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July 16, 2005
THE MEN WHO SOLD THE MOON
Or wanted to... On June 24, 2005, space-related industry leaders invited non-space industry executives to a dialogue exploring how lunar commerce could help achieve the economic growth foreseen by the national Vision for Space Exploration... Branding and sponsorship. How far we've come. Me, I’m happy as a clam just reading about this stuff. "Eighth Continent" has kind of a ring to it, don't you think? It makes me feel optimistic, somewhat. Plus, they have the customary cool art work. And you have to love these presentation titles… Space Communications Infrastructure Centennial Challenges MoonROx Challenge Commercial Opportunities Involving Lunar Resource Development Maybe it's not poetry, but it's music to my ears. I’m not sure if today’s wave of private sector space entrepreneurs is the third or the forth. Whatever. Each wave gets us a little closer to the goal. Let the third time be the charm. We’re going to need the private sector. Just consider what NASA wants to waste your money on these days. Silly looking, toxic, shuttle-derived abominations. Here’s a critical perspective. The next major issue I have with The Stick is the bait-and-switch that appears to be going on. In making their claim that The Stick would be Simple and Soon, ATK made their original case using a standard, 4-segment SRM like what is used on the Shuttle, with no real modifications, and then stack a modern version of the S1C stage on top of it. Supposedly that means that almost everything is right off-the-shelf, and would be quick and easy to put together. The problem is that in NASA's attempts to grow the CEV big enough to justify the solution they want to push, they've outgrown the capacity of that setup. Now they're talking about a 5-segment SRM with an SSME driven upper stage. I think I've even heard from someone that the SSME used would have a nozzle extension. While the 5-segment SRM has been ground fired I think, it hasn't to my knowledge been ever flown on the shuttle. I could be wrong on that, but I don't know. I also don't know if the SSME has ever been tested with a nozzle extension like that. Not to mention that throwing away an SSME with every crew launch is likely to get spendy. And here’s a man with a better idea… It would have been called Sea Dragon. posted by Justin on 07.16.05 at 09:40 PM |
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