View Full Version : First commercial orbiting spacecraft
Platapus
12-08-10, 08:36 PM
Most cooleo. :yeah:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/12/08/space.flight/index.html?hpt=T2
A space-age first: A commercial craft returns from low-Earth orbit
The first commercial spacecraft to return from a low-Earth orbit splashed into the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday about 500 miles off the coast of Southern California.
The Dragon, a craft developed by the company SpaceX, was concluding a brief but possibly historic flight for the infant commercial space travel industry.
The vehicle hit the water shortly after 2 p.m. ET, a little more than three hours after liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida atop a Falcon 9 rocket.
Before splashing down, the Dragon orbited earth at more than 17,000 mph.
Only six nations or government agencies have recovered a spacecraft from a low orbit: the United States, Russia, China, Japan, India and the European Space Agency.
...
Sounds like it made a little more than two orbits.
Just. plain. cool. :yeah:
papa_smurf
12-09-10, 11:15 AM
Wont be long before spaceports become as common as airports:yep:
Jimbuna
12-09-10, 11:31 AM
Wont be long before spaceports become as common as airports:yep:
Too far off for us to witness I should think :hmmm:
SteamWake
12-09-10, 11:34 AM
Wont be long before spaceports become as common as airports:yep:
I am still waiting on a flying car :O:
papa_smurf
12-09-10, 11:45 AM
Too far off for us to witness I should think :hmmm:
Might not be for me, i'm hoping to be still around when the first manned mission to Mars is launched.
Jimbuna
12-09-10, 12:52 PM
Might not be for me, i'm hoping to be still around when the first manned mission to Mars is launched.
How old are you...6 months? :DL
TLAM Strike
12-09-10, 12:57 PM
Might not be for me, i'm hoping to be still around when the first manned mission to Mars is launched.
We would be there right now if the Soviet Union didn't fall apart.
What do you think all those long endurance flights on Mir were training for? :03:
papa_smurf
12-09-10, 02:36 PM
How old are you...6 months? :DL
Cheeky monkey:O: (i'm 29 btw)
Meh, I'm waiting for the announcement of the building of the 1st space elevator. Then we don't need your stinking rockets.:D
Meh, I'm waiting for the announcement of the building of the 1st space elevator. Then we don't need your stinking rockets.
The elevator gets you in orbit. To go anywhere else, you still need the rockets.
True, but IIRC this thing was only about getting into orbit. Not going anywhere else.:O:
TLAM Strike
12-09-10, 04:08 PM
True, but IIRC this thing was only about getting into orbit. Not going anywhere else.:O:
Once your are in orbit you are halfway to anywhere. ;)
True, but IIRC this thing was only about getting into orbit. Not going anywhere else.
Getting into orbit is what we've been doing for years. Since 1972.
It's time to do something different.
SteamWake
12-09-10, 09:00 PM
Getting into orbit is what we've been doing for years. Since 1972.
It's time to do something different.
A private enterprise has never put a manned spacecraft into orbit.
That would be different. :rock:
Platapus
12-09-10, 09:09 PM
A private enterprise has never put a manned spacecraft into orbit.
That would be different. :rock:
In Project Mercury, it took the United States 20 unmanned test flights (starting with Little Joe 1) before we dared to put a man in the can.
I think Space X will do it in less than that. :yep:
TLAM Strike
12-09-10, 10:47 PM
In Project Mercury, it took the United States 20 unmanned test flights (starting with Little Joe 1) before we dared to put a man in the can.
I think Space X will do it in less than that. :yep:
But Space X has 50 years of NASA and Soviet tech/experience to learn from so it doesn't need to take 20 launches before a person can attempt a flight. :03:
A private enterprise has never put a manned spacecraft into orbit.
That would be different.
So, private industry has demonstrated that it can do what was done 50 years ago? Indeed. The pace of progress staggers the mind.
But Space X has 50 years of NASA and Soviet tech/experience to learn from...
SpaceX (and the rest of the private industry) has a large number of people who used to work for the government, either directly, or as contractors; they also have access to a much broader knowledge base, built almost exclusively by that same government program. But they aren't doing anything that wasn't done a long time ago. They may do it cheaper and better, but they're still doing what we've been doing for 50 years, and it's the same thing we've been doing exclusively for 38 years. The only reason they can do it cheaper and better is because they already know how to do it.
Imagine if Columbus, under a government contract to Spain, sailed to a Caribbean island. And all the governments of Europe kept sending people to the same Caribbean island. Suddenly, some upstart private enterprise manages to fund and undertake their own voyage, and goes to the exact same island. Not exactly what I call doing something new. It's the same thing with space. We keep doing the same thing over and over again, and it's not really getting us anywhere.
goldorak
12-10-10, 12:02 AM
So, private industry has demonstrated that it can do what was done 50 years ago? Indeed. The pace of progress staggers the mind.
No private industry, has ever had the MASSIVE resources that the US government threw at NASA during the sixties. The technological jump that was achieved from late 1950 to late 1960 didn't come out of thin air, not even with the brightest minds available. Just saying but in 1966 NASA received 5.5 % of the US Federal Budget. Right now NASA receives about 0.55% thats a reduction of over 90% over the Apollo era. So any kind of comparison is simply moot.
Its a miracle that a private capsule even managed to achieve an orbit, and lets not forget that these entrepreneurs are walking in the tracks layed down by NASA and the Soviets over the course of several decades.
No private industry, has ever had the MASSIVE resources that the US government threw at NASA during the sixties. The technological jump that was achieved from late 1950 to late 1960 didn't come out of thin air, not even with the brightest minds available.
SpaceX and the other private industries are still reaping the benefits from those resources.
Just saying but in 1966 NASA received 5.5 % of the US Federal Budget. Right now NASA receives about 0.55% thats a reduction of over 90% over the Apollo era.
One of the main reasons that the NASA budget in the mid sixties was so high was the way they were operating, and the political climate. NASA was given a goal of beating the Russians to the moon. Us Americans were going to beat those dang Ruskies if it took everything we had. So we funded every project that might work. Some guy had an idea, they shoveled money into it until it was proven, or it was surpassed by somebody else's idea.
Its a miracle that a private capsule even managed to achieve an orbit, and lets not forget that these entrepreneurs are walking in the tracks layed down by NASA and the Soviets over the course of several decades.
It's not a miracle. It's a government contract. SpaceX was contracted by the government to provide supply flights, so that's what they're working on. Furthermore, private companies have put things into orbit before. We've been down those tracks, we've worn them down, we're stuck in a rut.
Don't get me wrong, though. I'm fully in favor of letting private industry take over supplying Space Station, and ferrying crews to it. I even support letting them take over operating the thing. Let private industry have LEO. NASA needs to get out of that rut, and start reaching higher. If we are to have a future in space, we need to go further.
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