Lowering Costs on the Earth-to-Orbit Run, Preparing for Incoming Asteroids

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Getting scared silly by the latest doomsday prediction is silly. So is ignoring real threats.


(Copyright M. Ahmetvaleev, via NASA News, used w/o permission.)

The Chelyabinsk meteor didn't kill anyone. Only 1,100 or so folks needed medical treatment: for injuries ranging from cuts and bruises to a broken spine. Next time, we may not get off so lightly. Now is a very good time to start getting ready for an incoming asteroid....

...Looking Ahead


(Reaction Engines Limited/Terra Novus, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.)
(Reaction Engines Limited's Skylon spaceplane.)

Apart from Space Shuttle fleet, now out of service, and recoverable capsules like Space-X's Dragon, launch vehicles are still a single-use technology. That makes getting into space very expensive.

A decade from now, we'll probably see shipping rates go down: dramatically, I suspect.

Reaction Engines Limited's Skylon is scheduled for a test flight to the International Space Station in 2019. Quite a few other spaceplanes are in development, including: DRDO/ISRO's Avatar; Sierra Nevada Corporation Space Systems' Dream Chaser.; and JAXA's HOPE-X.

Any one of them may run into insurmountable obstacles and not fly. But I'll be very surprised indeed if none lead to an economical ferry service to orbit.

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