Space exploration: Where do we go from here?

[Handyman]

They could probably afford to do both things. I doubt it occurred to them.

They could have done both and still been in the top 1% by a decent margin.

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Jeff Bezos is not an astronaut and he doesn't pay anywhere near enough taxes. Case closed.

[bronconick]

I'm fine with launching billionaires into space
I’m less fine with spending time and effort on their safe reentry

[aparch]

I'm fine with launching billionaires into space
I’m less fine with spending time and effort on their safe reentry

They're not really facing the same re-entry pressures that every other manned spacecraft have experienced. The Blue Origins capsule is only traveling at 2,000 MPH to get to its apogee, a far cry from the 17,000 MPH orbital spacecraft are traveling at.

That reduced speed means less friction between the air molecules and the spacecraft itself, thus a less than "traditional" re-entry. The Karman line is just the point of the atmosphere where the molecules in the air are so thin/spread out that conventional aircraft will no longer generate lift on their own to maintain flight. Any aircraft above the Karman line would need to be traveling at orbital speed to maintain "flight."

It's been described that the Space Shuttle, nee all orbiting spacecraft, aren't "flying" so much as they're actually travelling so fast they keep "missing" the Earth as they fall.




Richard Branson's plane travels at an even lower altitude, barely breaking the US recognized "boundary of space" at 50 miles, but not the international recognized boundary of 62 miles.

[aparch]

Jeff Bezos is not an astronaut and he doesn't pay anywhere near enough taxes. Case closed.

I don't want to start throwing asterisks on space flight records, but I've seen one idea floated about (that I personally don't agree with) that one must orbit the Earth at least once to be considered an Astronaut. Which would posthumously disqualify Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom. And would still allow SpaceX's two tourists to be considered Astronauts after their orbital flight this winter.

[dxmnkd316]

They're not really facing the same re-entry pressures that every other manned spacecraft have experienced. The Blue Origins capsule is only traveling at 2,000 MPH to get to its apogee, a far cry from the 17,000 MPH orbital spacecraft are traveling at.

That reduced speed means less friction between the air molecules and the spacecraft itself, thus a less than "traditional" re-entry. The Karman line is just the point of the atmosphere where the molecules in the air are so thin/spread out that conventional aircraft will no longer generate lift on their own to maintain flight. Any aircraft above the Karman line would need to be traveling at orbital speed to maintain "flight."

It's been described that the Space Shuttle, nee all orbiting spacecraft, aren't "flying" so much as they're actually travelling so fast they keep "missing" the Earth as they fall.




Richard Branson's plane travels at an even lower altitude, barely breaking the US recognized "boundary of space" at 50 miles, but not the international recognized boundary of 62 miles.

Uh, yeah. The one thing I remember about the shuttle reentry is that there's a period where it is surrounded by a field of plasma. That's ****ing intense.

[dxmnkd316]

My take on "Astronaut" is that it would be like someone firing an M16 being called a Marine. Nah. You flew in space, you aren't an Astronaut. THat path goes through NASA and NASA only. You were selected, went through a training program, and had a mission. Just because I rode Space Mountain doesn't make me a Mousketeer.

My Wildcat $0.02 hot take.

[aparch]

My take on "Astronaut" is that it would be like someone firing an M16 being called a Marine. Nah. You flew in space, you aren't an Astronaut. THat path goes through NASA and NASA only. You were selected, went through a training program, and had a mission. Just because I rode Space Mountain doesn't make me a Mousketeer.

My Wildcat $0.02 hot take.

I agree with this take.

[Handyman]

Me too. Shepard trained. These clowns bought their way in they are frauds. They are like people who pay to hunt animals raised in captivity.

[Kepler]

Just because I rode Space Mountain doesn't make me a Mousketeer.

Depends. Take off your shirt.

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Jeff Bezos is an astronaut in the same sense that people who grew up in West Bloomfield, Birmingham, Rochester, Clarkston, etc. are "from" Detroit. ;-)

That analogy works for whatever lily white suburbs of whichever Rust Belt city you desire.

[SJHovey]

May have already been posted, but pretty funny.

https://twitter.com/jonstewart/statu...57259886940162

[Kepler]

This looks like a cool sub for engineers. One of the projects is crowdsourcing a Mars colony.

[Kepler]

Elon Musk throws four animals into space.

[LynahFan]

Elon Musk throws four animals into space.

Went down to the beach to catch this one. The official video didn’t do it justice - launching just after sunset, rising up out of the darkness and then getting illuminated by sunlight as it rises up out of earth’s shadow - absolutely gorgeous. I assume there must be many great zoomed out panoramic pictures of it out there - well worth your time to look.