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Copenhagen Suborbitals: The world’s only manned, amateur space program

copenhagensuborbitals.com

61–70 of 72 posts

Re: Copenhagen Suborbitals: The world’s only manned, amateur space program

#61
post #18

This is awesome! I hope they get a nice bump in membership numbers after being featured on HN. Does anyone know if there a way to get more involved in the project (eg as a volunteer of any kind)? I couldn't find anything on the website.

They are very open. You can basically just show up in their hangar and have a chat with whoever is around at the time. At least it used to be like this, I haven't been out there for some years.

CS are already very well known in Denmark. Everybody with any sort of engineering or science interest here knows about them.

Re: Copenhagen Suborbitals: The world’s only manned, amateur space program

#62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are writing in a second (or third+) language. People learning English have to learn adjective order — it's a big, red bus; not a red, big bus – which could have contributed.

https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/commas-w... I'm pretty sure it is "big red bus"[0] and not "big, red bus" unless you're using the comma for emphasis? Either way, as you say, it can't be "red, big bus" nor can it be "red big bus" because these adjectives are cumulative, not coordinating. [0] https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/commas-w... [1] https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar…

I think that comma was correct. Try saying it (the whole sentence I mean, not just "big red bus". He wasn't an adjective phrase describing the bus but an example of a list of adjectives that could form an adjective phrase. You instinctively put pauses between "big" and "red" because you are talking about it as a list. When you are talking about lists you put commas between the elements, and when you take pauses you put commas. So there are at least two reasons why a comma belongs there even though when using adjectives naturally you don't put a comma.

Re: Copenhagen Suborbitals: The world’s only manned, amateur space program

#63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Writing it that way makes it sound like they've already achieved the goal, that they're already putting humans into space. Like, if just having it as a goal is sufficient, well heck, I could step onto my lawn tomorrow and declare my household a manned amateur space program.

Which would be just fine and acceptable, as long as you declared feasible plans for removing your entire lot from the ground and off to space :)

He doesn't need to move the lot to space. Just use it to move a human to space...

Either way I don't imagine his neighbors will be happy.

Re: Copenhagen Suborbitals: The world’s only manned, amateur space program

#64

These guys are super amazing! I worry that they will run up against the MTCR[1] in their next step between their unmanned and manned version, since driving out to international waters is 'exporting' as is flying above 100km :-) It would be awesome if the Danish government would come out and publicly sanction their efforts to cut off that potential mess. [1] https://www.nti.org/learn/treaties-and-regimes/missile-techn…

Their website states that they launch from a Danish Naval base and they receive help from Danish and Swedish authorities, so hopefully that means the Danish government could be open to helping out with the MTCR too.

https://copenhagensuborbitals.com/about-us/

Re: Copenhagen Suborbitals: The world’s only manned, amateur space program

#65
I wish them best of luck, but am more optimistic about Paul Allen's Stratolaunch system: https://www.stratolaunch.com/2018/08/20/stratolaunch-announc... They hope to orbit a 370kg payload in 2020.

That mass seems almost sufficient to send up a human.

Could we build a 300kg capsule to carry a 70kg human payload, a few hours of air and power, parachute, heatshield, and enough thrust to de-orbit (with less than 5-7G of acceleration)?

Stratolaunch is using a Pegasus rocket https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasus_(rocket), which is obviously not rated for human spaceflight, but rich "explorers" might be interested.

Re: Copenhagen Suborbitals: The world’s only manned, amateur space program

#66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair, although I feel like with Everest, the fact that it's so risky is part of the point. Like, if hiking up Everest was perfectly safe, would people still treat it as some huge accomplishment?

I feel like you’re implying things are different with space flight, but I feel like they’re the same, no?

I think Copenhagen Subobital might agree with you :)

> When Edmund Hillary was asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest he replied: “Because it’s there”.

https://copenhagensuborbitals.com/about-us/

Re: Copenhagen Suborbitals: The world’s only manned, amateur space program

#67
post #65

I wish them best of luck, but am more optimistic about Paul Allen's Stratolaunch system: https://www.stratolaunch.com/2018/08/20/stratolaunch-announc... They hope to orbit a 370kg payload in 2020. That mass seems almost sufficient to send up a human. Could we build a 300kg capsule to carry a 70kg human payload, a few hours of air and power, parachute, heatshield, and enough thrust to de-orbit (with less than 5-7G of…

Stratolaunch is far away from anything human related. There are a couple competitors who want to lift a couple 100kg to LEO by 2020.

They have not even built their own rocket yet and so far their efforts in that direction have not impressed progressed fast. It will be 10+ years before the launch a human, if ever. Given the existing competition, I don't think they will ever get there.

Outside of BlueOrigin and maybe Virgin Galactic are close to human suborbital flight.

Re: Copenhagen Suborbitals: The world’s only manned, amateur space program

#68
post #21

One of the founders of Copenhagen Suborbitals are the now infamous Peter Madsen https://www.theguardian.com/global/2018/jan/07/copenhagen-ki...

Just curious: what's the purpose of your post ?

It's an incredible story. One of the co-founders went on to build his own submarine, then brought a Swedish journalist along for a voyage on which he murdered and dismembered her. Or should we all just pretend it never happened?

Re: Copenhagen Suborbitals: The world’s only manned, amateur space program

#70
post #36

Cool project, but I always find it amusing when the word “suborbital” is used since it’s sort of a fancy way to say normal or not space. Reminds me this Feynman story: > Or his questioning of space shuttle engineers: ''They kept referring to the problem by some complicated name - a 'pressure-induced vorticity oscillatory wa-wa,' or something. I said, 'Oh, you mean a whistle!' 'Yes,' they said; 'it exhibits the charac…

Suborbital denotes trajectories that do leave the atmosphere, but never complete a full orbit. Even though they have not yet achieved that yet, it seems appropriate name imho. And eventually they'll have to change their name to Copenhagen Orbitals I guess ;-)
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