Is it a suicide mission?
Even if it’s extremely dangerous, with a very high probability of not surviving it, I think that’s a gross mischaracterization. A suicide implies a plan to do something that will intrinsically result in death, not take high risks for some other goal.
Yet another space property rights piece, at The New Republic. My take is here and here.
Nice to see that the latter is what you get if you’re feeling lucky on Google with “space property rights.”
Jeff Foust has the latest on their prospects for getting to space this year.
It got derailed by the space industrial complex.
Any government program that has a plan for fifteen years out shouldn’t be taken very seriously. If they really wait that long, they’ll likely be greeted by the concierge at a Bigelow facility. You don’t build a “colony” with a humungous expensive expendable launch system.
…has been scrubbed, due to a failed static-fire test today. Seems to be an umbilical problem.
Maybe next week.
[Update late morning]
Here‘s the full story. As as often the case, it’s a range constraint. I’m sure that’s one of the big motivations to go to Texas. I recall seeing Gwynne wandering the hall at an AIAA conference about eight years ago (when they were getting screwed over at Vandenberg) muttering, “I hate ranges, I hate ranges.”
An analysis from Randall Munroe.
Is now the time?
It seems like a very promising future, with a lot of converging technologies and trends.
I have no comment.
Ten ways it could revolutionize it.
I really think we are on the verge of the most exciting era for human spaceflight since the sixties.