Space fairing Nations - The ever changing view

SpaceNut · 2004-09-27 13:09:22

What you might call the flags and foot prints phase of the moon exploration was just that, not much was done for the science dollars. But most of that in hindsight is not the fault of the missions but what was to be done with the knowledge gained.

The next logical step should have been to stay longer, to dig below the outer crust, to make caverns and to mine the below, to continue to search the mystery of the moons being or becoming...

Rxke · 2004-09-27 14:16:14

I'm always amazed when I see the reations to a articles about possible Lunar plans by non-American agencies on Slashdot.

A technology-loving audience, you'd think, but most of them also go the 'been there, done that' way in their comments. Or 'this money should be better spent on XYZ' dribble.

Maybe America IS feeling too safe, too "we're years ahead of the rest, we can afford to do nutting..."

And Zubrin is called a raving lunatic, often, sigh...

SpaceNut · 2004-09-28 08:45:26

As an American who was part of those that saw the flags and foot prints. I myself do not want to see repeat of what was done but to see the next step in the continual process towards a manned base on the moon. I also do not feel it needs to take decades to get to that point as well.

SpaceNut · 2004-10-01 09:54:25

As America finally tries to get out of LEO and back into space. There is the question of military superiority and private use of space. Do we really want space free of wars or must we live in fear of attacks from above.

Quote:
The American military has begun planning for combat in space, an Air Force report reveals. And commercial spacecraft, neutral countries' launching pads -- even weather satellites -- are all on the potential target list.

All's Fair in Space War
http://www.wired.com/news/space/0,2697, … _tophead_1

RobS · 2004-10-01 11:31:12

While we're talking about space fairing nations, let's not forget that a FOURTH country is about to have a launch of humans into space later this month: CANADA. That's assuming DaVinci goes up and is successful, but if they don't succeed in October, maybe they will in November.

Congratulations ahead of time to our many Canadian members of this forum. I was fascinated by how many Canadians were at the Mars Society annual meeting. The country is forward looking in some very important ways. Maybe NASA could learn from our neighbors from the north?

-- RobS

SpaceNut · 2004-10-01 11:48:15

What I hope most though for is that all teams that are building rockets to compete in this contest do not stop just because the prize is won but continue on with their designs and push on for the orbital prise that is to come.

Grypd · 2004-10-01 12:57:33

It seems there will be an X prize 2, this one will be for a total of 50 million $us. It will be for the first team to get a vessel that holds a crew of 7 to achieve LEO. The money will come mostly from Bigelow aerospace. Will it attract as much interest as the original X prize, probably.

But the technical challenge that comes from the ability to get into orbit rather than to achieve the limit imposed by the X prize are a whole lot more dificult. It should be mentioned that the X prize 2 gives a decade to get the job done and though harder it is certainly a doable enterprise

SpaceNut · 2004-10-04 11:18:48

The Cosmonautics Academy has outlined the general concept for space activities in 2005-2035. The report provides a guideline for reforming the system of planning and regulation of space activities, crucial technologies allowing Russia to preserve its status as the leading space power.

MAIN GOAL OF RUSSIAN COSMONAUTICS - INCREASING NATIONAL DEFENCE CAPACITY
http://en.rian.ru/rian....alert=0

SpaceNut · 2004-10-06 07:41:23

Well here is one of the first steps for any future manned mission to the moon if we wish to use in-situ resources. The Chandrayan-1 mission, scheduled for a launch in 2007-08, will carry out the chemical mapping of the entire lunar surface.

http://www.keralanext.com/news/?id=53131

SpaceNut · 2004-10-07 20:16:36

A debate that will not go away -- whether the United States needs to create a separate branch of the military for space. Though I do not want space to turn out to be the next war zone I do understand the need for supremacy.

Separate Space Military Force Has Few Supporters at Pentagon
http://space.com/news/space_force_041007.html

SpaceNut · 2004-10-08 11:39:32

I wished that the article gave more info on the goals of the mission but we will just have to wait.

Russia to Send Spacecraft to Mars Moon in 2009
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2004/10/08/marsmoon.shtml

SpaceNut · 2004-10-11 06:59:30

Brazil seems to not want to give up on trying to succeed in doing space flight. Though there space programs started out under military time it has since tried to at least convee that it wishes them to be of a civilian stature and that they are of no threat to anyone.

Brazil In Space: Enlisting Public Support
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/launchers-04zq.html

SpaceNut · 2004-10-25 09:43:47

Not only are the engines that power space flight important in a rocket design but also the fuel to which they burn is equally important.

Aerojet Tests LOX Ethanol Reaction Control Engine

SpaceNut · 2004-10-28 20:33:19

The X-43a is still progressing for for that magical mach10 speed.

NASA Schedules Hypersonic X-43a, Mach-10 Flight Press Briefing
A news media briefing for the final X-43A hypersonic-research flight is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 5, 2004, at 1 p.m. EST.

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2004/oc … isory.html

infocat13 · 2004-10-31 20:39:22

And south korea joins the fry,
http://english.people.com.cn/200409/19/ … 57553.html

SpaceNut · 2004-11-01 09:50:12

I believe we have talked about weapons in space before under this thread so I am posting this here. It is one thing to have the advantage of space satelites for use while in a war situation, it is however wrong for weapons to end up in space.

Bush versus Kerry on space weaponization

SpaceNut · 2004-11-01 10:08:23

Well china is definitely stretching there space wings, next up is a 2 manned 5 day mission. Quite the difference from the 21 hour first manned flight.

China's Shenzhou 6 To Carry Two Astronauts On Five-Day Mission Next Year

SpaceNut · 2004-11-03 06:51:14

It would appear that the russian space agency is about to allow other space corporations to get into the game and this is a good thing not only for russia but also the rest of the world.
Russia may have private aerospace companies – Perminov

SpaceNut · 2004-11-04 14:05:17

The final flight of the X-43A hypersonic technology demonstration aircraft has been postponed to no earlier than Monday, Nov. 15.
The mission is intended to flight-validate the operation of the X-43A's supersonic-combustion ramjet - or scramjet - engine at a record airspeed of almost Mach 10, or 10 times the speed of sound.

Rxke · 2004-11-06 19:51:23

Russian spacprogram no longer only in 'survival'mode:
http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id … =1]Rian.ru

economy getting better, looks like their first efforts will be to re-store the basics: launch more commsats, both military and civvilian, repair and upgrade their pads etc.

At last they came through... Has been a tough ride, since the fall of the Soviet Union...

Mad Grad Student · 2004-11-07 23:21:10

Burt Rutan has said that his goal is to bring the cost of space travel down to the point where the upper third of Americans can afford a ticket to the Moon by the time he dies. If it helps put things into perspective, he's 63, as old as Mike Melvil.

With Bush in office another four years, there's a decent chance that the vision can survive and the first CEV Moon landings can happen by about 2017.

Who knows with China? They've said that they plan on "considering their options" for a manned Moon landing by 2020, after thier unmanned sample return. However, this is coming from the same guys who said that they definately wouldn't launch a manned Shezhou before 2005, and went ahead with it two years early. The Chineese space program is probably the only space organization (perhaps Bigelow Aerospace as well) that routinely underestimates its abilities, so they might be able to make a landing by 2019-ish.

The Red Sox won the world series. For non-Americans, they're a baseball team that hadn't won the world series in the last 86 years, and then went ahead and won it anyway last month. It's finally been next year for them, is this next year for space exploration?

Things are looking up indeeed.

Rxke · 2004-11-08 00:17:03

But the "Red Sox won, so will Kerry," didn't exactly pan out, did it?

And the Chinese... they seem to change their long-term goals every six months, let's see how the second flight goes first.

Don't count out ESA/Russia, too... Could be interesting seeing them pool their assets together.

SpaceNut · 2004-11-08 08:49:44

China is putting forth there plans on the moon in this article.
China's lunar rover to land on moon in 2012
Quite the achievement if done in this time frame for a nation that just got to manned LEO flight.

SpaceNut · 2004-11-09 07:12:23

Well the Russian have launched there Modernized soyuz 2 rocket. Russia Launches Soyuz-2 Test Rocket

Advances in computer technology mean that launch teams can be cut from 70 people to 20. Only two experts are needed to guide its flight, compared with 40 previously.

I wonder just how long they have been working on this and how much cash was need to do the modernization?

Contract on Soyuz lift-offs from Courou to be signed by year-end

SpaceNut · 2004-11-09 08:45:26

Dart program flight scheduel moved up to today if all goes well.
NASA Reschedules DART Spacecraft Launch

Edit
according to nasawatch yesterdays posting date.
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=15460

The launch of NASA's DART spacecraft aboard an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL scheduled for Tuesday is postponed.
A review of projected loads data, or the G-forces the payload experiences upon ignition of the Pegasus second stage, is being re-evaluated to ensure mission success.
A new launch date is under review and will be announced as soon as determined.

Not sure what to think about this on again, off again stuff.

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#51 2004-09-27 13:09:22

Re: Space fairing Nations - The ever changing view

#52 2004-09-27 14:16:14

Re: Space fairing Nations - The ever changing view

#53 2004-09-28 08:45:26

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#63 2004-10-25 09:43:47

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