US Set to Approve Private Moon Mission • Hacker News Board

Re: US Set to Approve Private Moon Mission

#51

Post by pcrh » Mon, Jun 06, 2016, 10:03 AM UTC

shirro wrote: post #39

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the United States and the Soviet Union along with a few insignificant states to lend a plurality got together and granted a monopoly on space exploration to nation-states. International conventions require ships in international waters be flagged. This comes in handy when e.g. a ship needs help or causes trouble. I don't see the extension of this principle to spaceflight as being unreasonable. If Bezos's bird comes…

It would be amusing if a Liberian flagged space ship was the first to land people on Mars.

There's an honest-to-goodness Congolese space program.

https://www.vice.com/read/hows-the-congolese-space-program-d...

Re: US Set to Approve Private Moon Mission

#52

Post by jessaustin » Mon, Jun 06, 2016, 10:07 AM UTC

danieltillett wrote: post #47

readams wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty sure a nearby gamma ray burst would sterilize the whole solar system.

I was under the impression that it is not the gamma rays that would get you but the destruction of the ozone layer [1]. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-Earth_supernova

Mars doesn't have an ozone layer, so it's not clear that it would be more inhabitable than Earth with a degraded ozone layer. Even if we had to live underground for a while and lots of things died, we'd still be breathing oxygen and using tools that already exist here.

Re: US Set to Approve Private Moon Mission

#53

Post by andreasvc » Mon, Jun 06, 2016, 10:17 AM UTC

What are the scientific goals of such a mission? The article only talks about the regulatory hurdles.

Re: US Set to Approve Private Moon Mission

#54

Post by schrodinger » Mon, Jun 06, 2016, 10:54 AM UTC

jessaustin wrote: post #50

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the United States and the Soviet Union along with a few insignificant states to lend a plurality got together and granted a monopoly on space exploration to nation-states. International conventions require ships in international waters be flagged. This comes in handy when e.g. a ship needs help or causes trouble. I don't see the extension of this principle to spaceflight as being unreasonable. If Bezos's bird comes…

If Bezos's bird comes down on my house, I'd prefer there exist a venue in which to sue him. This doesn't seem to have much to do with outer space treaties, unless perhaps your house is on the moon. Assuming that isn't the case, your house is protected by the laws of the nation in which it is located, and perhaps those of other nations as well.

Presumably to get to space you still have to take off from somewhere on the planet, no?

Re: US Set to Approve Private Moon Mission

#55

Post by Bluestrike2 » Mon, Jun 06, 2016, 11:50 AM UTC

schrodinger wrote: post #54

jessaustin wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If Bezos's bird comes down on my house, I'd prefer there exist a venue in which to sue him. This doesn't seem to have much to do with outer space treaties, unless perhaps your house is on the moon. Assuming that isn't the case, your house is protected by the laws of the nation in which it is located, and perhaps those of other nations as well.

Presumably to get to space you still have to take off from somewhere on the planet, no?

Existing legal frameworks would suffice for pretty much anything in-atmosphere. The fact that the rocket is heading into space is largely irrelevant.

Re: US Set to Approve Private Moon Mission

#56

Post by distances » Mon, Jun 06, 2016, 12:10 PM UTC

ColinWright wrote: post #49

Animats wrote: post #12

A one-way robotic mission to the moon is reasonable enough. It's been 50 years since the first one. The USSR's Luna I landed on the moon on February 3, 1966. The US's Surveyor I landed on the moon on June 2, 1966.

There was one in 2013: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yutu_%28rover%29

I wasn't aware of this, somehow totally flew beneath my radar.

Re: US Set to Approve Private Moon Mission

#57

Post by toxican » Mon, Jun 06, 2016, 12:16 PM UTC

danieltillett wrote: post #46

xufi wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting point. Do you think Elon Musk would ever create a expedition to the Moon even though he's so focused on Mars right now? I always thought he would've tried at least once

Von Braun wanted to go to Mars too, but ended up choosing the Moon as being the more viable option.

Yeah, in the 60s when nearly every occurrence in space was a "world first"

Re: US Set to Approve Private Moon Mission

#58

Post by runholm » Mon, Jun 06, 2016, 12:55 PM UTC

nostrademons wrote: post #25

This is one of 16 teams competing for the Google Lunar X-Prize: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Lunar_X_Prize My bet would actually be on SpaceIL or Astrobotics to win the prize. Astrobotics has been the consistent winner when it comes to demonstrating intermediate goals; they won the prizes for Landing, Mobility, and Imaging, and seem to have a solid engineering effort based out of CMU with partnerships with ma…

Out of interest: What is the correct way to sell your stock in your company? What made the way that the founder of InfoSpace did it illegal?

Re: US Set to Approve Private Moon Mission

#59

Post by larrydag » Mon, Jun 06, 2016, 1:15 PM UTC

andreasvc wrote: post #53

What are the scientific goals of such a mission? The article only talks about the regulatory hurdles.

Here's some ideas. I have no idea if anyone is working on it.

1. Telescope

2. Dark matter research

3. Effects of radiation in low atmosphere environment

4. Remote habitat research

5. Testing unmanned rocket/vehicle landings and launches

Re: US Set to Approve Private Moon Mission

#60

Post by snowwrestler » Mon, Jun 06, 2016, 1:19 PM UTC

ColinWright wrote: post #49

Animats wrote: post #12

A one-way robotic mission to the moon is reasonable enough. It's been 50 years since the first one. The USSR's Luna I landed on the moon on February 3, 1966. The US's Surveyor I landed on the moon on June 2, 1966.

There was one in 2013: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yutu_%28rover%29

Also in 2013, NASA's LADEE mission orbited the moon for a few months to study the lunar atmosphere. When that mission was over they crashed it into the far side.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Atmosphere_and_Dust_En...