.
Oh well. But if Coast to Coast isn't buying it
sorry to burst the bubble. i'm disappointed, too.
8#
Quote:
... basically. But yes, we need new trucks. Ours are "old" and inefficient, and we can build much better ones now. Launch and re-entry are hard on any space vehicle, and our current shuttles have, IMHO, taken their share of abuse and should be retired.
" I'll cry if NASA does get the go ahead for a Mars mission and comes up with a scheme where dozens of shuttle missions (either the remaining three vehicles or next generation shuttles) are required to build the spacecraft in orbit from small components."
The place to build a craft for travel in space is IN SPACE. One can build a MUCH more efficient SPACEcraft that way. (NASA has gotten the go-ahead for a manned Mars mission, BTW)
And as far as "trucks" to LEO, well
I mean, shit!, the current shuttle is still using 386 to 586 level computers!!! And current thought/technology is looking at flying into space, not rocket blasting, as a possibility. We need to increase efficiency and decrease cost.
Has no one here heard of Project Prometheus?! NASA's 10-year plan for a manned trip to Mars? Using nuclear powered spacecraft. Able to cut the trip from 6 months to 2 months? And they only want (and got) a budget increase of $800 million for the next 5 years.
Cripes, we've been going to space for around 50 years. This exploration and technology is still in its infancy. Don't people understand this? 2(two) catastrophic failures in 120-150 missions in NOT a bad record. We've had WAAAAYYYY!! more submarine accidents on this planet.