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I'd forgotten about that stuff, but it seems like the bad idea was the prize itself. I mean, the winner did just enough to get the prize, and stopped, and noth
by perl4ever 6y ago
I'd forgotten about that stuff, but it seems like the bad idea was the prize itself.
I mean, the winner did just enough to get the prize, and stopped, and nothing further ever came of it, right?
Just because of how SpaceX overshadows everything in retrospect.
- as89 6y agoNo, they're still going at it. Partnered with Virgin to make further iterations of the Spaceship One concept under The Spaceship Company. They're shooting to do private spaceflights under the name Virgin Galactic.
- perl4ever 6y agoOrbit though?
- skolsuper 6y agoWhat about it?
- PopeDotNinja 6y agoSub-orbital. Think getting the craft up to altitude of 100+ km, hang out for a few minutes, and descend back to Earth. SpaceShip One, the prototype inspiring the Virgin Galactic fleet, was capable of reaching speeds of 0.9 km/s. [1] Escape velocity to get into orbit from Earth's surface is 11.2 km/s. [2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceShipOne https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceShipOne [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_velocity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_velocity
- thesz 6y agoEscape velocity is a velocity to escape gravitational field. Orbit velocity is a velocity to orbit a thing inside its gravitational field. For example, ISS has orbit speed of about 7.7 km/s at 350 km above the ground. Orbit speed "at the surface" of Earth is about 8km/s, I believe.
- PopeDotNinja 6y agoThanks for the clarification.
- perl4ever 6y agoMy point, not to be overly disrespectful, is that suborbital flights are so different from what SpaceX has done that they seem like party tricks, not stepping stones. In the big picture, it's not a huge amount wasted, I was just remarking on it being less significant in retrospect than one might have hoped.
- addHocker 6y agoAll it needs - is a hook and a fishersatellite to get this bird to space.