Can EADS Astrium Open Up Space Tourism For Everyone?

With the space tourism industry heating up it looks like the big three (Virgin Galactic, Benson Space and Space Adventures) will have a new competitor in the race--EADS Astrium.

While all four space companies desire to send humans beyond the earthen skyline, only two of them (Virgin Galactic and now EADS Astrium) are embracing the "airplane to rocket" approach.

But what sets EADS Astrium apart from the competition can be summed up in three words--location, location, location!

(Astrum Press Release) The Astrium space jet will take off and land conventionally from a standard airport using its jet engines. However, once the craft is airborne at an altitude of about 12 km, the rocket engines will be ignited to give sufficient acceleration to reach 100 km. In only 80 seconds the craft will have climbed to 60 km altitude. The highly innovative seats balance themselves to minimize the effects of acceleration and deceleration, ensuring the greatest passenger comfort and safety. The rocket propulsion system is then shut down as the ship’s inertia carries it on to over 100 km, where passengers will become one of the very few to experience zero gravity in space.

The pilot will control the craft using small rocket thrusters enabling passengers to hover weightlessly for 3 minutes and to witness the most spectacular view of Earth imaginable. After slowing down during descent, the jet engines are restarted for a normal and safe landing at a standard airfield. The entire trip will last approximately an hour and a half.

By utilizing the airports of everyday citizens EADS Astrium has the potential to setup a spaceport in every nation allowing citizens everywhere to enjoy the benefits of space flight. The ticket cost is similar to that of Virgin Galactics, ranging from 150,000 t0 200,000 Euro.

Although integrating the jet and rocket ship may be wiser, it looks as if the decision will be a lot more expensive as estimates for building these vessels is approaching a billion euro's.

Either way, it should present an interesting alternative for space travelers, and will hopefully make traveling towards the heavens as common an mundane as traveling over seas.

Image Credit: Marc Newson Ltd, via EADS Astrium.

China's Lunar Delay May Aid Japan

It looks as if the red dragon is having to take a breather regarding its ascent towards the lunar heavens. With China delaying its lunar orbiter for "unspecified reasons," Japan may be in the perfect position to eclipse its Asian rival.

(Aviation Week) China's new oxygen/hydrogen propulsion system development, needed for even more ambitious Chinese lunar missions, is also falling years behind schedule, U. S. intelligence analysts believe.

China had originally planned to launch its 5,000-lb. Chang'e lunar orbiter in April on an existing Long March booster. Beijing officials who had been touting the spring target for a year suddenly are announcing a September or October date at the earliest for their first Moon mission, as if the early spring target had never been on the books.

In contrast, the 6,600-lb. Japanese Selene lunar orbiter has been delivered to the Tanegashima Space Center for launch in early August on an increasingly important Asia-Pacific space mission.

China's setback could easily help Japan regain its place in the Asian space as the nation has remained in China's shadow for far too long. Although they have yet to launch a human being into space, a successful lunar mission would go a long ways towards convincing Japanese officials of the value of space, let alone a future lunar colony.

Japan has enormous potential technology wise, but if the nation of the rising sun ever desires to see their flag shine on other worlds, they will need to demonstrate an ability to not only send robots to the cosmos, but humans as well.

In Space, Everyone Speaks Chinese

The eagle and the dragon
Were racing towards the sky
To be the first to build
A lunar nest so very high

The eagle arrived first
But the moon the dragon claimed
Because the eagle could not land
For one of his legs was lame

~Darnell Clayton, 2007

Although this current space race is still too early to call, China and the United States are clearly the front runners in this marathon. China has made impressive strides in its campaign to conquer the cosmos, with future plans of not only landing a lunar rover, but sending a man to the moon as well.

Over in the American corner however, the space pace seems to be slowing down. With NASA lacking the necessary funds for human exploration, they are forced to cannibalize their scientific programs in an effort to keep the vision alive.

With the current dreams of American space exploration evaporating, many have begun attacking their former space champion in an attempt to provide reason for the lack of progress in the space arena. This often results in NASA spending more energy defending itself than promoting space culture, which usually benefits the United States rivals (i.e. China) than it does the American public.

What many entrepreneurs in the emerging space industry as well as bureaucrats in NASA fail to see is that in order for our nation to reach the stars, they will have to begin to publicly cooperate with each other. Just as a lichen can not survive if one organism neglects the other, so to will the "new space" (aka emerging space industry) and NASA will fail at settling the moon if there is an unwillingness to partner with the other.

Despite the fact that NASA has the "committed" funding and a track record of returning to the moon, they lack the innovation needed to not only develop the technology to keep us on lunar soil, but to make it affordable for humanity as well. Although one could argue that New Space has the innovation as well as the passion to develop the technology, unless backed by several thrillionaires they may have trouble getting into orbit, let alone upon another world.

NASA and New Space need to realize that together that they are a team, and if they expect the US to actually visit the moon we so often look at in the sky, they need to figure out how to compliment each other instead of complaining about the other.

While NASA's current focus of reinventing Apollo may not be the best way to visit the stars, New Space should focus on filling the gaps instead of mocking at them. NASA in turn should encourage the promotion of New Space within the governmental sphere, acting as their chief lobbyist and looking out for their best interest.

This unity is crucial for both NASA as well as New Space, as any perception of division in the public may cause some to see space as a wasted affair. This could cause both politicians and investors voting away towards seeding the heavens with our DNA and instead focus on eternal problems such as disease, hunger and poverty.

Unlike the US, China's governmental and corporate space programs seem to flow in harmony with each other, which may lead to them conquering the moon before we do. A head start for China could translate into a head start for harvesting lunar resources which could translate into our future children having to learn Chinese because the red dragon is the dominant space empire, at least commercially.

Just as every major empire has had an influence on the "business language" of the planet (i.e. Rome with Greek, England with English) so will the future space power have influence on the solar business language. After all, it is often the victors who write the history books, and unity between NASA and New Space could spell the difference between our descendants reading space history in English, or reading it in Chinese.

Update: Apparently it seems as if I missed the carnival of space (which you can view over at Music of the Spheres). I'll try to submit a late entry, although if it is not included in this round, I'll submit it to the next.

Update (6/13): Corrected grammatical error. Also resubmitting post to this week's Carnival of Space as I was unable to make it in last time.

Space, It's Not For Cowards

(Image: From Aliens the movie, Credit: MovieVillians.com)


When one often thinks of space, images of lunar and Martian colonies come to mind, often with people (and children) floating around in micro gravity, glimpsing the heavens in a new light that would make even Galileo envious.

But when it comes to realities of living in the cosmos, we must realize that space, like any frontier, has its blessings as well as its dangers.

(NJ.com) "Solar soil is extremely complex. There is nothing like it on Earth," said Logan, citing suspicious "hay fever" reactions by two Apollo astronauts.

Moonwalking astronauts, meanwhile, would face especially high radiation risks if solar flares erupted -- underscoring an urgent need for accurate forecasts of "space weather," Logan said. [...]

The biggest threat may be the moon's gravity, one-sixth that of Earth. Despite nearly a half-century of human space travel, Logan said, nobody really knows how much gravity is needed to maintain health over time. Bone density decreases with weightlessness and does not always fully rebound when astronauts return home, he said. The heart gets lazy, too. Low gravity is likely to affect neural development of babies conceived on the moon, he added.

While most of humanity may settle for visiting the heavens above us, very few (perhaps ten million at most) would be willing to forsake their home world in order to colonize others.

It is inevitable that in our quest to inhabit other moons, planets and asteroids that casualties will occur along the way, with people suffering unimaginable pains from simply living in dangerous environments.

Space is not for cowards, and was never meant to be and if one ever desires to conquer the final frontier, they will have to choose to make it their final destination.

Video: iPhone Going Galactic?

(Hat Tip: NASA Watch)

If astronauts ever revisit the moon, they will definitely require a robust, easy to use communication device in order to survive on the harsh lunar surface.

After all, communication can mean the difference between life and death, and what better device could one ask for than an iPhone?

Editor's note: If only iPhone was with Verizon I would seriously consider it. Since hacking the iPhone is potentially illegal, I may have to settle for an OQO instead. :-(

Magnetic Mars, Heal Thyself

Aside from lacking resources, the largest setback towards calling this crimson world home is the absence of a global magnetic field. With humanity glimpsing at the red planet as a future home, it seems as if the red planet is anticipating our arrival and may remedy our "magnetic problems" for us.

(Space.com) Above ground, Mars is mostly a bone-chilling desert pocked with craters. Hundreds of miles below, however, a molten sea of iron, nickel and sulfur churns. And new research suggests the gooey core will eventually solidify-either from the outside-in, forming an iron-nickel core, or from the inside out, forming a core of a fool's-gold-like minerals.

Andrew Stewart, a planetary geochemist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, said Mars' cooling core might restore magnetism to the red planet. "If liquid metal moves around a solid core, it could create a natural dynamo like the one found in Earth's core," said Stewart, who co-authored the study detailed in today's online edition of the journal Science.

If this is true, then Mars may in the distant future become a habitable world, depending upon the strength of the magnetic field.

Although visiting Mars may be anywhere from a couple decades to a century away, our thirst for knowledge of the red planet may never be quenched, even after settling on Earth's distant neighbor.

Private Citizens: Expedition To Mars By 2014

(Image Credit: TD Summer Reading Club)


Despite the fact that the best estimates put Mars at least 25 years away, a pair of adventurers is seeking to visit the red planet around 2014.

(Space Fellowship) Tom and Tina Sjogren (founders and operators of the [Explorersweb.com]) have revealed their plans to embark on a private expedition to Mars by the year 2014. This was disclosed in an interview with "Outside" magazine, and published in the June 2007 issue (Page 72 – 79). [...]

Tom and Tina, with their prestigious adventure website, have had access to NASA, SpaceX, Armadillo, and many other experts. They brought their practical expertise related to expedition supplies into the calculations and scaled down NASA thinking appropriately. Using their knowledge of what capable, hardworking adventurers could accomplish, and what they would need to do it at acceptable risk, they found that commercial launch vehicles would be adequate to get their expedition supplies into orbit.

Although future missions to the crimson world will require courage of the heart, until scientists are able to find a way to shield space travelers from deadly radiation, a Mars expedition would be suicide.

Solar radiation is no laughing matter, and until scientists can develop the proper shielding via magnetic fields and medication, humans can expect to remain in Earth orbit for quite some time. Although space is not for cowards, it isn't for the foolish also as there are more things in space that can end ones life than preserve it.

Tom and Tina Sjogren both seem like pioneers, and our species will need people like them in order to settle not only the moon and Mars, but the outer lunar outer worlds as well. Hopefully the necessary technology will be in place by the time these two launch their expedition, as solar deaths would not be of much benefit towards the emerging space industry.

Update: Article source provided broken link. Corrected for viewing pleasure.