DailyDirt: Going To Space

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Thu, Sep 18th 2014 5:00pm — Michael Ho

Only three countries have developed manned space vehicles: Russia, US and China. However, since the retirement of NASA's space shuttle program, the US has not had a vehicle (of its own) ready to take astronauts to space. The European Union, Japan, and India have plans to develop manned space programs, and several commercial ventures are working on various ways to get people into space (or at least close to the edge of space). Here are a few ways Americans might get into space in the not-too-distant future.

NASA will be sending astronauts into space on Boeing and SpaceX rockets in a few years. By 2017 (if everything goes right), NASA won't need to rely on the Russian Federation Space Agency to get astronauts to the International Space Station. [url]
There's a relatively cheap way for tourists to visit the edge of space -- in a helium balloon. For the bargain price of just $75,000, World View Enterprises will take a passenger on a 5-hour ride up to 100,000 feet in a pressurized capsule hanging from a giant balloon. The first launch is planned for 2016. (For comparison, Virgin Galactic tickets cost about $250,000 and a trip on a Soyuz to the ISS can cost anywhere from $20-70 million.) [url]
NASA has been working on its own Orion Space Capsule vehicle designed to take astronauts to various destinations in our solar system. The Orion spacecraft system is planning an unmanned test launch in December 2014, and it could be sending astronauts back to the moon (or beyond) by the 2030s. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: astronauts, iss, manned missions, orion, soyuz, space exploration, space vehicles
Companies: boeing, nasa, spacex, virgin galactic, world view enterprises

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Anonymous Coward, 18 Sep 2014 @ 5:24pm

100,000 feet isn't even close to space. It's less than 20 miles, while the boundary of space is generally considered to be 62 miles up.
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Lawrence D’Oliveiro, 18 Sep 2014 @ 6:28pm

One Three Countries Have Ever Achieved Manned Space Flight ...
... and only one has ever given it up.
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Michael Ho (profile), 18 Sep 2014 @ 6:47pm

Re:
Yah, it's not really the edge of space, so you get what you pay for....
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Lawrence D’Oliveiro, 18 Sep 2014 @ 11:40pm

Re: generally considered to be 62 miles up
Not 61 or 63 miles...?
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Zoleen (profile), 19 Sep 2014 @ 1:18am

Re: Re: generally considered to be 62 miles up
Whatever miles it is. Truth is it is expensive.
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Anonymous Coward, 19 Sep 2014 @ 8:21am

have to use that money for more wars instead it seems. Funding terrorism to justify invading countries to fight the US funded terrorists
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