Ansari X Prize Won
BobTheJanitor
Join Date: 2003-12-10 Member: 24228Members, NS1 Playtester
Join Date: 2003-12-10 Member: 24228Members, NS1 Playtester
in Off-Topic
<div class="IPBDescription">Hooray!</div> If you don't know what the Ansari X Prize is, you're not a proper geek. But I'll recap for the less informed. It's basically a 10 million dollar prize offered to the first team that can build a ship to take a pilot and two passengers (or equivalent weight) into space, and then repeat the feat again within a short amount of time. And now, today, the prize has finally been won by the SpaceShipOne team. Some of you may recall the news of the test flight a little while ago.
Many news links from google news <a href='http://news.google.com/?hl=en&ncl=http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20041004_733.html' target='_blank'>here</a>.
We can only hope this will usher in a new era of private space flight when we can stop waiting on slow bloated government bureacracy to push us into the future and instead let the efforts be driven by private companies who will keep moving forwards as long as there is profit to be made. Maybe it's not the most altruistic way of doing it, but by God it gets us there a whole lot faster.
Many news links from google news <a href='http://news.google.com/?hl=en&ncl=http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20041004_733.html' target='_blank'>here</a>.
We can only hope this will usher in a new era of private space flight when we can stop waiting on slow bloated government bureacracy to push us into the future and instead let the efforts be driven by private companies who will keep moving forwards as long as there is profit to be made. Maybe it's not the most altruistic way of doing it, but by God it gets us there a whole lot faster.
Comments
Yes, because over-regulation of techrelated private sectors has never happened *koff koff*
Next step, commercial crafts in orbit!
Seeing the earth from up there would be awesome, I hope that whole 'Virgin Galactic' thing is more than a marketing ploy.
Eh, that happens. But a company that's worried about putting big numbers on their bottom line is going to put a whole lot more effort into this than a government agency ever will. Novelty space tourism will start them off (people are already lining up for it... wouldn't you if you had the cash?) and that will give space corps the go ahead to start pushing further and further. While I'd rather not the future be full of space hotels and luna-disney worlds, if that's what it will take to get humanity off its collective butt and into the great beyond, I'm all for it.
OMG, THIER GONNA ABANDON US AND ALL MOVE TO THE MOON!!!11!1one
And crashing into each other, the ground, buildings and small children =D
I saw that so I figured it had been won, and I found this thread and confirmed it <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
I think this is the dream of just about every proper geek who still has a sense of wonder that hasn't been ground down to dust by day-to-day life.
meh, *donces anyway*
And crashing into each other, the ground, buildings and small children =D <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
The only way it would work is if the system was computer controlled, and then it would be very, very safe, at least in comparrison w/ the risks you take just to go to the supermarket.
The prototype air cars they have now are all computer controlled like this.
And crashing into each other, the ground, buildings and small children =D <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The only way it would work is if the system was computer controlled, and then it would be very, very safe, at least in comparrison w/ the risks you take just to go to the supermarket.
The prototype air cars they have now are all computer controlled like this. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
They built a prototype air car in my town
I don't even know what flying cars look like <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/confused-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
(ps: air cars refer to cars working on compressed air as energy source I believe)
woops. I glanced at it on google and thought it was a fish leaping for a lure.
The Americans have done it again :o