Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Future of Commercial Space Travel - Predictions, Companies, Technologies
Future of Commercial Space Travel
This post at the Future of Engineering Blog provides web resources that discuss the future trends in commercial space travel.
Movers & Shakers
One Step Closer to Commercial Space Travel - Sir Richard Branson unveiled the design of spaceship two and whiteknighttwo, the future flagships of his virgin galactic endeavor. Branson, along with scaled composites, has become the only game in town for commercially viable spaceflight able to take passengers.
'Space Ship Two' Unveiled - Virgin Galactic, a company owned and established by Richard Branson's Virgin Group in order to create the world's first commercial spaceline, has unveiled the designs of the Space Ship Two and White Knight two carrier aircrafts. Space Ship Two is designed to carry six tourists and two pilots into sub-orbit, reaching a speed of just over 3 times the speed of sound and climbing to altitudes of over 360,000 feet. White Knight two, an all-carbon composite aircraft, is designed to carry and launch space ship two when reaching a height of around 50,000 feet. Commercial space travel never seemed this close.
NASA and Virgin Galactic to Explore Future - NASA officials announced they have signed an agreement with a U.S. Company, Virgin Galactic, to explore collaborations on development of future space systems and support to commercial human spaceflight activities. Under the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding, NASA Ames research center and Virgin Galactic will explore possible collaborations in several technical areas.
Commercial Space Travel - Russia's Mir Space Station was supposed to be the first destination for space tourists. But in march 2001, the russian aerospace agency brought mir down into the pacific ocean. As it turned out, bringing down mir only temporarily delayed the first tourist trip into space. Russia is not alone in its interest in space tourism. There are several projects underway to commercialize space travel. Here are a few of the groups that might take you to space: --> Bigelow aerospace, formed by budget suites of america hotels owner Robert Bigelow Space Island group --> The x prize a national contest that offered $10 million to the first private company. And more such info are present in this article.
50 Years in Space - The wealthy men behind today's commercial space industry were just kids when the U.S.-Soviet space race started 50 years ago. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, Aerospace engineer Burt Rutan, Virgin boss Richard Branson. The common denominator between these men? They are the pioneers of a new private space race, 35 years after anyone has walked on the moon. At the 50th anniversary of space exploration, many industry pundits and executives say there's a new era upon us. They describe the 17 years after sputnik as the first phase of a journey marked by new human and robotic exploration in space, and which culminated in the skylab and the apollo missions. The second phase, from 1976 to 2007, was characterized by robotic missions to other planets like saturn, collecting data about the universe. What's in store for the next phase?
Predictions
Space Travel Technology for Next 100 Years - This article contains collection of blogs and discussions on space travel technology.
International Commercial Space Development for the Future 50 Years - The first 50 years of the space era have been driven by the establishment and development of the main space powers: USA and USSR/Russia, followed by Europe, Japan, China, India. Space activities were a field for demonstration of worldwide strategic positioning, with the acquisition of access to space, of new military capabilities, but also through prestige programs in human space flight and exploration, and through utilitarian applications. In the next 50 years, the influence of government business will remain, in security applications, in exploration, and also in civil applications supporting sustainable development. But the development of the commercial markets shall accelerate, through various axes.
Towards Commercial Space Travel - Many people would like to experience space travel for various reasons. Since the early days of science fiction in the 1930s, the image of space flight as adventurous and exciting has played a growing role in popular culture. Furthermore, those who have been lucky enough to visit space have all confirmed that it is a highly enjoyable experience. The view of earth and the stars is spectacular, and the experience of living in "zero gravity" is fascinating. In order to determine the commercial potential of space travel, research is required both on the technological possibilities of reusable passenger-carrying spacecraft and orbital accommodation, and on the economics of operating a commercial service, including market research.
The Near Future of Space - Beginning in 2009 Virgin Galactic will start taking tourists to space. This will be the first “affordable” option for commercial space travel (the much more expensive option being the russian space program). The tickets will start at $200,000 per flight, and i have to say, out of my range but very affordable. What do you get for $200,000? The experience will last for 2 1/2 hour with views of a 1000 miles in any direction at a height of 360,000 feet above earth. The exciting part (for all the people who can spend 200k on a quick space flight is the future. The age of commercial space tourism is here but the rest of us or going to have to wait… but (hopefully) not too long, which is very exciting… at least to me.
Brave New World? Next Steps Planned for Private Space Travel - While Space Ship One's wispy contrail from sky to space quickly vanished into the thin desert air, the flight at Mojave Spaceport left a solid line in the sand -- to create a "new space age" of personal space travel. "This is the end of the beginning," said Gregg Maryniak, X Prize foundation executive director, shortly after brian binnie had piloted spaceshipone to a successful win of the $10 million Ansari X Prize. For the X prize foundation, plans are underway for the start of an annual event called the X Prize cup.
Technologies
Maglev Launch Assist Technology may Enable Commercial Space Travel - The same technology used in Magnetically Levitated ("Maglev") trains may give spaceships a low-cost, stable boost for the future of space travel—possibly even for joy rides. A research group from two universities in beijing, china has constructed a maglev test vehicle that works on a model track made of a permanent magnet-high temperature superconductor (PM-HTS).
This post at the Future of Engineering Blog provides web resources that discuss the future trends in commercial space travel.
Movers & Shakers
One Step Closer to Commercial Space Travel - Sir Richard Branson unveiled the design of spaceship two and whiteknighttwo, the future flagships of his virgin galactic endeavor. Branson, along with scaled composites, has become the only game in town for commercially viable spaceflight able to take passengers.
'Space Ship Two' Unveiled - Virgin Galactic, a company owned and established by Richard Branson's Virgin Group in order to create the world's first commercial spaceline, has unveiled the designs of the Space Ship Two and White Knight two carrier aircrafts. Space Ship Two is designed to carry six tourists and two pilots into sub-orbit, reaching a speed of just over 3 times the speed of sound and climbing to altitudes of over 360,000 feet. White Knight two, an all-carbon composite aircraft, is designed to carry and launch space ship two when reaching a height of around 50,000 feet. Commercial space travel never seemed this close.
NASA and Virgin Galactic to Explore Future - NASA officials announced they have signed an agreement with a U.S. Company, Virgin Galactic, to explore collaborations on development of future space systems and support to commercial human spaceflight activities. Under the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding, NASA Ames research center and Virgin Galactic will explore possible collaborations in several technical areas.
Commercial Space Travel - Russia's Mir Space Station was supposed to be the first destination for space tourists. But in march 2001, the russian aerospace agency brought mir down into the pacific ocean. As it turned out, bringing down mir only temporarily delayed the first tourist trip into space. Russia is not alone in its interest in space tourism. There are several projects underway to commercialize space travel. Here are a few of the groups that might take you to space: --> Bigelow aerospace, formed by budget suites of america hotels owner Robert Bigelow Space Island group --> The x prize a national contest that offered $10 million to the first private company. And more such info are present in this article.
50 Years in Space - The wealthy men behind today's commercial space industry were just kids when the U.S.-Soviet space race started 50 years ago. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, Aerospace engineer Burt Rutan, Virgin boss Richard Branson. The common denominator between these men? They are the pioneers of a new private space race, 35 years after anyone has walked on the moon. At the 50th anniversary of space exploration, many industry pundits and executives say there's a new era upon us. They describe the 17 years after sputnik as the first phase of a journey marked by new human and robotic exploration in space, and which culminated in the skylab and the apollo missions. The second phase, from 1976 to 2007, was characterized by robotic missions to other planets like saturn, collecting data about the universe. What's in store for the next phase?
Predictions
Space Travel Technology for Next 100 Years - This article contains collection of blogs and discussions on space travel technology.
International Commercial Space Development for the Future 50 Years - The first 50 years of the space era have been driven by the establishment and development of the main space powers: USA and USSR/Russia, followed by Europe, Japan, China, India. Space activities were a field for demonstration of worldwide strategic positioning, with the acquisition of access to space, of new military capabilities, but also through prestige programs in human space flight and exploration, and through utilitarian applications. In the next 50 years, the influence of government business will remain, in security applications, in exploration, and also in civil applications supporting sustainable development. But the development of the commercial markets shall accelerate, through various axes.
Towards Commercial Space Travel - Many people would like to experience space travel for various reasons. Since the early days of science fiction in the 1930s, the image of space flight as adventurous and exciting has played a growing role in popular culture. Furthermore, those who have been lucky enough to visit space have all confirmed that it is a highly enjoyable experience. The view of earth and the stars is spectacular, and the experience of living in "zero gravity" is fascinating. In order to determine the commercial potential of space travel, research is required both on the technological possibilities of reusable passenger-carrying spacecraft and orbital accommodation, and on the economics of operating a commercial service, including market research.
The Near Future of Space - Beginning in 2009 Virgin Galactic will start taking tourists to space. This will be the first “affordable” option for commercial space travel (the much more expensive option being the russian space program). The tickets will start at $200,000 per flight, and i have to say, out of my range but very affordable. What do you get for $200,000? The experience will last for 2 1/2 hour with views of a 1000 miles in any direction at a height of 360,000 feet above earth. The exciting part (for all the people who can spend 200k on a quick space flight is the future. The age of commercial space tourism is here but the rest of us or going to have to wait… but (hopefully) not too long, which is very exciting… at least to me.
Brave New World? Next Steps Planned for Private Space Travel - While Space Ship One's wispy contrail from sky to space quickly vanished into the thin desert air, the flight at Mojave Spaceport left a solid line in the sand -- to create a "new space age" of personal space travel. "This is the end of the beginning," said Gregg Maryniak, X Prize foundation executive director, shortly after brian binnie had piloted spaceshipone to a successful win of the $10 million Ansari X Prize. For the X prize foundation, plans are underway for the start of an annual event called the X Prize cup.
Technologies
Maglev Launch Assist Technology may Enable Commercial Space Travel - The same technology used in Magnetically Levitated ("Maglev") trains may give spaceships a low-cost, stable boost for the future of space travel—possibly even for joy rides. A research group from two universities in beijing, china has constructed a maglev test vehicle that works on a model track made of a permanent magnet-high temperature superconductor (PM-HTS).
Labels: Aerospace-Engineering
PermaLink - Future of Commercial Space Travel - Predictions, Companies, Technologies posted by Ecacofonix : 7:03 AM
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