commercial spaceships?

[sandyd]

Space ships used to only carry astronauts.
now they carry civilians as well....
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/12/spaceshiptwo-christened-as-vss-enterprise/

technology advancing fast eh?
i really wonder who would actually pay for a flight like this.

[JDShu]

Mark Shuttleworth springs to mind ;)

[Marvin666]

I would if I won the lottery.

[sandyd]

Mark Shuttleworth springs to mind ;)
^ ^
this
:)

[lovinglinux]

I would if I won the lottery.

+1

The re-entry system is really cool.

[Old_Grey_Wolf]

I was a Test Engineer for the Shuttle Flight Simulator back in the late 1970's. That was prior to when the first shuttle was launched. The Shuttle Flight Simulator was used to train the astronauts and the people in mission control (Houston) for the upcoming flights. The Shuttle Flight Simulator simulated the entire flight from launch to landing. The Shuttle Flight Simulator had hydraulic legs that could emulate the motions and g-forces that an astronaut would experience in the shuttle. During the launch, you could see the tower as the shuttle lifted off the launch pad. The motion system also simulated the thrust of takeoff by exerting g-forces on the occupants. It was quite impressive to ride in it. Within minutes you would achieve orbit. While you were in orbit, you could use a simulation of the shuttle's mechanical arm to do various tasks. Then you had to land the Shuttle Flight Simulator. You could see yourself maneuvering for the reentry, hear the thrusters, and feel the motion as it was taking place. The on-board computers helped with piloting the shuttle to the landing site. I couldn't have come close to a landing without them. I have to admit that I crashed on the runway in California 9 out of 10 times. The darn thing flies like a brick :-).

I would recommend to NASA that they sell trips in the Shuttle Flight Simulator for a reasonable price. I think I could afford that much easier than a flight in a Commercial Spaceship.

[forrestcupp]

I was a Test Engineer for the Shuttle Flight Simulator back in the late 1970's.

No way! That's awesome.

[Tipped OuT]

Space ships used to only carry astronauts.
now they carry civilians as well....
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/12/spaceshiptwo-christened-as-vss-enterprise/

technology advancing fast eh?
i really wonder who would actually pay for a flight like this.

Not me, at least not in this life time (lawl). Who knows what could happen... D:

[LowSky]

we were on the moon in 1969, since then man decided the taking a voyage into space is only worth it so we can get more channels on the TV, beam the directions of our destination to our cars, to fire "lasers" that can intercept an incoming missile attack 9/10 times, and take photos with a giant camera which was designed by a bunch of idiots who didn't align the lenses correctly before launching.

These commercial flights are just short trips into the upper atmospheres. There is no planned commercial trip to the moon or anywhere else.

I find it funny we have a space shuttle whose computer is less advanced than an Atari 2600 in the age we have phones and keyboards with more intelligence.

We could have been to Mars by now if we truly wanted to. Unfortunately our world now lacks a bunch of rich people willing to fund treks into the unknown for fortune, like the people of the 15 and 16th centuries. All We have is one weird guy who sells plane rides to see space for a few hours, no space hotel or week long trip, only a few hours.

[Kdar]

Few hours and shell out so much money.

[ZankerH]

Few hours and shell out so much money.

That's just the initial price for the people who want to be first. They've already got hundreds of people who already paid for a ticket, and they're basically early investors. Also, anyone who spends $200k for six minutes of microgravity is bound to become a serious evangelist for space exploration. I've no doubt that the price will fall substantially once they have a full fleet up and running regularly.

And besides, it has the potential to be a lot more than joyride for rich people. At $200k for six minutes of microgravity, it's a lot more effective than NASA's vomit comet, which only gives you ten to twenty stints of microgravity or 30 seconds each. I imagine experiments that require zero-g could be ran a lot more efficiently on the SS2 than the vomit comet, especially ones that tend to be longer than 30 seconds. Currently, their only alternative is to have them launched to the space station, and an SS2 suborbital ticket is still a hundred times cheaper than that, even if the price doesn't drop one cent.

[MooPi]

Something to dream about and enjoy vicariously. A 3d panoramic video of a personal view would be something I would be able to afford and purchase. Better yet would be virtual experience using 3d visor and motion.

[Tristam Green]

Mark Shuttleworth springs to mind ;)

It's almost like he can walk on water!


I was a Test Engineer for the Shuttle Flight Simulator back in the late 1970's. That was prior to when the first shuttle was launched. The Shuttle Flight Simulator was used to train the astronauts and the people in mission control (Houston) for the upcoming flights. The Shuttle Flight Simulator simulated the entire flight from launch to landing. The Shuttle Flight Simulator had hydraulic legs that could emulate the motions and g-forces that an astronaut would experience in the shuttle. During the launch, you could see the tower as the shuttle lifted off the launch pad. The motion system also simulated the thrust of takeoff by exerting g-forces on the occupants. It was quite impressive to ride in it. Within minutes you would achieve orbit. While you were in orbit, you could use a simulation of the shuttle's mechanical arm to do various tasks. Then you had to land the Shuttle Flight Simulator. You could see yourself maneuvering for the reentry, hear the thrusters, and feel the motion as it was taking place. The on-board computers helped with piloting the shuttle to the landing site. I couldn't have come close to a landing without them. I have to admit that I crashed on the runway in California 9 out of 10 times. The darn thing flies like a brick :-).

I would recommend to NASA that they sell trips in the Shuttle Flight Simulator for a reasonable price. I think I could afford that much easier than a flight in a Commercial Spaceship.

That is ... just too cool. O_G_W, you're my UF hero now :D

[Cuddles McKitten]

We could have been to Mars by now if we truly wanted to. Unfortunately our world now lacks a bunch of rich people willing to fund treks into the unknown for fortune, like the people of the 15 and 16th centuries. All We have is one weird guy who sells plane rides to see space for a few hours, no space hotel or week long trip, only a few hours.

The difference being that the "New World" had mineral and agricultural wealth that could be accessed. Mars, even if it were made of solid platinum, wouldn't be worth the cost of the trip. If someone either figured out a way to make the trip much more cost-effective or come up with a very lucrative, concrete goal that would be accomplished by such a mission, then people would head out. Plus, we've sent robots so we can gather scientific information, so even that argument for a human visit is moot. A Mars mission or another moon mission would be just as worthwhile as these plane rides sold by "one weird guy;" there's no lack of gutsy VC/angel investor money.