NationStates Jolt Archive

Today marks the start of the next golden age in space exploration, one that will be cheaper to acess. For the first time ever, a private manned rocket has broken through the Earth's atmosphere.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-05/15/content_1471435.htm

Woo-hoo! The corporate space race has begun!

It won't be long until we see McDonald's logos on the face of the moon that are clearly visible from Earth on a cloudless night.

Woo-hoo! The corporate space race has begun!

It won't be long until we see McDonald's logos on the face of the moon that are clearly visible from Earth on a cloudless night.
Actually, a Russian aeronautical engineer patented a process to beam ads down from space. But then again, where don't we see advertising? I guess it's inevitable for McDonalds to put a giant billboard on the moon.

Woo-hoo! The corporate space race has begun!

It won't be long until we see McDonald's logos on the face of the moon that are clearly visible from Earth on a cloudless night.
Actually, a Russian aeronautical engineer patented a process to beam ads down from space. But then again, where don't we see advertising? I guess it's inevitable for McDonalds to put a giant billboard on the moon.

Yeah, I'd heard about that as well. At the very least, it should pull the advertising sector out of the job slump it's been going through and get all those marketing majors back in offices and off the streets where they keep trying to wash my car windows with their spit and their degrees for spare change.

Putting an ad on the moon wouldn't would work it would have to cover the entire thing. Space advertisments will begin with giant neon billboards circleling the earth.

Cool!

Putting an ad on the moon wouldn't would work it would have to cover the entire thing. Space advertisments will begin with giant neon billboards circleling the earth.

Awww, think big, Foxxinnia, THINK GALACTIC!!! :D

Putting an ad on the moon wouldn't would work it would have to cover the entire thing. Space advertisments will begin with giant neon billboards circleling the earth.
im imagining seeing an ad for womens sanitary napkins while im out at night getting food :?

I'd think of it this way: it'll send more sattelites into space at a cheaper rate than NASA or the Russians can offer. And you know how NASA always has said, even forty years ago, that civilian space travel is thirty years away? Now, I think it's safe to say it may be only twenty years away.

Probably even less than 20 years. Isn't there some contest that will be held in New Mexico next year for a million dollars or something for the first privately produced, reusable, suborbital airplane?

Probably even less than 20 years. Isn't there some contest that will be held in New Mexico next year for a million dollars or something for the first privately produced, reusable, suborbital airplane?
Maybe. But there's one right now, known as the X-Prize. It's awarded to the first extra-atmospherical vehicle that can take passengers up there twice in two weeks, and it awards $1 million. One of it's many trustees is Dennis Tito, the world's first space tourist.
The guy who launched the first private space plane, Burt Rutan, is favored to win. I think he's funded by Apple founder and CEO Steve Jobs. He expect that he can take the prizemoney sometime next year, opening the gates to space, and creating the next golden age of space exploration. Of course, other problems will have to be solved, such as a propulsion breakthrough. That looks easy now. But, as I'm an advocate of this type of stuff, I have to say that space travel must be powered by something other than oil. Oil prices will be too high by then for cheap space travel.

Probably even less than 20 years. Isn't there some contest that will be held in New Mexico next year for a million dollars or something for the first privately produced, reusable, suborbital airplane?
Maybe. But there's one right now, known as the X-Prize. It's awarded to the first extra-atmospherical vehicle that can take passengers up there twice in two weeks, and it awards $1 million. One of it's many trustees is Dennis Tito, the world's first space tourist.
The guy who launched the first private space plane, Burt Rutan, is favored to win. I think he's funded by Apple founder and CEO Steve Jobs. He expect that he can take the prizemoney sometime next year, opening the gates to space, and creating the next golden age of space exploration. Of course, other problems will have to be solved, such as a propulsion breakthrough. That looks easy now. But, as I'm an advocate of this type of stuff, I have to say that space travel must be powered by something other than oil. Oil prices will be too high by then for cheap space travel.

That's it. The X-Prize. I knew I'd heard about it but I couldn't remember the names or the specifics.

Probably even less than 20 years. Isn't there some contest that will be held in New Mexico next year for a million dollars or something for the first privately produced, reusable, suborbital airplane?
Maybe. But there's one right now, known as the X-Prize. It's awarded to the first extra-atmospherical vehicle that can take passengers up there twice in two weeks, and it awards $1 million. One of it's many trustees is Dennis Tito, the world's first space tourist.
The guy who launched the first private space plane, Burt Rutan, is favored to win. I think he's funded by Apple founder and CEO Steve Jobs. He expect that he can take the prizemoney sometime next year, opening the gates to space, and creating the next golden age of space exploration. Of course, other problems will have to be solved, such as a propulsion breakthrough. That looks easy now. But, as I'm an advocate of this type of stuff, I have to say that space travel must be powered by something other than oil. Oil prices will be too high by then for cheap space travel.

That's it. The X-Prize. I knew I'd heard about it but I couldn't remember the names or the specifics.
It's not held specifically in New Mexico, though. It's whereever these aerospace engineers have shop. The leader, Burt Rutan, has his shop in the Mojave Desert. Naturally, this has local officials very excited about the future of the desert.

Probably even less than 20 years. Isn't there some contest that will be held in New Mexico next year for a million dollars or something for the first privately produced, reusable, suborbital airplane?
Maybe. But there's one right now, known as the X-Prize. It's awarded to the first extra-atmospherical vehicle that can take passengers up there twice in two weeks, and it awards $1 million. One of it's many trustees is Dennis Tito, the world's first space tourist.
The guy who launched the first private space plane, Burt Rutan, is favored to win. I think he's funded by Apple founder and CEO Steve Jobs. He expect that he can take the prizemoney sometime next year, opening the gates to space, and creating the next golden age of space exploration. Of course, other problems will have to be solved, such as a propulsion breakthrough. That looks easy now. But, as I'm an advocate of this type of stuff, I have to say that space travel must be powered by something other than oil. Oil prices will be too high by then for cheap space travel.

That's it. The X-Prize. I knew I'd heard about it but I couldn't remember the names or the specifics.
It's not held specifically in New Mexico, though. It's whereever these aerospace engineers have shop. The leader, Burt Rutan, has his shop in the Mojave Desert. Naturally, this has local officials very excited about the future of the desert.
Here in New Mexico on I-25 there's a offical sign that says, "Future Home of the New Mexico Spaceport." Honest to God.

Probably even less than 20 years. Isn't there some contest that will be held in New Mexico next year for a million dollars or something for the first privately produced, reusable, suborbital airplane?
Maybe. But there's one right now, known as the X-Prize. It's awarded to the first extra-atmospherical vehicle that can take passengers up there twice in two weeks, and it awards $1 million. One of it's many trustees is Dennis Tito, the world's first space tourist.
The guy who launched the first private space plane, Burt Rutan, is favored to win. I think he's funded by Apple founder and CEO Steve Jobs. He expect that he can take the prizemoney sometime next year, opening the gates to space, and creating the next golden age of space exploration. Of course, other problems will have to be solved, such as a propulsion breakthrough. That looks easy now. But, as I'm an advocate of this type of stuff, I have to say that space travel must be powered by something other than oil. Oil prices will be too high by then for cheap space travel.

That's it. The X-Prize. I knew I'd heard about it but I couldn't remember the names or the specifics.
It's not held specifically in New Mexico, though. It's whereever these aerospace engineers have shop. The leader, Burt Rutan, has his shop in the Mojave Desert. Naturally, this has local officials very excited about the future of the desert.

Ah, I must have misread something. I thought I saw somewhere that New Mexico was playing host to the actual lauch day festivities in 2005, but like I said, I wasn't really paying attention to the specifics, just wandering around on Slashdot one day.

Probably even less than 20 years. Isn't there some contest that will be held in New Mexico next year for a million dollars or something for the first privately produced, reusable, suborbital airplane?
Maybe. But there's one right now, known as the X-Prize. It's awarded to the first extra-atmospherical vehicle that can take passengers up there twice in two weeks, and it awards $1 million. One of it's many trustees is Dennis Tito, the world's first space tourist.
The guy who launched the first private space plane, Burt Rutan, is favored to win. I think he's funded by Apple founder and CEO Steve Jobs. He expect that he can take the prizemoney sometime next year, opening the gates to space, and creating the next golden age of space exploration. Of course, other problems will have to be solved, such as a propulsion breakthrough. That looks easy now. But, as I'm an advocate of this type of stuff, I have to say that space travel must be powered by something other than oil. Oil prices will be too high by then for cheap space travel.

That's it. The X-Prize. I knew I'd heard about it but I couldn't remember the names or the specifics.
It's not held specifically in New Mexico, though. It's whereever these aerospace engineers have shop. The leader, Burt Rutan, has his shop in the Mojave Desert. Naturally, this has local officials very excited about the future of the desert.
Here in New Mexico on I-25 there's a offical sign that says, "Future Home of the New Mexico Spaceport." Honest to God.
Well, someone in New Mexico is probably benefitting from this. Nice, remote areas closer to the equator such as New Mexico are probably so happy about this new age of space exploration that they're shitting their pants in excitement. It won't be long before some of these areas gain a very prominent role in the global economy.

The primary reason that space isn't more heavily exploited is the immense cost of producing enough energy to get an object into orbit. Less expensive ways of producing the needed energy are necessary if we are to develop space and space travel in an economical fashion. Perhaps we could stick some nuclear reactors in the desert, and hook them up to capacitor banks and a launch laser.. Whatever we do, we have to start using something other than chemical rockets.

bump

The primary reason that space isn't more heavily exploited is the immense cost of producing enough energy to get an object into orbit. Less expensive ways of producing the needed energy are necessary if we are to develop space and space travel in an economical fashion. Perhaps we could stick some nuclear reactors in the desert, and hook them up to capacitor banks and a launch laser.. Whatever we do, we have to start using something other than chemical rockets.

This is true. Ideas have been floated for both a space elevator (which isn't as far off an idea as it once was) and laser-powered propulsion (as I understand it, it's along the idea of zapping a reflective surface with a high-wattage beam thus superheating the air beneath it and giving it lift).

The primary reason that space isn't more heavily exploited is the immense cost of producing enough energy to get an object into orbit. Less expensive ways of producing the needed energy are necessary if we are to develop space and space travel in an economical fashion. Perhaps we could stick some nuclear reactors in the desert, and hook them up to capacitor banks and a launch laser.. Whatever we do, we have to start using something other than chemical rockets.

This is true. Ideas have been floated for both a space elevator (which isn't as far off an idea as it once was) and laser-powered propulsion (as I understand it, it's along the idea of zapping a reflective surface with a high-wattage beam thus superheating the air beneath it and giving it lift).
However, the current problem with high-powered lasers is that most of the energy is lost to friction in the machine, which heats that, and not creating the laser. Even though this problem has been dramatically reduced, 90% of all the energy is lost to friction before it ever becomes a laser.

The primary reason that space isn't more heavily exploited is the immense cost of producing enough energy to get an object into orbit. Less expensive ways of producing the needed energy are necessary if we are to develop space and space travel in an economical fashion. Perhaps we could stick some nuclear reactors in the desert, and hook them up to capacitor banks and a launch laser.. Whatever we do, we have to start using something other than chemical rockets.

This is true. Ideas have been floated for both a space elevator (which isn't as far off an idea as it once was) and laser-powered propulsion (as I understand it, it's along the idea of zapping a reflective surface with a high-wattage beam thus superheating the air beneath it and giving it lift).
However, the current problem with high-powered lasers is that most of the energy is lost to friction in the machine, which heats that, and not creating the laser. Even though this problem has been dramatically reduced, 90% of all the energy is lost to friction before it ever becomes a laser.

Yes, that particular method is still in the working stages. Another tendency of the prototypes is to lose focus and incinerate the target. Obviously, this would be troublesome if you were in the target.

The primary reason that space isn't more heavily exploited is the immense cost of producing enough energy to get an object into orbit. Less expensive ways of producing the needed energy are necessary if we are to develop space and space travel in an economical fashion. Perhaps we could stick some nuclear reactors in the desert, and hook them up to capacitor banks and a launch laser.. Whatever we do, we have to start using something other than chemical rockets.

This is true. Ideas have been floated for both a space elevator (which isn't as far off an idea as it once was) and laser-powered propulsion (as I understand it, it's along the idea of zapping a reflective surface with a high-wattage beam thus superheating the air beneath it and giving it lift).
However, the current problem with high-powered lasers is that most of the energy is lost to friction in the machine, which heats that, and not creating the laser. Even though this problem has been dramatically reduced, 90% of all the energy is lost to friction before it ever becomes a laser.

Yes, that particular method is still in the working stages. Another tendency of the prototypes is to lose focus and incinerate the target. Obviously, this would be troublesome if you were in the target.
I've actually heard of another method once before. There method was to shoot a small space vehicle from a giant cannon, and the momentum of the vehicle would send it into orbit. Problem is, however, that I'd hate to go on a ride like that. There's a chance that the craft may spin, and it'll be extremely bumpy.

The primary reason that space isn't more heavily exploited is the immense cost of producing enough energy to get an object into orbit. Less expensive ways of producing the needed energy are necessary if we are to develop space and space travel in an economical fashion. Perhaps we could stick some nuclear reactors in the desert, and hook them up to capacitor banks and a launch laser.. Whatever we do, we have to start using something other than chemical rockets.

This is true. Ideas have been floated for both a space elevator (which isn't as far off an idea as it once was) and laser-powered propulsion (as I understand it, it's along the idea of zapping a reflective surface with a high-wattage beam thus superheating the air beneath it and giving it lift).
However, the current problem with high-powered lasers is that most of the energy is lost to friction in the machine, which heats that, and not creating the laser. Even though this problem has been dramatically reduced, 90% of all the energy is lost to friction before it ever becomes a laser.

Yes, that particular method is still in the working stages. Another tendency of the prototypes is to lose focus and incinerate the target. Obviously, this would be troublesome if you were in the target.
I've actually heard of another method once before. There method was to shoot a small space vehicle from a giant cannon, and the momentum of the vehicle would send it into orbit. Problem is, however, that I'd hate to go on a ride like that. There's a chance that the craft may spin, and it'll be extremely bumpy.

Wow, yes, that would definitely be an "economy class" ride.