In case you missed it on the news wires, head over here.
Hearty congratulations to all at Scaled Composites as I’m sure they’re being wished by many others. But now lets see the other competitors egg themselves on to similar heights – it would be glorious to have several privately funded rockets developed independently of one another with differing designs all able to breach Space.
Good on NASA meantime for commenting positively on the launch.
There’s a downside to the privatisation of space travel. Considering the expense the superpowers went to to prevent the loss of human life, will the private sector excercise the same safety precautions considering it’s goal is primarily profit ?
And when someone does die in a space-travel related accident, will the implications be as severe as for the industry as, for example, Columbia was to NASA?
I guess we’ll see.
I think it’ll likely be pushed to follow a model closer to the modern air travel and industry. Test pilots will likely continue to shoulder the burden of undertaking the risky study of new prototypes but part of the equation of the rational consumer is that they’ll also demand high safety standards relative to the price they’re willing to pay out so there will be expectations.
That being said, there were higher rates of failure with early mass travel models and there will inevitably be accidents in space as well. When the first one happens, it will be front page news especially as a result of its novelty value compared to modern air crashes. But provided that their frequency reaches and then follows a similar level of failure as compared with everyday air travel, the public will be willing to accept it, as it hasn’t stopped them on normal airlines and Columbia hasn’t stopped NASA entirely either. The brave souls will also be more likely to shoulder the risks than the average person (who can initially afford such trips).
Carl Sagan’s book Pale Blue Dot also documented a similar trend with American and Soviet rockets – high occurences of initial failure but as knowledge and experience grew the rate dropped off. Technological advances will also come in use but it will likely mean that there won’t be such rapid price drops as there were with, say, personal computers.
But that all being said, I don’t expect to be able to book a trip to orbit within the next ten years. However, if these trips do become a reality I may be willing to risk my life once to do so if I eventually have the funds.
Shayne has some [url=http://fifteenminutes.blogspot.com/2004_06_20_fifteenminutes_archive.html#108799379444473242]valid concerns[/url] on his blog about a future space travel industry for those interested in further reading on that specific subject matter.
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[L]ocal viewpoints on local/international affairs. That they aren't brain-dead like most local self-confessed 'intellectuals' is a bonus.
- Fifteen Minutes
[I'm] glad to report the arrival of a new blog written by a couple of 'conservative-libertarian' South Africans. Commentary is both well written and prolific and very much worth a visit.
- Southern Cross
[A] great new South African blog. Commentary.co.za brings us libertarian views on South Africa...
- Way South
Probably the busiest (in terms of number of postings) blog is Commentary... They write on everything from politics, sport, time travel and more.
- Fodder
Commentary.co.za is a fantastically well-written site with an indepth insight into South African politics. If you want the lowdown on what's happening in the corridors of power, this is the place to read it. These guys know their stuff.
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Pompous, geeky and holier-than-thou.
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