SpaceX Rocket Achieves Earth Orbit on First Flight

reply to post by tooo many pills


It's against U.S. law to publish such information, as I gather from this news article about Virgin Galactic:

And it's this rocket propulsion system that means the whole Virgin Galactic enterprise is shrouded in mystery. Cockpit or interior photos are unavailable because, as the system relies on rocket technology, the whole project is treated under U.S. law as if it was a weapon.

Source

'Every single picture that exists has to be vetted before it's released,' Whitehorn explains. 'We won't be allowed to release any detailed pictures of the interior until this thing goes commercial.'

I'll await the exodus to Mars, but in the meantime, here is a drawn-up pic of the new spaceport (see source above):

reply to post by dzonatas


That is a sweet picture!

Thank you for clearing that up, I should have just assumed it was against the law to share important technogical information. Why would a government ever want to help a people progress? Find it out for yourself so it will take forever and we can impose restrictions and taxes on you.

I understand that they don't want the Russians, Chinese, or random terrorist organization to get their hands on our important rocket technology, but come on! They could share the information with several American corporations with strict conditions obligating the companies to withhold the information from other countires. Corporations are already extremely secretive with their technology.

Just think if there were 4 or 5 companies redeveloping the spaceshuttles based on everything NASA knows. That would create a new industry with so many jobs, help so many people, and advance human space exploration five fold. Each would constantly go into space to conduct experiments, travel to the moon to create bases, and work towards letting a human set foot on Mars for the first time.

I guess I am living in a fantasy world where people care about each other

Originally posted by tooo many pills
Just think if there were 4 or 5 companies redeveloping the spaceshuttles based on everything NASA knows. That would create a new industry with so many jobs, help so many people, and advance human space exploration five fold. Each would constantly go into space to conduct experiments, travel to the moon to create bases, and work towards letting a human set foot on Mars for the first time.

I look at those instrumentation on the shuttles, and some of the technology looks 20 to 30 years old. The only new tech looks like their handheld devices.

I'd imagine they still test the equipment to make sure it doesn't spark and cause another O-Ring disaster.

Equipment heat would be another factor. Most PCs probably run way to hot for normal on board operations in space.

The ISS extensions seem like the hope so far to get new tech in space.

If 20 different private companies worked on the shuttle, would you be the first to board? Would it be as simple as to board any passenger plane today. Most of these still have maintenance and repairs often on the ground even in mid route. I don't see how they are to create such a maintenance team in space anytime soon.

Just wait till private enterprise tells the government to bug off and none of the worlds governments have any legal powers in space.

What if a number if multinational companies decide to claim the moon.
some high power lasers and a launch system to send rocks back at the earth and what government would be able to stop them.

Read "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress" by Robert A. Heinlein.

The moon is the ultimate high ground.

Originally posted by ANNED
Just wait till private enterprise tells the government to bug off and none of the worlds governments have any legal powers in space.

What if a number if multinational companies decide to claim the moon.
some high power lasers and a launch system to send rocks back at the earth and what government would be able to stop them.

Read "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress" by Robert A. Heinlein.

The moon is the ultimate high ground.

When corporations get into space with that kind of presence, you can bet governments will be there too, whether these are earth based governments with a presence in orbit. Or entirely orbital, lunar or side based nations.

[edit on 5-6-2010 by Kaius Alexander]

reply to post by dzonatas


Honestly, I am not so sure about the instruments and computers aboard the shuttles. I would think they have been constantly updating the electronics on the shuttles. It is just that the majority of the shuttle and skeleton were built in the 80s, how many people still drive around in a car from the 80s let alone a rocket ship? How can anyone expect the shuttle to continue working without constant upgrades, modifications, and funding?

All I am asking is for the U.S. government and NASA to share their expertise and knowledge about the shuttle program and rocket propulsion with a select few companies capable of improving upon the best space transportation ships ever known to mankind. Don't make any company striving to go into space discover it all for themselves when the knowledge and technology already exists.

It seems like the U.S. Government is will to sacrifice more lives and numerous years just to keep their superiority over other countries in space without extending their own program. There is a whole industry waiting for Pandora’s box to be unlocked and shared with the rest of us.

“Gentlemen, we can rebuild them. We have the technology.” We are capable of sharing the world’s highest technology all we need is the key and the go ahead.

reply to post by dzonatas


I thought that the shuttles now interfaced through laptops nowadays?Im sure photos have been released..

nice pic , no laptops though
www.crunchgear.com...

Originally posted by DJW001
It would have been more impressive if SpaceX didn't need a billion dollar hand-out from NASA

Hand out? Space X is selling a service and NASA is a coustomer. That is not nearly the same as a hand out. They aren't just getting free money for doing nothing.

If I make you a sandwitch and you pay me for it are you giving me a hand out? Certainly not.

reply to post by fieryjaguarpaw


Point taken. But it would have been really cool if they needed zero tax payer dollars, right?

reply to post by tooo many pills


The shuttle was built by the private sector, so I'm sure the contractors still have the blueprints on file. The problem with the shuttle is that it was designed to do too many things and therefore isn't very cost effective. In other words, an over-sized, complicated shuttle operates at a loss.