We’ve been eagerly anticipating the first launch of our new space era. Like it or not, NASA isn’t going up anymore, so someone else has to. When we posted that the launch event was going to be broadcasted live (which ultimately failed), there was a lot of debate in our comments on the subject of private vs government entities doing the space traveling. There was also a lot of childish bickering.
Just to clarify, Hackaday’s official stance is, “Go to space”. We do not care if it is the government, [Elon Musk], The russian space program, a hackerspace in a home made rocket, or an evil billionaire. We just want space research to continue. Sure, there are drawbacks to some of these, most notably that the evil billionaire would most likely be doing this to kill us all, but at least the research would be funded.
You can watch a short clip of the launch, and while you do so, remember that on board that ship are the ashes of actor [James Doohan] also known as [Scotty]. That’s pretty awesome.
I can’t help it but every time I see Mr. Elon Musk I remember this dude from LOST: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Martin_Keamy.png
Funny you should mention that. First time I saw Musk I thought… wasn’t he that actor guy…
Anywho,
“Just to clarify, Hackaday’s official stance is, “Go to space”. We do not care if it is the government, [Elon Musk], The russian space program, a hackerspace in a home made rocket, or an evil billionaire. We just want space research to continue. Sure, there are drawbacks to some of these, most notably that the evil billionaire would most likely be doing this to kill us all, but at least the research would be funded.”
My sentiments exactly, well said Caleb
there’s no video on that link
Yea, no video here either.
It’s in the second link
Elon Musk certainly has a passion for it too. He obviously doesn’t need the money, his ultimate goal is to make the human race a multi-planet species. When he choked up on 60 Minutes when they brought up the disapproval of some of the early astronauts–his “heroes”–I knew this guy was for real.
Shame there really isn’t an evil Billionaire intent upon killing us all.
Then NASA might get some of those “defense” trillions and have a real space program again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKKHSAE1gIs
I work in government space. There’s plenty of room for both government investment and private enterprise at this time. NASA should be focusing more on propulsion technology research (real rocket science). That’s the place where private enterprise cannot go due to investor risk, so government can serve a good role documenting new propulsion technologies. NASA should abandon federally funded astronaut joyrides into LEO (sorry guys), we don’t gain anything from that. The ISS, as wonderful as it is that we’ve collaborated with so many nations to build and use it, is a white elephant. We will learn next to nothing on the ISS that we could not learn going to the moon or mars. Human trips to LEO to study low gravity are a waste of time.
Private enterprise should pickup all the slack on routine launch vehicles into LEO. They should also be the ones prospecting the moon. This is one silver lining to just how wealthy the most wealthy in the world have become in the past 2 decades, they collectively own enough value to fund space exploration far exceeding what NASA has done. The only question is can we reduce their investor risk so they’ll do it.
Let me propose something.
Let’s take half of those billionairs money and but it into rocket research. I’m sure that at least one of them would get so pissed off that he (or why not she) will turn into evil billionaire we are looking for.
you might just be on to something there…
I really don’t think it’s fair to blame NASA for not funding the space program when it’s Congress that sets the budget. The cost of developing the F-35 Lighting II plus the cost of buying actual planes in the numbers the govt. says they plan to buy comes to around $400B, according to wikipedia. The entire Apollo project cost $170B in 2005 dollars. The US spends more on its military than the countries with the next 16 biggest militaries combined. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures If we were to cut that to only eight times we could get people on Mars in 15 years AND provide healthcare for every many woman and child in the country…
…provided we murder the people who made the budget this way in the first place.
What I’m saying is that to get to Mars, we need to eat the rich.
“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.”
-Dwight D. Eisenhower, from a speech made April 16, 1953
That is just too awesome
I’m with hackerspace on this. Let’s get into space any way we can. Even if a Dr. Evil is the one pushing us there at least someone is heading in a direction that will take us off the planet. In no way do I believe that Elon Musk is Dr Evil, in fact I could see myself being just like him if I had a ungodly amount of money to play with.
One note on private enterprise getting us to space. We don’t neccisarily need to reduce the risks for them. We could also allow the rewards to be better. Right now there are all kinds of international agreements and roadblocks to anyone going into space to make a profit. We need to take these away. Make it so the first company to land on an aproved list of asteroids gets to own that asteroid and all its resources. That is enough value to make a lot of very rich people take some very high risks.
during the expansion of the US westward there was a race, put down your stakes, pay $1, you get that land. we could do that with asteroid…or sections of the moon, or sections of mars.
but it would have to be an international agreement since no country can grant land ownership over any area in space or on other celestial bodies. but being able to claim a section of the moon, or mars, or your own asteroid, an area which is not bound by existing terrestrial laws…that would be popular.
im looking forward to the day we begin mining celestial bodies. mining needs miners, miners need housing, mining also needs trade routes, trade routes bring exploration. its a fascinating concept.
GO TO SPACE!
The thing to remember is that the stuff about not being able to claim space is by mutual agreement. North and Central America weren’t exactly legally claimed by Europe; they were seized by people with the resources to say “this is now mine” and make it stick. I suspect that sooner or later someone will do the same with an asteroid or some such body, and then all bets will be off. For all we know it will turn out for the better, but I’d bet that eggs will be broken in the making of that omelet.
Sure, let’s cut back defense spending even more, so then the Chinese and radical Muslims can have the Moon, Mars, and everything else too.