Congrats, Burt & Co.

[selenite0]

I'm really happy to see SpaceShipOne came down safely. I was worried about whether they'd make it (I mostly worried about CG control, some friends worried about hypersonic instability). Didn't help that I've got a videotape with Burt saying "If we don't get anybody killed we're not trying hard enough."

It'll be interesting seeing how much this changes the assumptions in industry about how hard it is to build launch vehicles. If we keep going like this there should be a private settlement on the Moon to welcome NASA's next expedition. :-D

Comments

[patgund.livejournal.com]

More likely a settlement watching the TV in amusement while NASA tells Congress that they can't possibly reach the moon without an additional $x billion by the next fiscal year.....

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

I'm happy for Burt & Co. too, but I'm a little less certain this is a step into orbit. Popping up and doing the feather-drop back down is one thing, getting into orbit, performing manuveres, and then slowing down from orbital velocity is another thing altogether.

As depressing as it is, NASA's current groupthink about using upgrading Apollo capsules on disposable rockets is actaully making sense. :(

[selenite.livejournal.com]

Oh, the vehicle concept can't scale up, definitely. But what Rutan has proved is that you can build a rocket craft on a modest budget. Right now the assumption is that any rocket will have massive overhead, based on government programs where more paper went to reassure the gov't bureaucrats than to building hardware. When I was with Pioneer we constantly ran into a brick wall with our commercial-aircraft-world based cost estimates, because the space numbers were so different. NASA made it even worse by stretching out the schedules for any new system so it's assumed it'll take a decade to build anything.

Now we have a data point to show you can meet a cost and schedule estimate. That's going to make a big difference to investors.

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

Hmm, good point. Lacking bureaucratic overhead, commercial based launched systems will have a better chance to thrive, so long as the FAA doesn't start safety-regulating it to death. The fact they so willingly gave Mojave Airport a space launch designation is a good sign.

[mycroftca.livejournal.com]

>If we keep going like this there should be a private settlement on the Moon to welcome NASA's next expedition.


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