The Commercialization of Space

Every method of transportation in history has had the ultimate goal of making it available for all. For example, the invention of the wheel revolutionized transportation . It was applied to wagons, carriages, locomotives, and now automobiles and aircraft. Now, all these methods of transportation are available to everyone. This was only due to commercialization. There is only so much that the government can provide for people. So now comes the question, will there ever be a commercialization of space?

Fortunately, the answer is yes. The past 15 years has seen a huge growth in aerospace startups. However, due to the complexity of space, progress is slow. Some companies are small, such as Masten Space Systems, and others are large, such as SpaceX and Blue Origin. No matter the size of the company though, every single one shares the common goal of opening space to all. Another commonality is that they all stress the importance of reusabilty. Not a single company is planning to throw away any parts. This is the only way to make space cheap and fast enough for a commercial market.

Some notable companies are SpaceX, Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, XCOR Aerospace, and Bigalow Aerospace. SpaceX is currently resupplying the International Space Station and will soon be ferrying astronauts to it.They have the ultimate goal of not just commercializing space, but moving life onto Mars. Other companies such Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, and XCOR Aerospace are offering sub-orbital flights with stunning views of the Earth and the zero-g experience. But once we get to space, wouldn’t it be nice to stay there? That’s exactly what Bigalow Aerospace doing. They are building expandable space habitats for both government and commercial purposes. Who knows, maybe in 20 years we’ll able to own property or vacation in space.

September 3, 2015September 3, 2015 by russellphd Categories: Exploration, TechnologyTags: exploration, future, rocket science, space Leave a comment

The end of NASA

The Space Launch System, SLS is currently being developed by NASA as the biggest and most powerful rocket in history. Although this may be true, bigger and more powerful doesn’t necessarily mean better. The SLS is still missing the fundamental property that opens space to all: re-usability. In 2012, NASA made a goal to have each launch be $500 million. For the launch capability of the rocket, this is cheaper than the shuttle. However, it is still hopelessly expensive for the average person.

Lets take a look at the anatomy of this rocket. The main engines used on the core booster are 4 RS-25 engines. These are also known as the Space Shuttle Main Engine(SSME) because they were used on the shuttle. The first 4 launches will literally burn up the 16 remaining SSME’s in storage at NASA’s Stennis Space Center. Even worse, Chris Bergin of nasaspaceflight.com writes that it has been”confirmed that there will be a transition to the expendable version of the SSME, known as the RS-25E”. It seems like the “E” stands for expendable

The entire SLS is contradictory to NASA’s beliefs. In 1969, NASA’s Space Task Group stated that the future of space needed “low-cost, flexible, long-lived, highly reliable, operational space systems with a high degree of commonality and reusability”. On the NASA website they also acknowledge that reusability is key to accessible space. Whats worse is that they claim that their RS-25 engine is the “Ferrari of rocket engines” by being powerful, efficient, and complex.

Yet with all these statements about reusability, NASA is still throwing away a rocket that is over 300 feet tall powered by best engines in the world. The SLS is anything but “long lived….with a high degree of commonality and reusablity” and is quite literally burning up your tax dollars. With the expansion of commercial space companies such as Blue Origin, SpaceX, and Virgin Galactic all stressing the importance of reusablity, this may be the end of NASA as we know it. After all, if you had a choice of building one rocket and reusing it or building a new one after every launch, which one would you choose?

September 2, 2015 by russellphd Categories: TechnologyTags: NASA, progress, rockets, Space Launch System Leave a comment

New Versus Old

The Apollo era was the golden age of space travel. We sent man to the moon multiple times, discovered new technologies, and were inspired to reach the heavens. In a 1969 report of the Space Task Group, they stated that the “establishment of a lunar orbit or surface base, a large 50-100 man earth-orbiting space base, and manned exploration of the planets” would be done by the end of the century.

Sadly, this inspiration didn’t last. In fact, we seem to have gone back in time, not forwards. Computers went from filling entire rooms to barely filling our pockets. But how much has rocket technology progressed? The Saturn V rocket which carried astronauts to the moon cost about $3.18 billion (including development) per launch in today’s dollars. However, the Saturn V could lift almost five times as much weight as the Space Shuttle, making the price about $18.4 million per metric ton as opposed to the shuttle, which costs about $65.6 million (including development) per metric ton. So although the shuttle could land on a runway, it also came at an extreme cost.

In the end, maybe new isn’t always better than old. This is an extreme disappointment for everyone. Many rocket launches use our tax dollars, which mean we are all paying more for less. It also means that normal people like you and me will never have the chance to access space. It simply costs too much for too little.

September 1, 2015September 1, 2015 by russellphd Categories: TechnologyTags: progress Leave a comment

50 Years of no Progress

50 years of human space flight and we are still in low Earth orbit. On July 20^th 1969, Apollo astronauts made one small step for mankind on the moon. During this era, space technology matured at an unimaginable rate. Even more amazing, this moon landing occurred only 12 years after the first artificial satellite. This meant that rocket technology was sophisticated and advanced enough back then to launch objects and people into orbit and beyond. This was over 46 years ago. In fact, a 1969 report from the Space Task Group stated that “NASA has outlined plans that would include a manned Mars mission in 1981” (hq.nasa.gov). But where are we now? We are just six scientists strong orbiting 250 miles above Earth. What happened to our space program? Why is space travel still so expensive? When are we going to be able to vacation on the moon and visit Mars? The answer is never, at least if we continue approaching space travel the way we do today.

Our current rockets are expendable, meaning that once they launch, we don’t get them back. This is something most people don’t think about because rockets have always been that way. Imagine driving a car and throwing it away after one use. Imagine flying a plane and then throwing it away after one use. That would be absurd. No one would be traveling anywhere if that were the case. Unless we suddenly discover a new technology, chemical rockets are the only things that produce enough thrust to get to space. However, if rockets became reusable, space would be revolutionized. Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, states that with reusable rockets, “more than a 100-fold improvement in the cost of space flight is achievable. This ratio is comparable to that of aircraft, which are, of course, highly reusable”. Imagine a rocket launch every few minutes or hours instead of the current every few weeks/months.

This has unimaginable applications ranging from business to leisure to science. Imagine the stunning views on your space vacation. Imagine being the first life a planet has seen. Imagine all the job opportunities on literally a world. Even on Earth, everyone would benefit from cheaper rockets. Any launch involving the government would use your tax dollars more efficiently. Any satellite meant for the public such as television, weather, and communication would be cheaper too. Even if building rockets were free, building it still takes weeks or months. The engines are complex and the rocket itself is the height of a tower. Having it been over 46 years since the Apollo moon landings, us still throwing away rockets is a major concern. If we don’t change now, humans will never make it to space.

August 27, 2015August 30, 2015 by russellphd Categories: TechnologyTags: exploration, progress, rocket science Leave a comment