PDA

View Full Version : Private Sector Starting to Overtake Govt Space Efforts (NASA)




lx43
02-27-2013, 07:36 PM
With all the new ventures trying to make a profit in space it looks like they'll contribute more to make humans a spacefaring civilization than NASA ever thought about being.

Honeymoon to Mars? Multimillionaire makes proposal

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/sciencefair/2013/02/27/tito-mars/1951001/


A "Mission for America" plan proposed by millionaire space tourist Dennis Tito would ship two astronauts to Mars and back in 501 days, starting in 2018.


http://www.space.com/19992-private-spaceflight-deep-space-exploration.html


Golden Spike, which was named after the final spike pounded into the United States' First Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, plans to start flying roundtrip missions to the moon by 2020. The company will charge $1.5 billion for each mission, which will land two astronauts on the lunar surface and return them safely to Earth.

Two other companies aim to send customers on slingshot journeys around the moon, without touching down on Earth's nearest neighbor.

Virginia-based Space Adventures and Excalibur Almaz, a firm headquartered in the Isle of Man, plan to charge $150 million per seat. Space Adventures will use souped-up Russian Soyuz spacecraft, while Excalibur Almaz will adapt Soviet-era Almaz space stations for the journey.

Other companies are interested in mining and utilizing the moon's resources. The Texas-based
Shackleton Energy Company, for example, aims to transform lunar water ice into rocket fuel, then sell it from off-Earth "gas stations" by 2020 or so.


Both Planetary Resources — which counts Google execs Larry Page and Eric Schmidt among its financial backers — and Deep Space Industries want to mine asteroids for water and metals. Like Shackleton, they think accessing space-based resources will make further exploration easier and cheaper, helping humanity extend its footprint out into the solar system.