Mike Melvill Chosen To Fly SpaceShipOne 527
ansimon writes "Mike Melvill is chosen to fly SpaceShipOne to the outer limits of this rock that we call earth. Mike will be the first to earn his astronaut wings with a privately-developed aeroplane/rocket. A new era of space exploration is about to begin! Godspeed and come back safe, so the rest of us can go too..."
In other news... (Score:4, Funny)
Share value of Mike's life insurance company plummeted.
Re:In other news... (Score:5, Informative)
My first life insurance company didn't cover me while I was flying, took me a while to find a company that would cover me during recreational flying, and soaring, without charging me through the nose.
Also don't tell some car insurance companies your a pilot, you will get the rates of a 16 year old.
For the sake of argument . . . (Score:5, Interesting)
On the other hand, not much left to top this if it does go flawlessly.
Actually, he's the lucky one.... (Score:5, Funny)
I confess to a little excitement ... (Score:5, Insightful)
For one who's done a lot of reading of both science fiction as well as cosmology, the stars seem so far out of reach for my short lifetime.
Getting into space isn't exactly reaching the stars, but it's the first step on the journey. I hope the mission goes smoothly and its success is a sign of things to come.
Re:I confess to a little excitement ... (Score:5, Insightful)
I hope that a partnership between the public sector and private enterprise will help to drive down the costs of access to space.
Early aviation development was partially funded by the public sector when the United States Post Office subsidized airlines by implementing air mail.
I hope that the government will use private spacelines for all launches of non-military hardware.
Re:I confess to a little excitement ... (Score:5, Insightful)
I was a kid when the Columbia took its first trip in '81, so I've never lived in a time when space flight wasn't a reality. However, when I looked at pictures of SpaceShipOne tonight and read about the people filling the motels for miles around the world's first civilian spaceport, I literally started crying out of pure joy. Space has always been the domain of guys with The Right Stuff - bigger-than-life heros that risked it all. However, as of tomorrow, the rest of us get to take our shot at it. Tomorrow, I fly into space, and the universe will be a lot closer for me and my children.
Bring 'er home safe, Mike. A whole world full of regular Joes are praying for you.
Re:I confess to a little excitement ... (Score:3, Insightful)
I was born in 1970 and was at home when the first shuttle exploded on liftoff. I've read so much from the masters and grand masters of Science Fiction.
I've always felt that 'Out there' is where our destiny as a species lay. And this is clearly apart of the next major step for us on that road.
While I applaud and admire the great men and women who've 'boldly gone' and took those first steps off this tiny little hunk of soil we call home, It is indeed time for the 'rest
Re:I confess to a little excitement ... (Score:4, Informative)
Re:I confess to a little excitement ... (Score:3, Insightful)
It'd *really* *really* be nice to know *somewhere* , there is a place outside of millitary juristiction.
Clarification... (Score:4, Interesting)
Look, I think you are missing the point.
This is a private MANNED flight.
So what if the boosters are made by private aerospace firms? All they are launching are toys. Toys that can take zero gravity, zero kelvin, and zero pressure. The big deal about this is about MANNING a capsule into space without a goverment doing anything but giving permits like a building inspector.
You are talking about subcontractors. Look, I understand what you are saying, but to be truthful, your +4 insightful makes no sense here.
MANNED SPACEFLIGHT. MANNED. Non-governmental pilots in space. Big deal. Real big deal considering all the cash that has washed up for NASA.
Re:I confess to a little excitement ... (Score:5, Funny)
I'd rather not reach the stars.. I hear it's very warm there.
First to earn his astronaut's wings.... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:First to earn his astronaut's wings.... (Score:3, Insightful)
cute.. however, he's not going high or fast enough to experience significant heat on "re-entry". Have a look at the Scaled site where they show the minimal heat shielding on SS-1.
Yeah (Score:5, Funny)
I have to admit I'd rather be Captain of a
large ship rather than pilot of a small
tin can though...
Saving up for my first starship, which I suppose
will be available in the next 40 years or so,
around the time I'll be having my first mid-life
crisis (or for me, mid-life crisis'es...)
We need to start NOW if we want to have 40 million
people on the moon by 2371...
Re:Yeah (Score:5, Insightful)
I am guessing your math doesn't include any births on the moon, so it would be done sooner. Besides, you put just 50 men and women in low g, several are going to at least be curious about sex.
On another note...It will be very expensive to go into space as a passenger for a while, but I think they need to focus on their market: Rich internet dot.commers who want to have sex in space. Just like VCRs, the Internet, and video cameras, the first people who want to go into space have to be doing it for some reason tied to sex, and willing to pay full price, making it cheaper for the rest of us eventually.
I'm not completely sure how this will work, but just about any new technology is always paid for by people wanting pr0n/sexchat/etc so why would this be any different? Would you pay $100,000 to get a bj in zero gravity?
Re:Yeah (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Yeah (Score:5, Funny)
Thats a chance I am willing to take
Re:Yeah (Score:5, Funny)
Some people on this forum would pay $100,000 to get a bj here on earth. Some people would *have* to.
. . . but not me, of course.
YURI GAGARIN (Score:5, Funny)
ALAN SHEPARD
JOHN GLENN
BUZZ ALDRIN
NEIL ARMSTRONG
SpaceShipOne will not only be making history because they will be breaking the tradition that only governments have the ability to get into space. They will also be breaking the tradition that only people with dramatic-sounding names get to perform important space-exploration milestones.
Fly, SpaceShipOne, fly! Fly for the drably-named of the world! For all the "I'm sorry, what's your name again"s of the world! For everyone named "Morton"! You represent all of us.
Re:YURI GAGARIN (Score:5, Informative)
I don't know if it is a very dramatic sounding name though
Re:YURI GAGARIN (Score:3, Funny)
Ya, right (Score:5, Informative)
Then how about JUGDERDEMIDIYN GURRAGCHA [google.com], who is not only first Mongolian cosmonaut, but is also named way beyond 'dramatically'.
In fact, here is a complete list [kursknet.ru] of all 436 cosmo-/astronauts. Choose your favourite
Re:Ya, right (Score:3, Informative)
Sure, it may have been a political payback for the Mongol's support of the Soviet Union, but for a nation of mostly nomadic herders, it was quite an accomplishment.
Re:YURI GAGARIN (Score:3, Informative)
"I don't know if it is a very dramatic sounding name though" IMHO Guion Bluford probably has the coolest name of the lot.
Re:YURI GAGARIN (Score:5, Insightful)
We note the first Chinese guy in space, but not the first East-Asian in space. Do you know who the first blonde person in space was? The first person with green eyes?
The reason your country has such an issue with racism STILL is that you create such significance in skin colour, where really there should be none.
Re:YURI GAGARIN (Score:4, Insightful)
The problem isn't just distinctions based on skin color, ancestry, religion, or anything else.
The problem is that people want to hate each other, and they will find any necessary excuse to do so. Skin color is just extremely convenient, because you can tell what color someone's skin is by looking at them. Even if you make it unacceptable to discriminate based on skin color, the root problem still exists. People want to hate. And they do.
The reason our country still has a problem with racism is because our people still want to hate. And instead of solving the root problem (hate), we're putting bandages on it by trying to eliminate the symptoms (racism, discrimination) with laws and manipulation.
I agree with your main point, but your statement about racism is just plain wrong. Racism isn't a disease you can cure with some sort of vaccine or magic treatment. People truly, deeply hate each other.
In case of slashdotting (Score:5, Informative)
First since Columbia (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:First since Columbia (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:First since Columbia (Score:5, Interesting)
Of course, but... (Score:3, Interesting)
Of course, but everything space-related and government-funded that was really needed for this flight was learned over 40 years ago.
Re:First since Columbia (Score:3, Insightful)
Reason to Celebrate (Score:4, Insightful)
And yes, the USA is back and buisness and it is a reason to celebrate. Beyond the petty fact that there is a distinct lack of foreign competition in this sector, the event is a milestone in civilian rocketry worldwide. Whose market was this entire effort born from again...? Yeah, it sounds pigheaded as hell, but then so does dismissing this entire project as nothing more than a invidiual/corporate victory when it's a victory for the entire country whose very way of life made such impossible dreams a possible and whose economic environment could support such flights of fancy, something for which the entire world will look upon and follow.
Damn right it's a reason to celebrate.
Re:I guess the question here is (Score:3, Interesting)
No it isn't. The answer is Burt Rutan and Scaled Composites using Paul Allen's $20M. Nothing from the government, nothing from "the people". The question is, why do people think they deserve to share in the accomplishments of others when they have contributed nothing to that success?
Honor the successful. Emulate them if you can, aspire to it if you can't, and if nothing else let them inspire you. When you, in the individual or collective sense,
Re:First since Columbia (Score:3)
Pres. Bush: Just think of what the terrorists could do with a rocket that big?
So far..... (Score:5, Insightful)
I honestly hope that Melville completes this first trip unharmed. Not only for his sake, but for our sake. If he dies, the government will more than likely shut the whole private space exploration business down and set humanity back by an untold amount of years.
Why would anyone wish harm upon someone trying to pave the waqy for the rest of us?
Re:So far..... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:So far..... (Score:4, Insightful)
Damn. (Score:5, Funny)
aw, shucks
With apologies... (Score:3, Funny)
Burt Rutan (Very nervous as he looks at the spaceship): I'm not gonna try it, you try it first.
Paul: Oh, come on. Just try it.
Burt: No way, You try it.
Paul: Hey, let's get Mikey - he'll try anything.
Burt: Hey Mikey! (Whispers in Mike Melville's ear)
(Mike gets into SpaceShipOne and flies into space)
Paul and Burt: He likes it!
-hadohk
Wonderful! (Score:3, Interesting)
Bring A Towel =:-) (Score:5, Funny)
Disaster? Unlikely. (Score:5, Interesting)
Good luck and Godspeed to the SpaceShipOne team.
Re:Disaster? Unlikely. (Score:5, Interesting)
I have to disagree here. This vehicle is significantly more complex than the Mercury missions. Radical - yes, in the sense of using a dual-aircraft staging ascent, but you do not get much more simple than a redstone rocket with a purely ballistic capsule for re-entry. SpaceShipOne is closer to the space shuttle than it is to a Mercury capsule, in the sense that it flys like an aircraft with all the appropriate control surfaces - not to mention the feathering wing during re-entry. Radical - yes, simple - no. Bear in mind, that this design is made possible by relatively modern composite materials, so comparing this design to a 1950's iron capsule is a bit unfair.
Let me preface what I am about to say with the following: I think that what Scaled Composites has done is nothing short of amazing. I don't need to wish them the best, as I have been to their plant, and seen and crawled inside their vehicle. They will win the X-prize tomorrow... That said, I believe that SpaceShipOne is more of a bureocratic and idealogical achievement. First off, SC defined the process by which civilian companies are certified for space flight. Second, this event will usher in a newfound pride and enthusiasm for space exploration that has been missing for decades.
Unfortunately, this design is not very, well, useful other than to make Scaled Composites LOTS of money from space tourists. There is not a lot of interest otherwise in sub-orbital (heck, the Soviets skipped it entirely). SpaceShipOne was point designed to win the X-prize; the approach used is not scalable to an orbital version.
All that having been said, I am very excited for the future of space flight... I know what I will be doing tomorrow morning!
and yes, IAARS.
I beg to differ........ (Score:5, Informative)
They will not win the X-Prize tommorow and they most likely will not win it in the nearest future.
The X-Prize is for 2 manned launches with the equivalent of 3 persons mass within 2 weeks.
Tommorow's flight is 1 person and less ballast mass and AFAIK, scaled has no plans to launch again in the following 2 weeks.
Lets just hope (Score:3, Insightful)
Hopefully he will be the first (Score:4, Funny)
The last great X-Plane (Score:4, Interesting)
To Mike and the rest of the SpaceShipOne crew, best of luck tomorrow.
Godspeed - thx (Score:3, Insightful)
Bod,
p.s.
I think I will reread the "Man Who Sold the Moon" by Robert A. Heinlein" tonight.
Work environment (Score:3, Interesting)
Smooth flight guys. As someone said earlier [slashdot.org], don't forget your towel!
If there's any doubt about 'space' (Score:5, Interesting)
19 years experience as a test pilot? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:19 years experience as a test pilot? (Score:3, Funny)
It's not enough to ask - you have to require it:
"Wanted: Test pilot for civilian sub-orbital vehicle. Requirements: a minimum of five successful flights to space in other civilian craft; 8 years programming in Java 2; 3 years with Windows Server 2003."
At least, that's how it'd read if my last company's HR wrote the ad.
Libertarian aspects. (Score:3, Insightful)
Lissen... (Score:3, Insightful)
Being dead serious for a minute, if this guy fails--ie dies--it could very well mark the end of a very short lived experiment in private space exploration. Not because the American spirit will be dampened by it--on the contrary, I can see the Yanks trying harder than ever to make it work. On the other hand, I can already see the handwringers on CNN asking "Why isn't there a law?"
MSNBC Streaming Video (Score:4, Informative)
Slashdot Poll (Score:4, Funny)
Obligatory (Score:3, Funny)
You know what you doing.
Move 'SpaceShipOne'!
For great history!
Or, derived from Wikipedia's freeform translation [wikipedia.org]:
We have no time to lose. It's up to him.
All our hope for the future is in his hands.
Godspeed, SpaceShipOne pilot!
Pretty strong test pilot cred (Score:3, Interesting)
When I was a little kid, I wanted to be Chuck Yeager. Now I'm sitting at home reading Slashdot. Sigh.
Would a private moon expedition be possible? (Score:3, Interesting)
Maybe biotech companies would be interested in investing in building their own orbital lab? Or maybe I've just had a bit too much coffee...
Re:Would a private moon expedition be possible? (Score:3, Informative)
Among other things it says that no nation can claim territory in space, and then says that all private concerns are bound by the same rules as nations.
It is a good thing that no one listens to the UN.
Tim
This puts NASA in a very interesting position (Score:5, Insightful)
It's not like they deserve this kind of treatment, but the question will be raised for sure.
Re:This puts NASA in a very interesting position (Score:3, Informative)
Raised by idiots, perhaps. While there may be many things to criticize about NASA, comparing SpaceShipOne to their efforts is definitely apples and oranges. Suborbital. Minimal payload capacity. Has NASA designed anything to that kind of spec since the early 60s? I applaud Scaled Composites' achie
Re:This puts NASA in a very interesting position (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, the X-33 program was somewhere in that class. It was supposed to be a half-scale demonstrator for the next generation shuttle. Of course, in NASA's case they spent ~8 years, and around $200M, and didn't even produce flying hardware (let alone something that could attempt an actual suborbital hop). Whereas Rutan and Scaled Composites have apparently spent roughly a 10th the money that NASA did and now have something that has been off the ground, and will soon be suborbital.
Re:This puts NASA in a very interesting position (Score:3, Insightful)
Seem?? The are ridiculously ineffective.
Like a giant corporation where no one gives a crap about what they're doing and comes to work every day not to do something to change the world, but to collect the paycheck every two weeks.
They're even worse because they're government funded yet really answer to no one. They need not show a profit or even a reasonable effort. In corporations you have stockholders to answer to and you need to make money to stay in business.
I tend to disagree (Score:5, Insightful)
It's not exactly easy to quantify their impact on our daily lives, but if you watch TV, use cell phone and/or pager, or GPS you see your tax dollars at work pretty much. None of these things would be easy or even possible without NASA.
Saying that NASA is too expensive is like saying that Wright brothers had wasted too much money on their first crappy airplane. Sure they did, but it was the FIRST working airplane. These days any fool can build a working airplane out of readily available parts. Back then it was state of the art.
It sure did cost billions to send rovers to Mars, too. And it's not something anyone else will be able to achieve within the next decade.
This costs a lot. Can NASA be improved? No doubt. Is the cost justified even given the current inefficiencies? It sure as heck is.
Best wishes .. this gives me goosebumps (Score:5, Insightful)
Looking at pictures taken from the edge of space make my spine tingle - especially when they're taken by what amounts to a shoestring budget done by private enterprise. Pictures are one thing; tomorrow if all goes to plan, private enterprise will have put a man up there at the edge of space. Maybe not in orbit; I'm sure that will come in time.
I can't imagine what it must feel like to look up and see black, then look down and see the glowing blue curvature of the earth.
If you're reading this Mike, and everyone at Scaled Composites, you did a damn good job and we'll be waiting for your safe landing!
Scaled Composites == Burt Rutan (Score:5, Informative)
Burt Rutan has been thinking outside the box, from the halcyon days of the Vari-Eze & Long-Eze to the innovative Ares [airspacemag.com] and the 'appear-to-thumb-your-nose-at-physics' Boomerang [popularmechanics.com].
His company; Scaled Composites, have not only survived the drastic slump of the light aircraft market in the 80's and 90' but made innovation their tradition - no small feat.
IMHO, they deserve to succeed with this attempt of Spaceship One [yahoo.com].
Ironic? (Score:3, Funny)
Q: Can we fly a commercial flight to Mojave?
A: No, Mojave has no commercial airline service.
Doh.
John Carmack's opinion (Score:5, Informative)
North by Northwest? (Score:3, Interesting)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid
An inquiring mind (mine) wants to know a few things.
After a Northwest Airlines Airbus passenger plane landed at Ellsworth Air Force Base, the passengers were detained for some 3 hours, interrogated, after being ordered to shut their window covers.
So, does anyone know what is so special about Ellsworth that the windows were ordered shut? This does not seem to be the case (ordering shuttered windows) at Portland and some other bases sharing a border with commercial airports.
Could the crew and or passengers have been interrogated as to whether they shot footage or filmed any of the base during descent? Did the military confiscate their cameras, or merely look at each frame and scan every laptop for pictures of the base (or look for quickly-hidden compact flash or other media disks), or did the military fly out with them on the short hop over the hill, ensuring that NO-ONE shot any pix or opened their window covers?
Even more importantly, how can the pilot and first officer of a plane with probably more computing power than a space shuttle land 5 miles off course and onto a MILITARY base, unless they turned off the electronics or doubted the electronics, and landed by VFR, or Visual Flight Rules. And, even MORE telling, does this say the the FAA and the flight controllers were asleep at the controls?
Can such a thing happen again? Will this prompt the military to "paint" commercial aircraft to sternly warn them to get back on course? Why did not the military simultaneously call the plane AND the air traffic control tower and vector the commercial plane away? Doesn't this say that even after 9/11, the military and commercial air traffic control systems, after billions of dollars in equipment and upgrades, STILL/one again let down the public?
SpaceShipOne - Chat available on freenode.net (Score:3, Interesting)
Just wanted to add that we have chat on the irc.freenode.net servers. The room is appropriately named #SpaceShipOne and is now open to the public without password needed.
Since there is apearently no real-time coverage online (unless NASATV desides to cover it), this may be the next closest thing. Share your voice, express your opinion, and just hang out and listen to others.
See you there...
-Pandelirium - registered.freenode.net
Moderator - #SpaceShipOne #maestro #cassini #Pandelirium MaximumPC
http://www.pandelirium.net [pandelirium.net]
Ironic... Slashdot cheering for Microsoftie :) (Score:5, Insightful)
P.S. best of luck and successful flight to Mike and SS1 people.
-DVK
Astronaut Prayer (Score:3, Informative)
Prayer of Astronaut Gordon Cooper, pilot of the Mercury-Atlas 9 mission, during 17th orbit of the Earth in the "Faith 7".
While looking for a prayer for astronauts that I swore existed I found this. While I am not of any religion I hope that the mission will be on your minds, as private companies going to space will help speed up the exploration of space. The last thing we need is a setback on the first try. I posted this as it is a great look back to 1962 and how the US felt in contrast to today. While some things stayed the same...
Re:To save everyone some time tomorrow ... (Score:3, Interesting)
Being a die-hard conservative, I for one welcome our new corporate astronauts and look forward to it creating some new ideas at NASA as well. Obviously, this depends on your link still being funny tomorrow at lunch, rather than prophetic.
Re:To save everyone some time tomorrow ... (Score:3, Funny)
AHA!, thought you could sneak that one by did you?
Re:To save everyone some time tomorrow ... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:To save everyone some time tomorrow ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:To save everyone some time tomorrow ... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:To save everyone some time tomorrow ... (Score:5, Interesting)
Orion (Score:3, Funny)
Re:To save everyone some time tomorrow ... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:To save everyone some time tomorrow ... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:To save everyone some time tomorrow ... (Score:3, Funny)
Melvin has already quit (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Ballistic Flight? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Ballistic Flight? (Score:3, Informative)
At the same time, if they pull it off, it will be truly an incredible moment, and I'll join everybody else in wishing him good luck and Godspeed as he flies into the history books.
Re:"earns his wings"???? (Score:3, Insightful)
He's a professional test pilot, and is being paid money to ride this thing into space.
And he hopes he won't have to do much, but I'd guess that he's much more able to pilot a space glider back to Earth than anyone here......
Re:"earns his wings"???? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Yes, but (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Yes, but (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Yes, but (Score:4, Informative)
Also like Bill, Paul gives away billions, but unlike Bill, it is without strings attached (Bill gives billions, but it is tied to MS).
Also, Paul is well-liked and admired by those who have bought from him as well as worked for him. He has not been slimey in the way that the approaches every thing that he does. Have you heard anybody issue a nasty word at Paul? I see you tieing him to MS, but I see no direct words against him.
Re:Yes, but (Score:4, Insightful)
Why does it takes cancer to come to this view of life is beyond me, but kudos all the same.
Re:eye sight (Score:3, Informative)
Commercial and Airline pilots must have 20/20 distance after correction for medical, and all three classes need 20/40 near after correction.
The Air Force, Navy, and Marines tend to require uncorrected vision to begin flight training, but allow some correction once they've got money invested in you, and AFAIK, none of them allow any sort of corrective eye surgery, as there's concerns the sutures could rupture in high p
Re:eye sight (Score:3, Informative)
Unless things have changed in the last 7 years or so, the Navy requires 20/30 in each eye, correctable to 20/20, in order to qualify for flight training. Once you've earned your wings, your vision can drop as low as 20/70 (correctable) and you will still be categorized as Service Group 1 (which means that you can fly anything you like). If your vision
Re:It's amazing (Score:4, Insightful)
Most importantly the largest nation on earth pioneered the principles that Space Ship One will rely on. If you think this project even compares to the achievements of the Russian space program you are either very ignorent or very stupid.
I am not Russian or anything but I am sick of morons that can't tell the difference between launching a Cosmonaut for two round trips of the planet 43 years ago with the aid of possibly a single computer (not on board), primitive materials and theoretical equasions and flying a plane at a sub-orbital altitude with the aid of 40 years of space research to build from. Oh, and also the morons that can't tell the difference between putting people on the moon and "winning".
I of cause wish the Space Ship One Team luck, but they can never achieve such a victory for the human race as Gargarin did that day when he left the planet for the first time ever.
... you are a party pooper. (Score:5, Informative)
Seriously. This topic has been debated so much that I swear that this is some astro turfing by Boeing.
People are clamoring to get into space, and has been pointed out in many areas, even with this limited capability it still even has value for some research programs. This is a bridge builder, not a dead-end technology.
As has been pointed out many times, the flight distance of the original flight of the Wright Flyer was less than the wingspan of a 747. Does that mean it was a dead-end technology? In some ways yes. The flying system of a Wright flyer relied upon wing warping that has not been revisited until very recently, and that only in experimental aircraft. The body shifting a skilled pilot with that aircraft had to do is now really only used with hang-gliders, and even then it is much more refined. Even the later version of the aircraft were really only able to travel about 100 miles, and only under conditions we would call today VFR.
I do believe this is much more than symbolism. This is building infrastructure and bringing back the days of barnstorming, where pilots from WWI wanted to earn a few extra bucks, so they took an airplane (sometimes military surplus as well) and flew it around for "air shows" (usually just a simple demonstration... not the current rather extravagant versions we have now), and occasionally taking on a few passengers. With Spaceship One, this era of flight can be reborn, and it was during that critical era that aircraft technologies matured enough that passenger air service finally occured, ultimately leading to the DC-3 (a fun aircraft that I've actually flown in as a passenger on a regular commercial flight).
Right now, there isn't really anything between the Space Shuttle and the ship currently being built by the "Rocket Guy" Brian Walker [rocketguy.com] And even Mr. Walker, while it may eventually work, still isn't even done.
Finally there is a system in place that can and will approve commercial space flight (as proved by Scaled Composites... they have the permit in hand). Technologies can and will be upgraded, and as just about every participant in the X-prize competition has been proving, you can get to space on less than the most exotic rockets and materials. Let's see where spaceflight can happen when you don't have contractors saying "it doesn't matter what the cost of building it is. Just get it up there." That leads to Shuttle launches that cost 1/2 Billion dollars each. This next flight of the shuttle will cost way over $1 Billion. I know that private companies could do that for considerably cheaper. Indeed, $1 Billion could cover the entire R&D budget, including FAA certification trials, of a whole launch system capable of putting seven astronauts at the ISS with extra cargo room for some expendable supplies. Why wouldn't NASA go that route instead? Just make an x-prize equivalent for the same money, and it will be going well before the shuttle is ready and flight-recertified itself. (Well... maybe, but then you might as well junk the entire shuttle program if an alternative program is close to launching).
If you don't think a $1 billion carrot for orbital characteristics would work, you really havn't been paying attention to the X-prize, have you? And that is money that will more than likely be spend in the the next two years anyway, why not put it to more valuable use?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Why are astronauts wished Godspeed? (Score:3, Informative)
The word Godspeed is used to wish a person good fortune or success, as on starting a journey, a new business, etc. It is usually found in expressions of the sort "to bid (a person) Godspeed."
Godspeed is a nominalization of the phrase God speed (you), understanding which depends on two things: speed in this sense means 'to prosper; succeed', which is now archaic, but which is the original sense of the word; and the verb is subjunctive, expressing a wish