OT: Governmental Space Agencies or Private

[Gandalf Parker]

Originally posted by dogscoff:
I reckon the cost of developping and building a small orbital craft could be offset by using it to shoot the first ever zero-G pr0n flick. With the right marketting/ hype/ controversy it could make millions=-)

it would also create enormous demand for space tourism as couples suddenly find a reason to go into space...

Do a google for "space hotel" (include the quotes) there are both plans for utrning the mir into one, or building one with private funds. They have already sold reservations
SpaceFuture is a fun link
http://www.spacefuture.com/

[ June 01, 2004, 15:07: Message edited by: Gandalf Parker ]

[Narrew]

After reading a few books on space exploration, I tend to think that NASA has been a restricting force, intentionally or un-intentionally.

Robert Zubrin, you might have seen him on discovery type programs, he has written books on colonizing Mars ect...In one of the books of his I read, he gripes about the tunnel vision that NASA and space engine manufacturers have. Main thing there are ideas on the board that could turn one-time engines into reusable engines. Plus the lack of heavy lift engines.

Another author, Marshall Savage wrote "The Millennial Project". Discusses many ways for us to move out into space that have been on the books since the 60-70's.

Both seem to imply that we have went backwards space technology wise since we been to the moon. If we chart on a graph and projected where we would be today (based on conservative increase) from the moon mission days, we probably should have been on Mars sometime in the mid 80s *shrug*.

I doubt that NASA will be the leaders in the next wave of space exploration. It should be the private individuals. NASA is just too large, another bloated government agency. So my bet is on the private individuals.

[Jack Simth]

Originally posted by dogscoff:
'Pollution' in space must also be looked at very carefully. Sure, space is ridiculously big, but Earth orbit isn't, and the planet's resources are also finite. We need to get off on the right foot and get ppl in the right habits from the start.

You mean like dumping it in a designated crater on the far side of the moon? Gravity will hold much of it in (may need containers for some things to prevent them from boiling off and landing in Earth's atmosphere); the whole thing's uninhabited (at the moment), so it won't disturb any current resident's view (and the dump could be made to pre-date any immigrants); there is no native life that can be threatened by anything that manages to escape the containers in a spill; it's a lot easier to put something in a crater on the moon than it is to drop it into the sun or send it out of the solar system; if push comes to shove, it can be retrieved (barring an unlucky impact); and if it fills up, well, there are lots & lots of craters on that side of the moon....

[PvK]

There's already a large amount of debris in low Earth orbit from all the human space activity so far. Dead satellites, and bits and pieces of various devices, floating around at orbital (read: very high) speed, providing obstacles for anything else that wants to operate in low Earth orbit.

Sending such stuff "to the Moon" isn't a practical or useful task at present.

PvK

[Jack Simth]

PVK:
Well, yeah - cleanup of the junk thats already up there is going to be extremely impractical any way you slice it: little of it is plotted, much of it is too little to see and plot easily yet large enough to cause severe problems if it happens to hit you or yours, and it is spread over a humongous volume of space in many different orbits - the main problem in disposing of it is finding and retrieving it to dispose of it; that wasn't the idea of my post. The idea was to stash further grabage in such a fashion (except on things where you can be certain of a clean re-entry burnup - the standard disposal method for current new satelites - then you can just dump it into Earth's atmosphere). Sorry I wasn't clear on that point.

[geoschmo]

Eventually it could become a real problem. But that's where Q.U.A.R.K. comes in.

[ June 01, 2004, 20:50: Message edited by: geoschmo ]

[Suicide Junkie]

My plan involves giant metal shovels in counter-rotating orbits to sweep up all the junk and deflect it down into the atmosphere.