Posted on 01/13/2005 5:55:23 PM PST by KevinDavis
Blue Origin, the secretive space exploration company founded by Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos, on Thursday quietly announced plans to build a testing facility on a remote ranch in western Texas.
The facility will be built on land owned by Bezos located north of Van Horn, Texas, a community with a population of 2,400 residents as of 2000. In its first public statement about its ambitions, Blue Origin said it plans to build a suborbital spacecraft that can launch and land vertically with three or more astronauts, according to a report in the local Van Horn Advocate newspaper.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.com ...
Would you be interested in hearing about a space elevator idea?
Very interesting, he probably has lifted the veil of secrecy because they're ready to do flight testing,they won't be able to keep a rocket launch secret.
Nice to see alternative approaches, I think the vertical rocket approach may be a better way to run a sub-orbital rocket operation with high flight rates.
Why do you think that given Burt's success with a high altitude realease?
Cool! I'm here close to Van Horn... it's a dinky little place... got a few 'drinkin' buddies over that way.
Van Horn Spaceport... you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy :-)
I'm glad to see other people besides Burt building rockets..
lol!
Because of the simplicity, it goes up and comes down. It may be a more risky design, but the safety margins on any of these new reusable sub-orbital rockets will be much higher than conventional expendables by the time passengers start flying on them.
Something new?
Future target for Islamic terrorists?
The future of space travel is not at the cape, but at Van Horn Texas or Mojahve California.. 2004 was a good year, 05 is going to be better...
Not a target if it is protected adequetely. I think the government should look into it, it's a long term solution to space access.
Sort of : Blimps pre-date fixed wing aircraft, Since the Hinderberg Disaster in 1937(Parkhurst, NJ)blimp design/safety has greatly advanced. So, picture twin blimps held together by a frame/platform between them, at 1000 foot intervals, 50 of them(for the 50 states)going all the way up to the tropoause(50,000')arranged around a central tether line/elevator cable. Yes, you have to address lightning, either active(charged up to the relavent height)or passively grounding lightning bolts. Then you have to have people in pressure suits above 10,000' but you could have a REAL planetarium at the 50,000' level, black sky even in the day time. The twin blimps(with front and back propellers)slew around to any new wind azimuth vector and get larger as you go up level by level. There is also a possibility of using NASA-developed pumpkin balloons in a ring configuration(1/2 spin CW, 1/2 spin CCW to create a double vortex in the ambient flow). It isn't all the way to LEO(space elevator) of course but think of all the uses you could have in such a high TALL TENSION tower. Electric power comes from the ground, in the tether line, and whole tower/50 units can fly to the ground during thunderstorms/hurricanes, then fly right back up when the dangerous weather has passed. There are no new concepts here, just putting well known elements together in a different way. If succesful, as a business venture, you could have que lines for MILES to ride to the edge of space at 50,000'. So, think of all the uses such a Tall-T Tower could have...
See reply to right whale below. This Tall T Tower is composed of discrete twin balloons, 50 or so, and as such is PORTABLE. Sure, you'll have bozos shooting bullets/missiles/lasars at them but they are independent entities that routinely fly to grade during severe weather or maintenance; unlike compression towers that are planted in one place. Earthquakes? No problem. W=P
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.