As far as I am aware, there is nothing legally preventing Virgin Galactic resuming flight-testing without pause if they so wish. Although I'm sure they won't - the absence of a replacement spacecraft being just one reason.
If it was an uncommanded geometry change that caused the in-flight break-up, as seems to have happened, it might be something as straightforward to fix as a flaw in the software of the flight-control system. Time will tell.
Nigel
Space, The Final Frontier
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Renegadenemo
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Re: Space, The Final Frontier
Has anyone else been keeping an eye on this?
http://lunar.xprize.org/about/overview
I never did see the point of going to the moon and I still don't but there's some serious effort going into getting back there. Mind you, whether it can be done by December next year after which the bet is off remains to be seen.
http://lunar.xprize.org/about/overview
I never did see the point of going to the moon and I still don't but there's some serious effort going into getting back there. Mind you, whether it can be done by December next year after which the bet is off remains to be seen.
I'm only a plumber from Cannock...
"As to reward, my profession is its own reward;" Sherlock Holmes.
'It ain't what they call you, it's what you answer to.' W.C. Fields.
"As to reward, my profession is its own reward;" Sherlock Holmes.
'It ain't what they call you, it's what you answer to.' W.C. Fields.
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quicksilver-wsr
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Re: Space, The Final Frontier
I guess it gets Google loads of publicity - and it's publicity with the right "emotional values" for their profile - so that part makes plenty sense. A great piece of marketing, ticking all the boxes Google would want ticked.
Presumably, the teams that are likely to put in a bid for this were already well on with their projects when the prize was first announced. I hope they've got their launch slots booked!
Whatever your views on lunar exploration, the Moon must be the best learning ground we've got. The more I hear about the plans for Mars, the more mind-blowingly difficult and science-fiction-like it all seems. The earthly problems we currently have have only pushed Mars further and further away.
Talking to some of the newer astronauts when the Shuttle first started flying regularly, some - Mary Cleave comes to mind - expressed a desire to "stick around until the Mars missions". That was the early-1980s. It genuinely seemed more likely then than it does now. Needless to say, that generation of astronauts has long since moved on and found more achievable things to do.
Nigel
Presumably, the teams that are likely to put in a bid for this were already well on with their projects when the prize was first announced. I hope they've got their launch slots booked!
Whatever your views on lunar exploration, the Moon must be the best learning ground we've got. The more I hear about the plans for Mars, the more mind-blowingly difficult and science-fiction-like it all seems. The earthly problems we currently have have only pushed Mars further and further away.
Talking to some of the newer astronauts when the Shuttle first started flying regularly, some - Mary Cleave comes to mind - expressed a desire to "stick around until the Mars missions". That was the early-1980s. It genuinely seemed more likely then than it does now. Needless to say, that generation of astronauts has long since moved on and found more achievable things to do.
Nigel
Last edited by quicksilver-wsr on Tue Nov 04, 2014 12:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Renegadenemo
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Re: Space, The Final Frontier
I'm fully aware that it's just me but I never saw the point of trying to get to a rock in space and going to Mars is just crackers. We don't even know what's on the bottom of the Indian Ocean where MH370 is reputed to lie so we've still a bit to do down here before we go messing about in the other direction.Whatever your views on lunar exploration, the Moon must be the best learning ground we've got. The more I hear about the plans for Mars, the more mind-blowingly difficult and science-fiction-like it all seems. The earthly problems we currently have have only pushed Mars further and further away.
I'm only a plumber from Cannock...
"As to reward, my profession is its own reward;" Sherlock Holmes.
'It ain't what they call you, it's what you answer to.' W.C. Fields.
"As to reward, my profession is its own reward;" Sherlock Holmes.
'It ain't what they call you, it's what you answer to.' W.C. Fields.
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quicksilver-wsr
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Re: Space, The Final Frontier
Heck - you'll be popular at NASA! 
N.
N.
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quicksilver-wsr
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Re: Space, The Final Frontier
A lot more info here ...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-29895140
... and apparently they have a back-up spaceship that's now being prepared, that was approximately 65% complete at the time the accident occurred.
Nigel
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-29895140
... and apparently they have a back-up spaceship that's now being prepared, that was approximately 65% complete at the time the accident occurred.
Nigel
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Renegadenemo
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Re: Space, The Final Frontier
That's good news as I'd imagine Virgin will want to move this on as quickly as possible. I'm sure Richard will have a bit put by for just such a rainy day.and apparently they have a back-up spaceship that's now being prepared, that was approximately 65% complete at the time the accident occurred.
I'm only a plumber from Cannock...
"As to reward, my profession is its own reward;" Sherlock Holmes.
'It ain't what they call you, it's what you answer to.' W.C. Fields.
"As to reward, my profession is its own reward;" Sherlock Holmes.
'It ain't what they call you, it's what you answer to.' W.C. Fields.
-
Renegadenemo
- Posts: 5176
- Joined: Mon Dec 01, 2008 12:29 pm
- Location: N E England
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Re: Space, The Final Frontier
I'm only a plumber from Cannock...
"As to reward, my profession is its own reward;" Sherlock Holmes.
'It ain't what they call you, it's what you answer to.' W.C. Fields.
"As to reward, my profession is its own reward;" Sherlock Holmes.
'It ain't what they call you, it's what you answer to.' W.C. Fields.
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quicksilver-wsr
- Posts: 1099
- Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2009 10:29 pm
Re: Space, The Final Frontier
A spanner has been e-mailed to the ISS ...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30549341
The Bloodhound team uses this tech, too - albeit at 1G
Nigel
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30549341
The Bloodhound team uses this tech, too - albeit at 1G
Nigel
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quicksilver-wsr
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- Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2009 10:29 pm
Re: Space, The Final Frontier
It turns out Beagle 2 so nearly made it ...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30784886
What a great shame Colin Pillinger didn't live to see this news emerge.
Nigel
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30784886
What a great shame Colin Pillinger didn't live to see this news emerge.
Nigel