The Need for a Frontier...

POSTED BY: nanite1018
UPDATED: Tuesday, August 1, 2006 02:19
VIEWED: 11082
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NANITE1018

Sunday, July 23, 2006 3:22 PM

bump!

NANITE1018

Sunday, July 23, 2006 8:23 PM

more bumps!

This thread is getting the chicken pox.

CITIZEN

Sunday, July 23, 2006 11:14 PM

I'll be back with my reply soon enough, just got a lot on, if I'm not back soon, PM because if probably forgotten...

More insane ramblings by the people who brought you beeeer milkshakes!
No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see.

RABBIT2

Monday, July 24, 2006 4:46 PM

from Nanite1018

Quote:
Anyway, why can't THAT ever happen?

We need a Reid Malenfant or Delos D Harriman, someone with both the vision and the resorces available to drive something like that forwards. In the real world people like that are rather thin on the ground.
We do however, have Richard Branson and Burt Rutan. Both men have achieved a great deal in their respective fields and now that they`re working together well... maybe, just maybe.

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Flight Instructor: Son, know what the first rule of flying is?
Me: Don`t crash?

NANITE1018

Monday, July 24, 2006 9:45 PM

Maybe Rutan and Branson will do something. But they don't seem as ambitious as i'd like. They only have real plans up to orbit. And even the orbital part is pretty shaky. Only if the suborbital flights prove profitable. Hey, maybe though. You never know.

NANITE1018

Tuesday, July 25, 2006 3:06 PM

Bump! Where is that Alcon guy? He seemed to have more stuff to say, and now he has simply disappeared.

RABBIT2

Wednesday, July 26, 2006 6:14 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by nanite1018:
Maybe Rutan and Branson will do something. But they don't seem as ambitious as i'd like. They only have real plans up to orbit. And even the orbital part is pretty shaky. Only if the suborbital flights prove profitable. Hey, maybe though. You never know.

At the moment though, they seem to be in the best position to do something. Most of the other private groups seem to be big on ambition but severely lacking in funds.
Once they get the suborbital passenger flights going and if it turns out profitable then we might see more companies trying to break in to the market and willing to fund other projects.
I`ve lost any confidence in the big national space agencies to deliver on the manned spaceflight front. They are all largely dependant on funding from politicians who always have their own agenda so things always end up takeing longer and costing more.
It might be a good idea to have another X prize, this time for the first privately owned spacecraft to orbit the earth. Or even have a series of prizes that set out a number of goals to aim for.

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Flight Instructor: Son, know what the first rule of flying is?
Me: Don`t crash?

NANITE1018

Wednesday, July 26, 2006 3:51 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Rabbit2:
Quote:
Originally posted by nanite1018:
Maybe Rutan and Branson will do something. But they don't seem as ambitious as i'd like. They only have real plans up to orbit. And even the orbital part is pretty shaky. Only if the suborbital flights prove profitable. Hey, maybe though. You never know.

At the moment though, they seem to be in the best position to do something. Most of the other private groups seem to be big on ambition but severely lacking in funds.
Once they get the suborbital passenger flights going and if it turns out profitable then we might see more companies trying to break in to the market and willing to fund other projects.
I`ve lost any confidence in the big national space agencies to deliver on the manned spaceflight front. They are all largely dependant on funding from politicians who always have their own agenda so things always end up takeing longer and costing more.
It might be a good idea to have another X prize, this time for the first privately owned spacecraft to orbit the earth. Or even have a series of prizes that set out a number of goals to aim for.

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Flight Instructor: Son, know what the first rule of flying is?
Me: Don`t crash?

Actually Newt Gingrich and Robert Zubrin came up with a contest worth 30 billion dollars overall to be given to the first company that accomplishes certain goals related to Mars. The last is worth 20 billion and it would be a manned landing on Mars with at least 3 or 4 people and staying there for at least 6 months (i think, maybe it was a year). The idea was that the big guys might go for the big one right of the bat while smaller enterprises might start with others. One of them is the development of a heavy lift booster and such. It's a good idea, and i think it could be extended toward everything we need to do to really get a foothold in space until it will simply expand by itself. Also, the great thing about a contest is that you don't have to spend anything unless someone wins.

RABBIT2

Wednesday, July 26, 2006 4:25 PM

Its the small groups that need the encouragement most since that`s where most of the new ideas and innovation usually comes from. The bigger companies and other orginisations have to much interest in the status quo.
Setting up some smaller prizes with more easily achivable targets might help here and, who knows perhaps lead to Mars long before NASA is likely to try.

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Flight Instructor: Son, know what the first rule of flying is?
Me: Don`t crash?

NANITE1018

Thursday, July 27, 2006 5:02 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Rabbit2:
Its the small groups that need the encouragement most since that`s where most of the new ideas and innovation usually comes from. The bigger companies and other orginisations have to much interest in the status quo.
Setting up some smaller prizes with more easily achivable targets might help here and, who knows perhaps lead to Mars long before NASA is likely to try.

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Flight Instructor: Son, know what the first rule of flying is?
Me: Don`t crash?

I think it is a good method to generate interest. Especially since the prizes are designed so that they should make a profit for the company that wins each prize.

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