Page 8 of 8 [ 117 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1 ... 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

ruveyn
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 Sep 2008
Age: 87
Gender: Male
Posts: 31,502
Location: New Jersey

26 May 2011, 11:34 am

MDD123 wrote:
What I don't like is the planned mission to Mars though. The space program is already struggling and we're going to invest in a mission that is not only extremely risky, but won't offer the kind of dividends that a moon colony could.


+1

Going to Mars at this stage is very unwise. Better we should learn to use our Moon.

ruveyn



Inuyasha
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 12 Jan 2009
Age: 41
Gender: Male
Posts: 9,745

26 May 2011, 11:36 am

psychohist wrote:
Inuyasha wrote:
They were actually thinking of launching shuttles off of airplanes for a while but finally figured it was a bad idea.

Indeed - quite possibly a mistake as Space Ship One launched off an airplane and Space Ship Two will too.


Actually I've been surprised there hasn't been an accident from that. Launching a spacecraft off an airplane is extremely dangerous in the fact it can get both the crew of the spaceship and the airplane killed.

The advantage to this however is that one doesn't need as much fuel to actually get to a stable orbit.



Sand
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 15 Sep 2007
Age: 98
Gender: Male
Posts: 11,484
Location: Finland

26 May 2011, 11:57 am

Inuyasha wrote:
psychohist wrote:
Inuyasha wrote:
They were actually thinking of launching shuttles off of airplanes for a while but finally figured it was a bad idea.

Indeed - quite possibly a mistake as Space Ship One launched off an airplane and Space Ship Two will too.


Actually I've been surprised there hasn't been an accident from that. Launching a spacecraft off an airplane is extremely dangerous in the fact it can get both the crew of the spaceship and the airplane killed.

The advantage to this however is that one doesn't need as much fuel to actually get to a stable orbit.


A mistake in launching an orbiting vehicle from a ground rocket can also get people killed as experience has demonstrated. That's how mistakes work.



Oodain
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 30 Jan 2011
Age: 33
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,022
Location: in my own little tamarillo jungle,

26 May 2011, 12:00 pm

Inuyasha wrote:
psychohist wrote:
Inuyasha wrote:
They were actually thinking of launching shuttles off of airplanes for a while but finally figured it was a bad idea.

Indeed - quite possibly a mistake as Space Ship One launched off an airplane and Space Ship Two will too.


Actually I've been surprised there hasn't been an accident from that. Launching a spacecraft off an airplane is extremely dangerous in the fact it can get both the crew of the spaceship and the airplane killed.

The advantage to this however is that one doesn't need as much fuel to actually get to a stable orbit.


how dangerous it is has nothing to do with how many people are at risk.

i think you will find that any technology used to launch the apollo missions were a lot worse with regards to safety.
that being said safety has always been a big concern in the space industry, there is a reason the navcoms on the shuttles still use IC's from the eighties, they have been proven to work under those conditions (i think they were modified for this specific purpose i dont know)


_________________
//through chaos comes complexity//

the scent of the tamarillo is pungent and powerfull,
woe be to the nose who nears it.


psychohist
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 23 Feb 2010
Age: 64
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,623
Location: Somerville, MA, USA

26 May 2011, 1:53 pm

Inuyasha wrote:
Actually I've been surprised there hasn't been an accident from that. Launching a spacecraft off an airplane is extremely dangerous in the fact it can get both the crew of the spaceship and the airplane killed.

Burt Rutan is an incredible engineer and with solid financing from Branson can do things right.

Here's a 5 minute video of the latest spaceshiptwo test showing the release of the space craft from the airplane:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er9-sTDh ... r_embedded

They're taking bookings here. Have your $200,000 ready:

http://www.virgingalactic.com/