X-Prize Won!

[Rocketjunkie]

Originally posted by Lugnut
BTW, anyone know if the Black Skies show on Discovery on Thursday going to be a reprisal of yesterday's show, or is it going to incorporate today's flight?

The show is an update including the X-Prize flights. 1 hour.

 

[GL-P]

My school doesn't even understand the value of watching it live. Real pain that I was in class when it happened. No chance to see it on the net.

Grumble, grumble, grumble...

 

[Stymye]

don't feel bad ,NASA didn't cover the launch either !........I had to watch it on cnn,heck the long range camera was even funded by a private school.

 

[jflis]

Don't blame the schools, blame the media. The schools would not have known about nor watched sheppard nor even armstrong and aldrin were it not for the media drumming it up.

Like it or not, the vast majority of the world missed the "Kitty hawk" of the 21st century. This is just the beginning.

$200K a shot? Not bad, not bad at all. What would NASA charge to cover the cost of a shuttle trip?

$200K? Not bad.

Heck, when I bought my first digital camera, it only cost me $1000. $1000 for a .6MP camera. very kewl, and not bad at all. Why? Because all of us techno-geeks with the money to invest in these low quality, high priced gagets allowed them to design the cost down to where I can get the same camera for about $39 bucks at wal-mart.

$200K? Not bad at all.

Give it time

 

[illini]

Originally posted by jflis
$200K a shot? Not bad, not bad at all. What would NASA charge to cover the cost of a shuttle trip?

Dennis Tito payed the Russians $20M (that's M as in million) for his ride. That seems to be the going rate 'til now. If NASA charged that much, it wouldn't even begin to pay the cost of a shuttle flight. Remember back when the shuttle was new and they were promising it would pay for itself? Not even close.

$200k for a ride? All things considered, not bad at all.

 

[graylensman]

I think we're going to see very soon (next two years) exactly what the X-Prize is about. Virgin Galactic will charge $200k for a trip - so what's to keep the DaVinci team from charging only $100K once they've reached space?...

Also, be a little more gentle on the general public. People tend to see spaceflight as only occasionally dangerous and difficult - and SciFi channel and summer blockbusters show spaceflight as routine as driving to the 7-11 for a Big Gulp. Rocketeers like us understand the difficulties because this fires our imaginations. I've noticed that when pollsters directly ask people about space travel, the general response is positive; it's just not something they think about on a daily basis.

 

[illini]

Exactly what I'm counting on! Knock it down some in the next 25 years, then I can afford to give myself a big retirement present!

 

[Mike]

Personally I've though the media coverage was very good for all three flights to date. Admittedly I've been watching the British TV coverage and I can't compare to early NASA missions.

I would have been *very* surprised if it had been talked about in school. My teachers barely ever talk about current world events unless they're directly related to the work...last exception was probably 9/11.

 

[rbeckey]

I am 40, and due to genetics, bad habits and lack of funding I will never see the Earth from space. I suspect, though, that my sons will have that oppurtunity before they are my age. (Say, 30 years.) That is a hopeful thought. I am excited for them, and what might come of yesterday's events. Perhaps there really will be factories and cities in orbit or at the Lagrange points, or even on the moon. I had just about given up hope on the government funded programs. The same old, same old, based on 1940's ideas. Let private industry and the resulting competition create a market, and there is no end to what can be accomplished. I wonder if anyone paid attention to the Wright flyer and saw the potential of an airliner? Probably only a very few. In this situation, we are that few.

 

[adrian]

Congratulations to the SpaceShipOne team for a splendid achievement!

To answer some of the points made here, though:
I don't think comparisons with the Space Shuttle are valid. One is a vehicle intended to carry three people to the beginning of space, the other is a more complex vehicle designed to carry seven people plus a large cargo into orbit.

I shouldn't think many people took one look at the Wright Flyer and thought "airliner". However, two years and a bit of development later, some people thought "bomber" instead. After WW1, when there were some big, solid aircraft around, that's when people thought "airliner". Fortunately it looks as though we won't need WW3 to do the same for space travel.

There are a few reasons why space launches aren't practical from the UK. One is the density of air traffic. The other is the North Sea and all the oil rigs there, which are right in the target area if anything goes wrong...

I hope private space travel won't be brought to a halt when, not if, one of the spacecraft goes wrong and people are killed. This will happen one day - trains crash, aircraft go down, I see no reason why spacecraft will be uniqely accident-free. And during the early period, when tickets are so expensive, the passengers and their next of kin are going to be the sort of people who can hire expensive lawyers...

Having said that, I hope it does succeed. And if the ticket price falls to something which I can afford, sign me up for one!

 

[hokkyokusei]

While it's cool that Scaled Composites have worn the X-Prize, and that they broke the X-15's altitude record, I think it was cooler the first time they flew into space!

Whilst Starchaser, one of the UK's more active X-Prize entrants, have flown rockets in the UK, they weren't to any significant altitude. They have variously stated that they intend to fly to more significant altitudes from the US or Australia.

The UK "space programme" was largely conducted from Woomera, though there were some interesting proposals for launching into polar orbits using Black Arrow from East Anglia & the Hebrides.

However, it does look as though flights into space have been made from the UK.
https://www.astronautix.com/sites/souhuist.htm
https://www.astronautix.com/sites/abeporth.htm

 

[illini]

Originally posted by adrian

I don't think comparisons with the Space Shuttle are valid. One is a vehicle intended to carry three people to the beginning of space, the other is a more complex vehicle designed to carry seven people plus a large cargo into orbit.

That's a valid point, but the comparison is begging to be made for the simple reason that NASA originally promised that the shuttle would be a quick-turn, frequent access vehicle that would pay for itself. The shuttle was supposed to make access to space routine in spite of the complexity and crew and payload requirements. It clearly fell very short.

That being said, there's clearly a BIG difference between a sub-orbital vehicle that flies to 70 miles at a few thousand mph and an orbital vehicle that flies twice as high at 17,500 mph. Takes much more energy to get there, heat shielding to re-enter, etc. However, I think (or at least *I hope*) that if orbital flight is ever to become routine, it would best be done by building on the foundation the private guys have laid, rather than by coming at it from the direction of NASA.

Regarding private accidents. They are inevitable, but I don't thing they will have *nearly* the impact of losing a NASA vehicle. Loss of a shuttle is exceptionally costly and requires a congressionally appointed commission to study to find root causes, recommend changes, etc. Inevitably, this is accompanied by downtime of at least a year...usually more. Loss of a private vehicle might result in law suits (although I'd expect Virgin Galactic would require passengers sign a waiver on rights to sue...at least for American "sue-happy" passengers ), but the place they'd primarily pay for it is in the wallet in terms of lost business. i.e., it is in their best interest to maximize safety and return to *safe* flight ASAP after an accident.

 

[Chilly]

I think Branson plans to do exactly that. And the 200G price isn't just for the ride, it's supposed to include several days of training and preparation. The FAA has gone a long way towards smoothing out the regulatory hurdles too...the spacecraft doesn't have to be certified to Pt.25 airworthiness standards, and whoever's conducting the operation doesn't have to get a pt.135 charter or pt.121 airline certificate. If any of that were to ever be forced on them, you could kiss the whole industry bye-bye before it ever got off the ground (literally).

Mr. Bigelow's prize for a similar feat to orbit will be even more helpful. It's not getting a lot of play, but NOBODY took the X-Prize seriously until a couple of years ago. The insurance company that sold the "hole-in-one" policy to fund it must be kicking themselves fiercely right now!

 

[illini]

Originally posted by Chilly
Mr. Bigelow's prize for a similar feat to orbit will be even more helpful. It's not getting a lot of play, but NOBODY took the X-Prize seriously until a couple of years ago.

I agree. There's a good article on the new orbital prize at space.com. Sounds like there's already some interest in this from other X-Prize contestants.