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Alt.Space - Promises Kept/Broken
Alt.Space - Promises Kept/Broken
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Space Station Commander  
Joined: Wed Dec 08, 2004 12:55 pm
Posts: 506 Location: Germany 
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 Posted on: Sun Dec 23, 2007 8:29 am_________________ "The hardest hurdle to space isn't the technicalities and money. But rather, the courage and the will to do it." - Burt Rutan. |
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Spaceflight Enthusiast  
Joined: Sat Dec 29, 2007 8:46 pm
Posts: 1
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Posted on: Sun Dec 30, 2007 4:25 pm Buck.Bundy wrote: The company I can't figure out is PlanetSpace/Canadian Arrow. From what I can tell Canadian Arrow was bought/merged/absobed into PlanetSpace back in 2005. (Does anyone have the actual particulars of this deal ?) Canadian Arrow had been doing REAL work and making progress during X-Prize 1.0 and basically stopped doing anything after the PlanetSpace thing even though PlanetSpace committed to flying people in 24 months since they had found their Paul Allen. (Dr. Chirinjeev Kathuria) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlanetSpace They went on to submit a proposal for COTS-1.0 and did not make the finalist list. They then when on to announce . . . well there's too much to list here. The thing that I didn't understand was when there was a news story about LockMart and the Canadian Federal Govenment supporting PlanetSpace's Launch site in Nova Scotia and Mention of LockMart's Athena launcher. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athena_%28rocket%29 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ ... y/National The next day a spokesperson for the Federal Minister of industry says they never had ANY discussions and NEVER would. (Saturday no less and then again on Monday by ANOTHER spokesperson) http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ ... y/National http://canadianpress.google.com/article ... PyCk361big There has been NO clarification from the company. I had thought since NASA had signed an unfunded COTS-1.0 SAA with these people that they were credible. It appears they are still in negotions for the property to build the launch site on based on an interview with a provincial employee even though they have a milestone (for June) that says they have title to the property. http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf ... ce_SAA.pdf June 2007 - Milestone 5: Select Launch site in Nova Scotia Description: Selection of actual real-estate for development as a Nova Scotia launch site. Success Criteria: Executed document showing title to parcel of land in Cape Breton for orbital launch complex. Based on the comments from; (Globe & Mail Oct.26, 07) "A spokeswoman for Nova Scotia Business Inc. confirmed that the government agency is in discussions with PlanetSpace to provide land for the launch site. It was reported last year that NSB Inc. planned to provide 120 hectares of land for the project, but spokeswoman Sarah Levy said there are still many "moving parts" in the negotiations and that numbers are not final." WTF. SnakeOil Sheerin has as credibility as Not-so-Flyin Brian Feeney, and turned Cape Breton, Nova Scotia into as cruel a punchline as Feeney did to Kindersley, Sasketchewan. Pity. Neither Kindersley, Cape Breton nor the fledgling Alt.Space industry deserve the likes of these. My $ 0.02 worth. Buck.Bundy I don't know who all these people are but am very interested in whether or not PlanetSpace is actually building a launch site in Cape Breton... I read about it from something in 2006, but haven't heard anything about it since. No, wait--I just found something on someone's blog (http://waverleywest.blogspot.com/2007/1 ... sites.html) ... _________________ "There are angels in your angles There's a low moon caught in your tangles" |
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Moon Mission Member  
Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2004 11:52 am
Posts: 1265 Location: Exeter, Devon, England
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Posted on: Sun Dec 30, 2007 6:34 pm Im struggling to get the link to work, has anyone got an updated one?
Welcome to the Space Fellowship Chiya! _________________ > http://www.fullmoonclothing.com > http://www.facebook.com/robsastrophotography > robgoldsmith@hotmail.co.uk |
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Space Station Commander
Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2005 1:25 am
Posts: 887
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Posted on: Mon May 19, 2008 9:52 pm You have all seen my rants against private spaceflight, like those in later sections here:
http://www.bautforum.com/space-explorat ... space.html Here is another reason why private initiatives can hurt spaceflight--not help it.... Golf clubs. Yes, golf clubs... Take a look at this AV Week quote from Alan H Epstein from AV Week and Space (page 60, May 12, 2008) "...engines are mainly metal...the academic community got out of the metallurgic business in the early 1960s when they turned their metallurgic departments into material science departments, and switched steel and aluminum to silicone and electronic materials.....the industry has a huge shortage of metallurgists....The atrophy of government investment in new materials will slow things down. Having a material that costs $8,000 a pound doesn't make it economical...Of Course, the shortage of titanium due to the market for golf clubs isn't helping." Now he may be joking of course--and probably is. But what if that isnt all that much of a joke? Also according to him, it takes "20-30 years and about one billion dollars to get a new material from lab bench to final." One more strike against Mom & Pop space... |
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