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Outer space is a busy place
Jun. 22nd, 2004 12:27 pmAll sorts of fun and exciting things going on now.
The biggest news, of course, is yesterday's successful flight of SpaceShip One
There are now a grand total of four manned space programs in the world. Run, respectively, by Russia, The United States, China, and Scaled Composites, Inc. Others are expected to join them soon. SpaceShip One is, of course, the first commercial space program, with no government funding. I couldn't find any hard numbers, but one article mentioned that the majority of the R&D money was supplied by Paul Allen, and another mentioned that Paul Allen's contribution was just over $20 million. Which means, the whole thing, from concept, through design, building, testing, and executing a successful flight, was under $40 million, roughly the cost of a single launch of the Space Shuttle. And, unlike the shuttle, the entire system is fully res-useable.
Not to criticize NASA too much, though. The new administrator, Sean O'Keefe, despite being appointed by Dick Cheney, seems to be doing a good job budget-wise, eliminating a lot of pork and over-expenditures. Just my impression from what I've seen. And, the day he took over, he fired Arthur Anderson and demanded a real audit, which is always a good sign.
During that, NASA, with the help of the ESA and other groups, has been doing some pretty darn amazing stuff. We've got two separate rovers on Mars right now, going strong two months after the projected end of their mission, making new discoveries daily, not the least of which is proving the technology. If the next mission is as far, and as soon, beyond these two as they are beyond Sojourner, which was pretty amazing itself, look for real excitement in 2008.
And, of course, Cassini is still doing well, and has got some great data and some beautiful pictures before it even gets there. Still scheduled to arrive in Saturn Orbit then.
Despite some people's (and sometimes my own) complaints that it's not moving fast enough, there's a hell of a lot going on out there right now. We're exploring the solar system with our probes, more than I can even list as we have samples heading back from comets, probes scheduled for Pluto, Mars, the asteroid belt, and Venus, daily discoveries being made from Hubble and other telescopes looking into deep space and learning more daily about the origins, composition, and downright strangeness in the workings of, our universe. Not the mention continuing manned flights to orbit, and a permanent outpost in the ISS.
Yeah, there's some great stuff going on. Makes me feel pretty optimistic about the future despite the stuff going on on Earth. Kinda makes all the little petty bickering down here look kind of... petty, doesn't it?
The biggest news, of course, is yesterday's successful flight of SpaceShip One
There are now a grand total of four manned space programs in the world. Run, respectively, by Russia, The United States, China, and Scaled Composites, Inc. Others are expected to join them soon. SpaceShip One is, of course, the first commercial space program, with no government funding. I couldn't find any hard numbers, but one article mentioned that the majority of the R&D money was supplied by Paul Allen, and another mentioned that Paul Allen's contribution was just over $20 million. Which means, the whole thing, from concept, through design, building, testing, and executing a successful flight, was under $40 million, roughly the cost of a single launch of the Space Shuttle. And, unlike the shuttle, the entire system is fully res-useable.
Not to criticize NASA too much, though. The new administrator, Sean O'Keefe, despite being appointed by Dick Cheney, seems to be doing a good job budget-wise, eliminating a lot of pork and over-expenditures. Just my impression from what I've seen. And, the day he took over, he fired Arthur Anderson and demanded a real audit, which is always a good sign.
During that, NASA, with the help of the ESA and other groups, has been doing some pretty darn amazing stuff. We've got two separate rovers on Mars right now, going strong two months after the projected end of their mission, making new discoveries daily, not the least of which is proving the technology. If the next mission is as far, and as soon, beyond these two as they are beyond Sojourner, which was pretty amazing itself, look for real excitement in 2008.
And, of course, Cassini is still doing well, and has got some great data and some beautiful pictures before it even gets there. Still scheduled to arrive in Saturn Orbit then.
Despite some people's (and sometimes my own) complaints that it's not moving fast enough, there's a hell of a lot going on out there right now. We're exploring the solar system with our probes, more than I can even list as we have samples heading back from comets, probes scheduled for Pluto, Mars, the asteroid belt, and Venus, daily discoveries being made from Hubble and other telescopes looking into deep space and learning more daily about the origins, composition, and downright strangeness in the workings of, our universe. Not the mention continuing manned flights to orbit, and a permanent outpost in the ISS.
Yeah, there's some great stuff going on. Makes me feel pretty optimistic about the future despite the stuff going on on Earth. Kinda makes all the little petty bickering down here look kind of... petty, doesn't it?
