Virgin Galactic models SpaceShipTwo
by Larry Dignan | January 23, 2008 10:36am PST | Image 1 of 12
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Meet SpaceShipTwo, WhiteKnightTwo
Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson and Scaled Composites president launched their latest effort in personal space travel and showed off the designs and models for SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo, a space launch system. The unveiling--of the models at least--happened at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. See Larry Dignan's blog for details.
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I think this is great. I am a big fan of Burt Rutan and all of his projects. I cannot wait until SpaceShip Two is complete. I am the academic coordinator for the Aircraft Manufacturing Technology program at a technical school in Charleston, SC. I have been involved with composites for many years and am now trying to incorporate al aspects of composites into my classes. I refer to Burt Rutans projects often. This is one of the greatest steps toward space travel and hope to fly on a SpaceShipTwo space craft in the future.
Go Boys, GO!
I'm still hoping to make it to space in my lifetime, and you guys are my best hope.
I'm still hoping to make it to space in my lifetime, and you guys are my best hope.
I think it's absolutely amazing!!! Too Bad most of us will never be
able to afford it... : (
able to afford it... : (
Sad that you know the name of the money man but fail to name the other man in the picture, the man who is the real brains and risk taker of the outfit! HIS NAME IS BURT RATTAN!!!
Sir, I would direct you to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burt_Rutan
That is the only way I have ever seen it spelled. I would caution you not to shout unless you were absolutely correct in your facts.
That is the only way I have ever seen it spelled. I would caution you not to shout unless you were absolutely correct in your facts.
His name was left out of the article, that is the point, not that i hit the T twice, duh!
R U T A N
And yes, they left him out. But hey, money men always get all the credit :/
Not that Rutan is the only engineer involved in the project either.
And yes, they left him out. But hey, money men always get all the credit :/
Not that Rutan is the only engineer involved in the project either.
I think it's far PAST time private enterprise got involved in space travel -- particularly the way the American government has dragged its feet and taken draconian measures in its approach to the space program ever since the end of the Apollo missions.
Roughly 30 years ago, a physicist (I can't recall who, offhand, but he had good credentials) wrote an article in Omni magazine about how virtually LIMITLESS, FREE (after initial costs and maintenance) electricity could be generated via an orbiting space station with its entire exterior composed of nothing but solar cells, exposed to unfiltered sunlight 24/7.
He said a large enough station, rotating at the proper speed, could generate its own partial gravity in work areas via the rotation, grow all its own food, be a completely private and profitable project and collect millions of megawatts of electricity to beam back to earth using lasers or masers or some similar technology (again, it's been A LONG TIME since I read the article, and I hawked the idea to everyone I met for years, but the details are a bit fuzzy at this point)...
Only VERY RECENTLY has this SAME CONCEPT (or something similar) been mentioned in the news as a possible "green source" of electricity for the planet... I guess the power elites had to wait until they were dragged kicking and screaming away from their Weapons of Mass Pollution (and most are STILL kicking and screaming)!
If more private enterprise had been allowed to get involved in this process much sooner, the benefits for all of us could have been realized by now... While I very much DISAGREE with the Bush Administration about government NOT being the one to do some things (like help the poor). One thing they definitely SHOULD have been opening to the private sector a long time ago is the space industry -- not just making the rockets and satellites, but doing the actual job and getting up there and MAKING IT WORK!
A lot of billionaires are little more than greedy oligarchs, but I think Richard Branson deserves his title of "Sir," because he continues to be an adventurer, innovator and a true inspiration for mankind, even if he DOES appear to have a bit of "billionaire ego."
Roughly 30 years ago, a physicist (I can't recall who, offhand, but he had good credentials) wrote an article in Omni magazine about how virtually LIMITLESS, FREE (after initial costs and maintenance) electricity could be generated via an orbiting space station with its entire exterior composed of nothing but solar cells, exposed to unfiltered sunlight 24/7.
He said a large enough station, rotating at the proper speed, could generate its own partial gravity in work areas via the rotation, grow all its own food, be a completely private and profitable project and collect millions of megawatts of electricity to beam back to earth using lasers or masers or some similar technology (again, it's been A LONG TIME since I read the article, and I hawked the idea to everyone I met for years, but the details are a bit fuzzy at this point)...
Only VERY RECENTLY has this SAME CONCEPT (or something similar) been mentioned in the news as a possible "green source" of electricity for the planet... I guess the power elites had to wait until they were dragged kicking and screaming away from their Weapons of Mass Pollution (and most are STILL kicking and screaming)!
If more private enterprise had been allowed to get involved in this process much sooner, the benefits for all of us could have been realized by now... While I very much DISAGREE with the Bush Administration about government NOT being the one to do some things (like help the poor). One thing they definitely SHOULD have been opening to the private sector a long time ago is the space industry -- not just making the rockets and satellites, but doing the actual job and getting up there and MAKING IT WORK!
A lot of billionaires are little more than greedy oligarchs, but I think Richard Branson deserves his title of "Sir," because he continues to be an adventurer, innovator and a true inspiration for mankind, even if he DOES appear to have a bit of "billionaire ego."
This is excellent news, especially after their tragic accident with the engines last year. Unlike Jeff I'm more happy that it's private rather than government. Government has enough to deal with! As more companies get involved we can expect much cheaper and varied space travel than a single government agency can manage.
We should maybe start thinking about who is going to govern those who live in space, and how...
We should maybe start thinking about who is going to govern those who live in space, and how...
My whole "semi-rant" was that NASA largely PREVENTED private enterprise from doing the actual "grunt work" part of space exploration for most of the past 50 years... For a LONG TIME, the government and Air Force treated NASA as a sort of national security issue, and while they were more than happy to let GOVERNMENT-OWNED-AND-OPERATED ROCKETS send private communications satellites and so forth into space, the impression I got all during the 70s and 80s, at least, was that allowing private companies to actually develop and launch THEIR OWN space-capable vehicles was verboten, considered something of a "national security issue," perhaps because of the Cold War?
So my whole point is that we should have had PRIVATE ENTERPRISE working on this sort of project A LONG TIME AGO... It's a WHOLE LOT BETTER than private enterprises favorite NEW high-profit industry -- especially for the Military-Industrial complex -- a slow-burning, unending "war on terror" almost TOTALLY outsourced to private companies like Haliburton and Blackwater with no-bid contracts at HIGH profit rates and paid by American tax dollars while projects to help the poor or pay for medical care for everyone are cut or non-existent.
Everyone read Naomi Klein's 2007 book "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism" for a REAL eye-opening experience on just what is REALLY going on with global capitalism and the so-called "free market." The level of lies we're being told and how much of our money is being blown to enrich a few big corporations is mind-blowing! A bit off-topic, I know, BUT, my point is, private enterprise doing space travel is finally something RIGHT for a change.
So my whole point is that we should have had PRIVATE ENTERPRISE working on this sort of project A LONG TIME AGO... It's a WHOLE LOT BETTER than private enterprises favorite NEW high-profit industry -- especially for the Military-Industrial complex -- a slow-burning, unending "war on terror" almost TOTALLY outsourced to private companies like Haliburton and Blackwater with no-bid contracts at HIGH profit rates and paid by American tax dollars while projects to help the poor or pay for medical care for everyone are cut or non-existent.
Everyone read Naomi Klein's 2007 book "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism" for a REAL eye-opening experience on just what is REALLY going on with global capitalism and the so-called "free market." The level of lies we're being told and how much of our money is being blown to enrich a few big corporations is mind-blowing! A bit off-topic, I know, BUT, my point is, private enterprise doing space travel is finally something RIGHT for a change.
It's really annoying...
Much of the original exploration of the new world was government funded. Then the stock companies (e.g. The Charter of the Virginia Company of London) came in and actually settled the New World. I see much the same thing going on now.
As for green power, had we followed France's example, we would be putting 2.2 Billion pound less of carbon in the air, and be under Kyoto standards. I think it would have been a great program.
Of course, they used nuclear power. . .
As for green power, had we followed France's example, we would be putting 2.2 Billion pound less of carbon in the air, and be under Kyoto standards. I think it would have been a great program.
Of course, they used nuclear power. . .
Has the writer ever used sunlight (or the power company for that matter) to generate RF (or light) and beam it even ten meters? The loss of sunlight to the atmosphere, clouds and nightfall are small in comparison, yet we can't make solar competitive on the ground after fifty years of silicon cell development.
Someone always has a conspiracy theory that greedy companies are holding back a utopian technology, when actually, as Microsoft thoroughly demonstrates, they actually always try to get it to the marketplace, but keep a controlling grip on it.
Someone always has a conspiracy theory that greedy companies are holding back a utopian technology, when actually, as Microsoft thoroughly demonstrates, they actually always try to get it to the marketplace, but keep a controlling grip on it.
space travel. Look at the "space shuttle" fiasco. OVERpriced, under-performing, terrifyingly expensive to operate, etc. Apollo was ALMOST to the point of being assembly-line, until the democrats torpedoed the entire program. The Saturn 5 is STILL the most powerful machine in human history. It's sad that the last of the engineers who designed its massive F1 engines are retired or dead. The functioning/tuning of those massive engines was just as much art as it was science, and modern engineers and their computer models are at a loss, being unable to duplicate them.
NASA has done everything possible over the years to prevent the privatization of space, and to keep average humans (us) from ever going up there.
NASA has done everything possible over the years to prevent the privatization of space, and to keep average humans (us) from ever going up there.
At the same time as Virgin Atlantic are introducing BioFuel sourced aviation fuel to help in the effort against global warming, they are doing Virgin Galactic for personal space travel for the insanely rich.
The hypocrisy of this beggars belief
Personal Space travel should be outlawed by International Treaty as bad for the planet!
What next, 10 million man hours of effort, 1 trillion tonnes of oil so some rich moron can have 1 hour messing about on the moon!
The hypocrisy of this beggars belief
Personal Space travel should be outlawed by International Treaty as bad for the planet!
What next, 10 million man hours of effort, 1 trillion tonnes of oil so some rich moron can have 1 hour messing about on the moon!
People like Richard Branson the hope of the future. People such are yourself are the true problem.
As one of the previos commentators pointed out, if we had followed Frances example with nuclear power, we'd be in an enormously better place - environmentally, politically, financially. But nooooo. Nuclear power is baaaaad.
It's ignorant people such are yourself, who are apparently incapapble of understanding science and its benefits, that are mucking up the environment.
Stop being part of the problem and go back to school to learn a few things. Then maybe you'll better appreciate the significance of what's going on here.
As one of the previos commentators pointed out, if we had followed Frances example with nuclear power, we'd be in an enormously better place - environmentally, politically, financially. But nooooo. Nuclear power is baaaaad.
It's ignorant people such are yourself, who are apparently incapapble of understanding science and its benefits, that are mucking up the environment.
Stop being part of the problem and go back to school to learn a few things. Then maybe you'll better appreciate the significance of what's going on here.
Maybe whilst the oligarch insanely rich space tourists are up in near space, they can view for themselves the Amazon Rainforest destruction which according to the BBC has surged ahead again.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7206165.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7206165.stm
I was a fan of Burt Rutan in his days of ultralight and human powered flight. Unfortunately he has sold his soul to the billionaire rich (who got rich in the first place by not caring much about the planet). On the other matter of composites - they will not last very long as solar panels outside the earth's atmosphere without constant maintenance. Claims about unlimited free electricity are pure science fantasy.
They look awfully small - do you have to go down a rabbit hole and quaff the contents of a bottle labeled "Drink Me" before boarding? Will you be launched by the neighbor's kid's slingshot? Someone wake me up when they actually build something; I find models of the Enterprise in its various incarnations much more exciting.
Have you been to France recently? I was in Paris just before Christmas and the air was gruesome. Swiping your finger on almost any surface in Paris would blacken it. The amount of particulate residue from their automobiles makes San Francisco and LA seem pristine comparitively.
The question I have is how many lives could have been saved by investing those billions in some other endeavor as opposed to reducing their carbon footprint?
The question I have is how many lives could have been saved by investing those billions in some other endeavor as opposed to reducing their carbon footprint?
Please "Back Up" your STORY with credible facts. If you can't, please do the public justice and retract your opinion. We the People know it's just a hoax, and a method to brainwash the public into believing it, so that a "Carbon Tax" can be levied to those corporations and individuals who are "GUILTY" and potentially charged the Tax. I believe you witnessed the by-product of Mother Natures cleansing methods and the WEATHER of Planet Earth is the HVAC system not yet comprehended but "Marketed" by only a few of the so called Professors at a few Universities. The realistic Professors are barred from these "Green Meetings" because the orchestrator's know the theory can't be proven as there is no credible data to support it.
are you an idiot?
Please support your perceptions with credible data. Emotional thinking will not do yourself any justice when it comes to this colossal hoax. I'm glad you are paying attention here, shows that you do care about what's right and what's wrong in your view.
That wooly-headed Brit, Richard Branson came into my
office with a proposal!
It seems that he has got the big-head ever since he
won the x-prize award for being the first non-
government Corporation to put a man in space last
year. He started showing me charts, models, drawings,
graphs, financial analysis, .... he was all excited, arms
flailing, spitting when he talked, he said;
"Steve, I can get tourist into space! My only problem is
that when you're up there for a few hours everybody
starts puking! It gets rather unpleasant right quick you
know?"
He then whips out more models, sketches, charts, ...
he rambles on and on for about an hour, then he
jumped up on my desk,
"What we need is for you guys to finance the Space
Hotel! We will get them up there, you house them, we
will clean up I tell you!"
I just leaned back in my Bunker-chair and said, "Sorry
Dick, we already have plans of our own!" He was
shocked, "we have been working on very similar plans
for a few years now, they don't include you people." I
stood and shook his hand, "could you please get all of
this crap out of my office, I have a 5 o'clock
appointment."
I waved goodbye as he loaded the "proton engine"
model into the elevator, he looked pissed! I barely
could restrain the laughter.
Of course I lied about having plans of my own, but I do
now!
http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com
office with a proposal!
It seems that he has got the big-head ever since he
won the x-prize award for being the first non-
government Corporation to put a man in space last
year. He started showing me charts, models, drawings,
graphs, financial analysis, .... he was all excited, arms
flailing, spitting when he talked, he said;
"Steve, I can get tourist into space! My only problem is
that when you're up there for a few hours everybody
starts puking! It gets rather unpleasant right quick you
know?"
He then whips out more models, sketches, charts, ...
he rambles on and on for about an hour, then he
jumped up on my desk,
"What we need is for you guys to finance the Space
Hotel! We will get them up there, you house them, we
will clean up I tell you!"
I just leaned back in my Bunker-chair and said, "Sorry
Dick, we already have plans of our own!" He was
shocked, "we have been working on very similar plans
for a few years now, they don't include you people." I
stood and shook his hand, "could you please get all of
this crap out of my office, I have a 5 o'clock
appointment."
I waved goodbye as he loaded the "proton engine"
model into the elevator, he looked pissed! I barely
could restrain the laughter.
Of course I lied about having plans of my own, but I do
now!
http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com
I have also been to France recently, and the 'muck' that the previous poster referred to as getting on his hands is primarily due to diesel particulates. Please remember that in Europe the Tax Laws are biased towards the purchase of diesel-powered automobiles. While passenger-car petrol (gas) vehicles are under scrutiny for emissions output, and many (if not most)new vehicles do indeed use catalytic convertors, many of the legacy vehicles do not,a nd are still in service, far more than here in the States. My wife has allergiers, and it was primarily in Paris and Rome that she had trouble breathing, due to the diesel particulates. Here in California, where we live, we have diesel-powered trash trucks that run through the neighborhood 3 times a day to pick up Trash, Recyclables, and Lawn Cuttings. On trash day, since not only does the vehicle drive through 3x a day, but it uses its articulated arm to pick up, dump, and replace the trash bins at each location, she has trouble breathing in our neighborhood on trash day when she gets home. You see, the articulated arm is powered by the same diesel engine that propels the vehicle, and one can see the soot being generated into the air for every trash bin it picks up.
If I park my car outside on Trash Day, my car gets quite dirty. All due to diesel particulates.
So, to the person who put down the person who spoke about pollution in Paris, please perform more research on a subject before you lambast someone.
-SS
If I park my car outside on Trash Day, my car gets quite dirty. All due to diesel particulates.
So, to the person who put down the person who spoke about pollution in Paris, please perform more research on a subject before you lambast someone.
-SS
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