Race to Moon by Private Companies
nytimes.com
Race to Moon by Private Companies
1–10 of 21 posts
Re: Race to Moon by Private Companies
#2"At the very least, a flotilla of unmanned spacecraft could be headed Moonward within the next few years, with goals that range from lofty to goofy." Really the one sentence that stuck out for me, before what I thought were a disappointing list of overly optimistic ideas. While it's good to hear teams getting inspired by Google's challenge, there's plenty of money to be made by carrying payloads to orbit or further for various governments. Why do we need to dream up these grand entrepreneurial ideas before it's clear these companies can even make it into space?
Maybe I'm just disappointed after reading the title because companies I see as more invested and practical - SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, or Blue Origin, for example - weren't mentioned.
Re: Race to Moon by Private Companies
#3"At the very least, a flotilla of unmanned spacecraft could be headed Moonward within the next few years, with goals that range from lofty to goofy." Really the one sentence that stuck out for me, before what I thought were a disappointing list of overly optimistic ideas. While it's good to hear teams getting inspired by Google's challenge, there's plenty of money to be made by carrying payloads to orbit or further f…
These prizes are a cost effective way to get people and companies to solve difficult problems. The idea goes back hundreds of years. Take the Longitude Prize, as an example. It was won by a clock maker.
Re: Race to Moon by Private Companies
#4To make space travel more common there must be an economic reason to make the trip. Solve that problem, otherwise we'll always be confined to one off stunts. Once the cost of a moon mission is a substantial net gain you'll see the real space race.
Re: Race to Moon by Private Companies
#5One Silicon Valley venture, Moon Express...
Hark! Do I see the ancestor of Planet Express developing before mine own eyes?
Re: Race to Moon by Private Companies
#6"At the very least, a flotilla of unmanned spacecraft could be headed Moonward within the next few years, with goals that range from lofty to goofy." Really the one sentence that stuck out for me, before what I thought were a disappointing list of overly optimistic ideas. While it's good to hear teams getting inspired by Google's challenge, there's plenty of money to be made by carrying payloads to orbit or further f…
It's probably precisely because SpaceX is practical. They are approaching space in a very businesslike fashion, which is very poor for generating hype & interest, which is sorely lacking right now, and very much needed if we are going to launch another "space age".
Re: Race to Moon by Private Companies
#7"At the very least, a flotilla of unmanned spacecraft could be headed Moonward within the next few years, with goals that range from lofty to goofy." Really the one sentence that stuck out for me, before what I thought were a disappointing list of overly optimistic ideas. While it's good to hear teams getting inspired by Google's challenge, there's plenty of money to be made by carrying payloads to orbit or further f…
I'm familiar with CMU's effort and am pretty sure they are still planning on using SpaceX's Falcon 9 to launch the robot.
The entrepreneurial ideas are necessary because going to the moon is very, very expensive. Even with the $30M prize, significant additional funds are necessary to get us there.
Re: Race to Moon by Private Companies
#8To make space travel more common there must be an economic reason to make the trip. Solve that problem, otherwise we'll always be confined to one off stunts. Once the cost of a moon mission is a substantial net gain you'll see the real space race.
Remove the protectionist ITAR then.
Re: Race to Moon by Private Companies
#9To make space travel more common there must be an economic reason to make the trip. Solve that problem, otherwise we'll always be confined to one off stunts. Once the cost of a moon mission is a substantial net gain you'll see the real space race.
...there must be an economic reason to make the trip. Solve that problem...
Isn't that backwards? If moon travel is not economically worth it, that's not a "problem", that's objective reality. And if you try to invent/force an economic "reason" where there really isn't one, you are creating a problem where there really isn't a problem. That means you are the problem!
Re: Race to Moon by Private Companies
#10To make space travel more common there must be an economic reason to make the trip. Solve that problem, otherwise we'll always be confined to one off stunts. Once the cost of a moon mission is a substantial net gain you'll see the real space race.
I was kinda assuming it will be financed by cheese revenues.