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First spaceport

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First spaceport

Postby Duende » Mon 22 Dec 2008, 10:59:26

[marq=left]{Topic moved to open discussion by wisconsin_cur. Current Event Rules}[/marq]

It appears we're prepared to open up the last great frontier.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')ASHINGTON (AFP) – The US Federal Aviation Administration has given the green light for the world's first commercial spaceport, New Mexico authorities said Thursday.

The FAA granted Spaceport America a license for vertical and horizontal space launches following an environmental impact study, according to the New Mexico Space Authority (NMSA).


Spaceport - Yahoo! news
Last edited by Duende on Mon 22 Dec 2008, 11:20:27, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: First spaceport

Postby TheDude » Mon 22 Dec 2008, 11:06:56

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$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he system plans to take passengers approximately 100 kilometers (62 miles) into the sky. Virgin Galactic plans to welcome 500 passengers per year who will pay 200,000 dollars each for a suborbital flight lasting three to four minutes.


Sort of a Mercury 7 equivalent to those nausea inducing carnival rides - the "Hammerhead."

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Re: First spaceport

Postby Ludi » Mon 22 Dec 2008, 11:52:49

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 's')uborbital flight lasting three to four minutes



Not exactly "space."

:roll:
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Re: First spaceport

Postby mos6507 » Mon 22 Dec 2008, 12:43:44

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 's')uborbital flight lasting three to four minutes



Not exactly "space."

:roll:


It's enough to earn your astronaught patch, like the X15 pilots got.
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Re: First spaceport

Postby eastbay » Mon 22 Dec 2008, 12:51:17

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 's')uborbital flight lasting three to four minutes



Not exactly "space."

:roll:


Yup. Just because they go really high up in the sky doesn't make them an astronaut.

The rule should be 100 miles. That's about when you can do a few orbits.
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Re: First spaceport

Postby smallpoxgirl » Mon 22 Dec 2008, 12:52:08

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TheDude', 'S')ort of a Mercury 7 equivalent to those nausea inducing carnival rides - the "Hammerhead."


Some carnival ride. $70,000 per minute.
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Re: First spaceport

Postby gnm » Mon 22 Dec 2008, 13:01:08

Yeah and they rammed it through no matter how many times it was opposed by voters. Great, NM gets to host a "spaceport" so fscktard rich a$$holes can play Buck Rogers (the latest bragging rights among them) - Hey they can use all the taxpayer bailout money to cover their rides..

:-x

-G
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Re: First spaceport

Postby mos6507 » Mon 22 Dec 2008, 15:43:29

If the rich didn't spend their money on this, they'd buy a yacht or something else. Let them have their fun.
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Re: First spaceport

Postby gnm » Mon 22 Dec 2008, 17:17:05

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', 'I')f the rich didn't spend their money on this, they'd buy a yacht or something else. Let them have their fun.


You don't get rich enough to do this by being clever and working hard... You get that rich by manipulating the system to your advantage via lobbyists, tax scams, or the like. Rather like making sure the politicians screw the taxpayers into subsidizing your spaceport ego stroking complex...

-G :-x
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Re: First spaceport

Postby Tanada » Mon 22 Dec 2008, 19:27:43

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', 'Y')up. Just because they go really high up in the sky doesn't make them an astronaut.

The rule should be 100 miles. That's about when you can do a few orbits.


Actually 100 miles is totally arbitrary, you can go into orbit and stay there for several passes once you get up 62 miles, which is why the altitude was set that way. Many early orbital flights were much lower than 100 miles.

Also its a suborbital hop, they don't have the velocity to go into orbit so even if they climb to 124 miles instead it would be irrelevant to defining them as astronauts. An Astronaut is someone who has gone high enough to escape the atmospheric envelope of the Earth, which more or less is the altitude you can successfully orbit at without atmospheric drag pulling you down on your first trip around the planet.
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Re: First spaceport

Postby mos6507 » Mon 22 Dec 2008, 19:30:45

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('gnm', '
')You don't get rich enough to do this by being clever and working hard...


I know that's true in a lot of cases. Maybe even the majority of cases, but do you think everyone who ever got rich scammed their way into riches? I know that's not a new concept and certainly a popular one (borne out of jealousy). I'm just not sure it's true. I think someone can play by the rules and become rich. Now maybe the rules allow for stuff you consider to be evil, and maybe they might have an arrogant attitude like Steve Jobs, but I don't think you HAVE to break the rules.
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Re: First spaceport

Postby Ludi » Mon 22 Dec 2008, 20:45:57

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', ' ')(borne out of jealousy).


Do you think everyone who is critical of the rich is jealous of them? That's a popular concept also.
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Re: First spaceport

Postby outcast » Mon 22 Dec 2008, 22:35:22

This is only the first step, later space tourism will be expanded. IIRC, when passenger airplanes first came about after world war one only rich people could afford it.
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Re: First spaceport

Postby eastbay » Mon 22 Dec 2008, 22:48:27

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('outcast', 'T')his is only the first step, later space tourism will be expanded. IIRC, when passenger airplanes first came about after world war one only rich people could afford it.



That was still true right up into the 50's. Even into the 70's a hop from SF to Anchorage was $400 round trip, or a few weeks average pay at that time. Now the trip can be made for a few days pay according to cheaptickets.com.

The local paper awhile back had an article about early air travel and one example was a flight from The Bay Area to the Philippines, which was $10,000 and a six day each way ordeal in 1948.

But I doubt these quick shots into the upper atmosphere will ever be anything other than a freaky novelty for the wealthy.

It's annoying to think tax money is to be spent on this.
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Re: First spaceport

Postby outcast » Mon 22 Dec 2008, 23:33:00

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'B')ut I doubt these quick shots into the upper atmosphere will ever be anything other than a freaky novelty for the wealthy.

It's annoying to think tax money is to be spent on this.



The company doing this is totally private (I think).

What I meant was that it will start as quick shots to the upper atmosphere, but later you can use a technique like this to make flying transcontinental many times faster, outperforming even the Concorde.
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Re: First spaceport

Postby gnm » Tue 23 Dec 2008, 00:16:38

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('gnm', '
')You don't get rich enough to do this by being clever and working hard...


I know that's true in a lot of cases. Maybe even the majority of cases, but do you think everyone who ever got rich scammed their way into riches? I know that's not a new concept and certainly a popular one (borne out of jealousy). I'm just not sure it's true. I think someone can play by the rules and become rich. Now maybe the rules allow for stuff you consider to be evil, and maybe they might have an arrogant attitude like Steve Jobs, but I don't think you HAVE to break the rules.


I know and like many rich people - millionaires even - I also have friends below the poverty line - call me well connected middle class. But the very wealthy I know wouldn't even think of spending that kind of money on crap like this and even reflect upon the disparity of the wealth they have with some guilt. And they are rich enough to realize that there is another ceiling there - to get richer still you have to be a bastard and start stepping on the rules (and using others) to go further still...

-G
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Re: First spaceport

Postby niknak » Tue 23 Dec 2008, 00:57:46

It's true. To be a billionaire or a president or a CEO of the fortune 500 you now have to sell your soul to the devil.
The last billionaire that was not totally evil was howard hughes,
And look what they did to him.
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