reo Posted July 20, 2021 Report Share Posted July 20, 2021 https://politicalwire.com/2021/07/20/jeff-bezos-and-crew-reach-space/ Quote Jeff Bezos and three passengers reached the edge of space Tuesday morning on a flight the billionaire businessman hopes will kick-start an expansive new era for human space travel, the Wall Street Journal reports. “The flight was timed to coincide with the date in 1969 when the Apollo 11 mission landed on the moon. In speeches, Mr. Bezos has cited that event as a key moment during his life and stated his conviction that humanity must establish outposts in the solar system where people could live.” New York Times: “That Mr. Bezos himself was seated in the capsule reflects his enthusiasm for the endeavor and perhaps signals his intent to give Blue Origin the focus and creative entrepreneurship that made Amazon one of the most powerful economic forces on the planet.” For those that don't know, Blue Origin recently opened what is essentially a quality test facility for their reusable rocket engines in Huntsville, AL. I'd interviewed for it but ended up not taking it. They're looking at trying to test an engine a day. That's pretty ambitious. But it also means they're looking at basically mass producing these things which would be an important step towards cheaper commercial space flight. Pretty interesting stuff going on in the space industry these days w/ Virgin Galactic making it to space too. These are the fruits of Obama retiring the space shuttle years ago. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan Posted July 20, 2021 Report Share Posted July 20, 2021 Tell me that movies don’t predict the future ? billionaire who looks like a evil mastermind flies to space to take over the world. The way he treats his employees I could give a shit about him, modern day slavery hidden by the prospect of “decent” wages Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OilerTitanHybrid Posted July 20, 2021 Report Share Posted July 20, 2021 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Downtown Posted July 20, 2021 Report Share Posted July 20, 2021 I wish they could just focus on funding/solving even greater tech advances on earth with the same vigor as space tourism. What a perfect example of how out-of-touch we are. We will waste our resources just to go for a joyride above the atmosphere. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
reo Posted July 20, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2021 1 minute ago, Downtown said: I wish they could just focus on funding/solving even greater tech advances on earth with the same vigor as space tourism. What a perfect example of how out-of-touch we are. We will waste our resources just to go for a joyride above the atmosphere. The point is, that's not what it's about. Thinking that's all it is about is just major short term thinking. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreepingDeath Posted July 20, 2021 Report Share Posted July 20, 2021 3 hours ago, reo said: These are the fruits of Obama retiring the space shuttle years ago. It is my understanding that the shuttle was used mostly to build the space station. The focus then shifted to moving astronauts back and forth from it to do experiments, etc. For that, using the Russian soyuz was more efficient. 2 hours ago, Downtown said: I wish they could just focus on funding/solving even greater tech advances on earth with the same vigor as space tourism. What a perfect example of how out-of-touch we are. We will waste our resources just to go for a joyride above the atmosphere. These types of explorations can yield unknown discoveries that can be used elsewhere. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
reo Posted July 20, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2021 4 minutes ago, CreepingDeath said: It is my understanding that the shuttle was used mostly to build the space station. The focus then shifted to moving astronauts back and forth from it to do experiments, etc. For that, using the Russian soyuz was more efficient. Not really. The point was that the US government is very good at figuring out how to do new things safely then passing it off to the private sector. They did something similar with fixed wing slight and air breathing propulsion. After the Wright Bros made it work, it fell by the side and no one cared until WWI when the gov developed the technology to warfare. Then it fell to the side again until WWII where the gov continued to develop it. And even after that no one really cared until the gov developed it enough to deliver the mail and transport VIPs. Then they passed the relatively new and safe technology off to the private sector to find ways to do it better and cheaper. They did something similar with NASA. The gov figured out how to do it and do it safely. Then Obama decided to let NASA focus on new technologies and further space exploration and started contracting out ISS resupply and other LEO contracts. SpaceX being the most well known private company to take over ISS resupply. With smaller and reusable rockets the private sector is able to dobl these things now much more cheaply. In the end what Obama put in place when he cancels Aires is working. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleNinja Posted July 20, 2021 Report Share Posted July 20, 2021 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkiller Posted July 20, 2021 Report Share Posted July 20, 2021 5 hours ago, CreepingDeath said: It is my understanding that the shuttle was used mostly to build the space station. The focus then shifted to moving astronauts back and forth from it to do experiments, etc. For that, using the Russian soyuz was more efficient. The shuttle was intended to be cheaper in the long run than the massive Saturn V rockets like they used in the Apollo moon missions and to launch heavy payloads like Skylab. Rockets were one time use only and the idea was that it would be cheaper to have a re-usable space plane. It was great for manned missions as well as launching (and later repairing) the Hubble space telescope as well as components for the ISS. The problem was that it was actually way more expensive than single use rockets. They required constant maintenance and not surprisingly keeping spaceships maintained and space worthy is pretty damned demanding. And that’s not even counting the fact that they blew up and killed the crew a couple of times. SpaceX has really accomplished the goal of developing reusable rockets. They don’t carry a payload as heavy as an old Saturn V (yet) but it’s way cheaper per launch. The Falcon Heavy rockets can lift about a 3rd as much as a Saturn V. I think Starship is supposed to be about on par with a Saturn V. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkiller Posted July 20, 2021 Report Share Posted July 20, 2021 8 hours ago, reo said: These are the fruits of Obama retiring the space shuttle years ago. We can’t really credit Obama with that one. Dubya announced the planned retirement of the shuttle fleet following the Columbia disaster. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
reo Posted July 20, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2021 7 minutes ago, Starkiller said: We can’t really credit Obama with that one. Dubya announced the planned retirement of the shuttle fleet following the Columbia disaster. Not with the same plan moving forward iirc Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleNinja Posted July 20, 2021 Report Share Posted July 20, 2021 37 minutes ago, Starkiller said: The problem was that it was actually way more expensive than single use rockets. They required constant maintenance and not surprisingly keeping spaceships maintained and space worthy is pretty damned demanding. And that’s not even counting the fact that they blew up and killed the crew a couple of times. Seems as though the earth is pretty determined to keep its inhabitants... inhabited. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkiller Posted July 20, 2021 Report Share Posted July 20, 2021 Just now, NashvilleNinja said: Seems as though the earth is pretty determined to keep its inhabitants... inhabited. I keep jumping but to no avail… Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
9 Nines Posted July 21, 2021 Report Share Posted July 21, 2021 Amazon orders were delayed from the lag to space today. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Come on Titans Posted July 21, 2021 Report Share Posted July 21, 2021 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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