DailyDirt: More Commercial Spaceships On The Way

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Thu, Feb 17th 2011 5:00pm — Michael Ho

The end of the space shuttle program is coming up pretty soon, but there are still a few plans to keep humans flying in space. It's actually quite interesting to see commercial space programs getting off the ground, but just getting to the edge of the Earth's atmosphere (or a little bit beyond) isn't that awe-inspiring anymore. Nevertheless, commercial ventures are trying to pick up the slack in space exploration, and here are a few links on just some of the projects ahead.

The cancelled Ares I rocket could be turned into a commercial launch system that could take 44,500 pounds into low Earth orbit for just $180 million. This re-purposed rocket is planned for testing in 2013, if it can get some commercial space subsidies from NASA along the way. [url]
The space shuttle program might not be completely mothballed if a NASA contractor can privately fly the Atlantis and Endeavour twice a year for under $1.5 billion. It's a shame that the shuttle fleet will likely end up rusting in a museum, but the shuttles are pretty expensive to maintain. (And they don't exactly have the best safety record....) [url]
A robotic mission to the moon funded by SpaceX is under contract to launch as soon as December 2013. This first mission will rely on additional funding such as $24 million from Google's Lunar X-Prize, Florida's $2 million launch bonus, and a $10 million NASA contract. [url]
NASA's Kennedy Space Center is preparing to support more commercial launches as the shuttle program winds down. NASA has built more than a few nice rocket facilities, but the return on its investments might be a bit hard to find. [url]
To discover more links on space exploration, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon universe. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

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Filed Under: space, spaceships

9 Comments

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Rose M. Welch (profile), 17 Feb 2011 @ 4:24pm

It's actually quite interesting to see commercial space programs getting off the ground...

D.D. Harriman, where are you?
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Michael Ho (profile), 17 Feb 2011 @ 5:10pm

Re:
Had to google that one:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delos_D._Harriman

Delos David Harriman, known as "D.D. Harriman," is a character in the fiction of noted science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein. He is an entrepreneurial businessman who masterminded the first landing on the Moon as a private business venture. His story is part of Heinlein's Future History.

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Rose M. Welch (profile), 17 Feb 2011 @ 5:16pm

Re: Re:
You had to Google that????? Seriously, you're missing out on some awesome fiction. :)
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Esahc (profile), 17 Feb 2011 @ 7:23pm

Re: Re: Re:
To be fare I'm a Heinlein fan and would of had to Google that ;-)
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Jack, 17 Feb 2011 @ 11:12pm

space shuttle safety record
I'm not sure it's entirely fair to say the space shuttles "don't exactly have the best safety record". There have been two catastrophic losses in over 130 launches. Given the nature of space travel technology in general, and given how few flights we have relative to air travel, I think the safety record is consistent with the state of development of space travel technology.
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Michael Ho (profile), 18 Feb 2011 @ 1:06am

Re: space shuttle safety record
Hmm. The Soyuz manned space missions probably have the best safety record -- beating the shuttle by quite a bit. Not sure what other manned space program to compare the shuttle to that would make the shuttle look better...?
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Pixelation, 18 Feb 2011 @ 4:24am

44,500lbs? Note to self, find out how much the house weighs.
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Jack, 18 Feb 2011 @ 6:12am

Re: Re: space shuttle safety record
How many losses had the Soyuz had after 130 launches? If I recall correctly, after accounting for those hidden by the Soviets, it was more than two.

In addition, the capabilities of a Soyuz are significantly lower than a shuttle. With increased capability comes increased complexity and increased risk.

It's a trade-off, and I think if we're serious about space exploration, we have to accept that there will be failures that involve loss of life.
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Richard (profile), 18 Feb 2011 @ 7:35am

Re: Re: Re: space shuttle safety record
But the issue is not the historic Soyuz failures (which contribute to the safety of the current vehicle). Soyuz is a throw-away rocket which means that it is easier to upgrade over time than the shuttle. The current Soyuz is a distant descendant of the ones that failed in the 60's. They still use those old rockets for unmanned missions(they are cheaper) and they still fail from time to time but that is not relevant to the safety of the current manned system.
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