Next Space Prize

[lswinford]

Taking 5 people up, two orbits, and repeat in 60 days for a $50 million prize: http://www.nature.com/news/2004/041108/ful...l/041108-5.html (http://www.nature.com/news/2004/041108/full/041108-5.html)

The next big thing towards space tourism.

[zephyr46]

Brilliant!

Well spotted lswinford!

I think Rutans the Favorite to win this one as well. Unless Boeing or the Chinese or Russians are going to have a go!

[aeolus]

Watching the winning flight of the X-prize, alot of analysts were saying there were NASA bigwigs who got really nervous after the confirmation of the flight. These guys spend years and billions on something that Rutan now did for tens of millions in a couple years.

The idea stands,but I dispute the relavancy. BUT THIS!!!!

If some company is going to take 5 people up twice in 60 days! Woah! That's 2 more than the soyuz, and 2 less than the normal shuttle. Reusable? No disputing the 60 day trunaround. Try and beat that NASA!!!

If this does indded happen, wow, that will be wonderful. I was intrigues by the X-Prize, but I'm full-out excited about this....

[John L]

Originally posted by zephyr46@Nov 11 2004, 10:19 PM
I think Rutans the Favorite to win this one as well. Unless Boeing or the Chinese or Russians are going to have a go!
The prize is only available to private American companies. No foreign companies or nations are allowed to compete. The guy giving the prize is an American hotel tycoon who wants to put a hotel in orbit. He has inflatable space habitat modules that have been in the works for a while, and plans on launching them and assembling his orbital hotel by 2010. He wants to use the prize to get private industry to provide him a taxi for crew and guests.

And Rutan is calling his orbital ship Tier II. No details on it, yet, but he has said that Tier II will be orbital, and then Tier III will be able to go beyond Earth orbit.

[antoniseb]

Originally posted by John L@Dec 1 2004, 07:13 PM
Tier III will be able to go beyond Earth orbit.
Beyond Earth orbit takes on a whole raft of radiation safety requirements that I & II don't have to worry about.

[John L]

That's true, but hopefully one of the many governmental space agencies will have worked out the magnetic bubble or passive static systems that promise cheap and effective radiation shielding. Otherwise, Rutan will have trouble with wieght.

[Tom2Mars]

I'm going to win the $50 million prize and build my own lower-cost Space Hotel. Also, I'm going to tag the module walls before I leave and blame it on the streetpunks.

:lol:

[Matthew]

Originally posted by zephyr46@Nov 12 2004, 02:19 PM
Brilliant!

Well spotted lswinford!

I think Rutans the Favorite to win this one as well. Unless Boeing or the Chinese or Russians are going to have a go!
Can countries compete?

This should really push NASA, they've got some of the best physicists in the world and some companies are putting people into space really cheaply. Talk about cost cutting: in a good way!

[antoniseb]

Originally posted by matthew@Dec 2 2004, 09:06 AM
This should really push NASA
I think that NASA is counting on Rutan et. al for the next decade's transportation systems. They clearly aren't developing one of their own.

[John L]

Originally posted by matthew@Dec 2 2004, 04:06 AM
Can countries compete?
No. This is open only to American private businesses. No government agencies and no foreign companies.

[Tom2Mars]

Anton, re-
I think that NASA is counting on Rutan et. al for the next decade's transportation systems. They clearly aren't developing one of their own.


NASA should be worried for their jobs!

I can say with certainty that Rutan's group is finding the main problems to solve regarding orbital flight have more to do with Thermodynamics than with Aerodynamics.

[Tom2Mars]

Well, I hate to bring this up, but I've got a copy of a memo here from Rutan's company that indicates they will be totally pre-occupied with fulfilling their design/build obligation to Branson, and will not be looking at orbiting anything for awhile. :(

Or, it could be a red herring, a clever fake-out to lure the competitors for Bigelow's money into a false sense of security while Scaled Composites secretly plots for the prize. :ph34r:

[ChromeStar]

why only 5 people up, two orbits, and repeat in 60 days for a $50 million prize:

We should aim higher then that! :huh:

[John L]

Robert Bigelow, the guy funding the prize, is also building a hotel in orbit (some time around 2010). He is offering this prize in hopes of finding a comercial space craft to ferry crew and paying customers to and from his hotel. The 5 person thing is a minimum. I guess he plans on a 5 person crew, or maybe the first version of the hotel will have room for 4 people, and the pilot. The two times in 60 days will probably have something to do with crew rotations, but at the very least shows a high level of reliability in the craft. If you're ferrying paying customers to a hotel in orbit, they'll want to know they can get back home with a high degree of certainty.

[Greg]

I honestly don't think this one is going to happen. The contraints placed in order to get the prize are too stringent for one. There are alot more things to worry about and take into account in order to achieve orbit, so I don't think a private endeavor will be able to succeed in the time frame provided. I did not have the same feeling about the X prize. But who knows? I hope someone will prove me wrong.

[zephyr46]

The news links seems to be for paid subscribers only.

Here is a link (http://www.space.com/spacenews/businessmonday_bigelow_041108.html) to a space news article.

It seems to be a case of American pride that excludes the rest of the world, or else it would have already been won by the russians :D .