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Thread: Spaceport America

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    Default Spaceport America

    "Rockets will blast off at Spaceport America

    Companies wishing to join the space race will soon have a terminal to launch their space buses--sending private citizens on a tour of Earth and beyond. The designs have been released and construction on Spaceport America will begin in 2008 in Las Cruces, N.M.
    A U.S.-British team of URS Corporation and Foster + Partners have revealed plans for a 100,000 square-foot hangar that will be part of the world's first port built specifically for commercial space travel."







    Isn't that freakin' cool???


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    Default Re: Spaceport America

    Very cool indeed.

    We need this--getting up there into space will be of great value, technologically and in order to further the development of the human race.
    You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.
    Friedrich Nietzsche

    Free your mind, and your ass will follow.
    George Clinton

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    Banned Melonie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Spaceport America

    ^^^ forgive my cynical outlook, but didn't you ever see the movie 'Gattica' ?

    The case being made in that film, as well as by many think tanks, is that there is no way that the earth can provide the resources necessary to open up space travel on an 'equal' basis. Thus the leap into space will only serve to vastly widen the gap between people who 'count' ... i.e. those who are very highly educated / qualified, those who have the best quality DNA, those who are mega-rich enough to pay their own way etc. ... from people who 'don't count' i.e. 99.9% of the earth's population.

    If you stop and think about it, this has all the makings of a new 'dark ages' ... where a tiny minority of world leaders decide which people are worthy of 'investment' of vastly expensive education and training in preparation for life / careers in space, but with those other people who are deemed not worthy left to fend for themselves on an increasingly crowded / polluted / depleted planet earth. Keep in mind that the mega-rich will very likely no longer be living on planet earth
    Last edited by Melonie; 09-09-2007 at 05:02 PM.

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    Default Re: Spaceport America

    Quote Originally Posted by Melonie View Post
    ^^^ forgive my cynical outlook, but didn't you ever see the movie 'Gattica' ?
    Could be like "the moon is a harsh mistress" by Heinlein. Where the moon becomes a penal colony, for criminals and political dissidents. A sentence of the moon is for life; since at one sixth gravity muscles and bone would atrophy. Children born there would never be able to go to the earth.

    As for the OP yes! That is very cool. The has been so many good spin offs of technology made for space (Tempurpedic beds, mylar, solar cells, CO2 scrubbers,) that with industry getting in, hell yes and about time.

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    Default Re: Spaceport America

    ^^^ yes I have read Heinlein's 'Harsh Mistress', along with a lot of his other work. All I can say is that his 50's ish 'poetic license' belies the economic realities and political correctness requirements of transporting 'criminals' to the moon as well as transporting all of the 'support services' they are entitled to.

    It is far more cost efficient to turn the moon into a 'luxury enclave' for the headquarters of mega-corporations and the mega-rich - think Dubai + lower Manhattan + London / Paris / Brussels / Tokyo financial districts merged into this solar system's most exclusive gated community. Besides the mega-corporate bigwigs and their corporate headquarters staffs, and besides the idle mega-rich, they would of course need to take along along their private schools, private trainers, private doctors, private 'entertainers', a large group of scientists and researchers, a large group of artists etc. A very exclusive community indeed - and the only one with absolutely zero chance of illegal immigrants / hit men / extortionists / anybody else deemed 'undesireable' sneaking over the 'fence' (which would now be 250,000 miles high).

    and ALL OF THIS could easily be paid for by the income tax savings which would instantly be achieved by being able to officially escape all earthbound governmental jurisdictions !!!

    However, what's left behind on planet earth might not be so 'pretty' ... especially after the loss of about 37% of ALL tax revenues which are currently paid by the richest 1% of earthly residents.

    Actually, a screenwriter named David Gerrold came up with the first original story that I know of along this line ... which became an original series Star Trek episode ...



    ~
    Last edited by Melonie; 09-09-2007 at 05:52 PM.

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    Default Re: Spaceport America

    new sub species? Homo Lunatic.....

    Comes to naught if there isn't any ice there. Helium three would make it profitable when fusion containment becomes possible. Living on the moon is a one way trip though. Theres a point of no return with muscular atrophy. May not be so cost efficientif everything has to come up the grav well. Rockets are weighed to the gram so there is enough to boost to the required altitude without excess. To expensive even for the mega rich to live in luxury, unless the moon itslef has a priceless commodity like H3 to export or zero gee manufacture.

    Will we live on the moon? I think so yes. If we can't find ice there though I am afraid it will just be an exotic scientific station.

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    Jay Zeno
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    Default Re: Spaceport America

    Personally I like the exploration of these issues in The Mars Trilogy

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    Default Re: Spaceport America

    Quote Originally Posted by Melonie View Post



    If you stop and think about it, this has all the makings of a new 'dark ages' ... where a tiny minority of world leaders decide which people are worthy of 'investment' of vastly expensive education and training in preparation for life / careers in space, but with those other people who are deemed not worthy left to fend for themselves on an increasingly crowded / polluted / depleted planet earth.
    IMO, that seems like a really effn paraniod pov

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    Default Re: Spaceport America

    thanks for the awesome link!

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    Default Re: Spaceport America

    Japan just launched a rocket some orbiter that will circle the moon and gather info for the next 4 years.

    I just saw a small blurb about it on tv and I mean a SMALL blurb. Why is it that this kind of info isn't deemed newsworthy?

    In addition to Japan, China and India also have plans to launch something within the next several years.

    I'm not convinced that people will permanently populate the moon in the sense that somebody could relocate to a new city and live the rest of their days there. I think it will be more of a space station that serves as a portal for deep space travel with people doing rotations there to keep it running. Of course there will be visits from the occasional tourists.

    I think Mars is more strongly favored as a potential relocation destination. Aren't there some moons that are also being theoretically explored as possibilities? Some Saturnian moon or something?


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    Jay Zeno
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    Default Re: Spaceport America

    For a Saturnian moon that's most earthlike, it still presents big challenges.

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    Default Private Moon Race: Off and Running

    “I feel fairly certain that we can have a winner of this competition well before the deadline, which is the end of 2014. In fact, we could well have a winner within the next three to four years,” Diamandis predicted. “Our intention is a global, private race to the Moon…and to get there on the surface way before any government can.”



    Team SW, anyone?
    Last edited by LoveSexMoney; 12-02-2007 at 08:03 PM.


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