Bigelow to announce 'America's Space Prize'

[astrophoto]

"three more crew (~220 kg in human mass alone),"<br /><br />Uh oh, I weigh in at 103kg myself, will I need two tickets? <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[mrmorris]

<font color="yellow">"... will I need two tickets?"</font><br /><br />I mentioned in another thread (can't remember which -- Virgin tourism thread, I think) that sub-orbital and especially orbital tourism would essentially be forced to charge by the pound. They really don't have much choice in the matter. <br /><br />Perhaps they'll run their pre-launch 'Space Training Camp' much like a military boot camp. Pudgey potential space tourists can gain their astrounaut wings *and* lose their love handles simultaneously. Whatta deal! <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[kmarinas86]

speaking of weight... who will be the first child to explore space?

 

[mrmorris]

<font color="yellow">"The obvious answer... (very un-PC,) is to start adding solids to the stack. "</font><br /><br />Well the thought was to have a team aiming to win Bigelow's orbital prize. By using Falcon V as a booster, they would only need to develop a crew capsule. Since Falcon I hasn't even flown yet, and V is (presumably) still a bunch of pictures and bytes in a CAD file -- planning on strap-on boosters being available by 2010 is reaching more than a bit.<br /><br />Making the assumption that the Falcon V will be built -- this would seem to be the cheapest and surest way to win the Bigelow prize. No craft will be cheaper to design and build than a capsule -- and starting with a pre-existing concept has the potential to reduce costs and design times even further.<br /><br />That having been said -- the Gemini program cost 1.147 billion (~1965 dollars). I can't get a breakdown on how much of that was design/construction vs. flight costs -- but it's obvious that recreating it on a shoestring will be... interesting. I don't know how much access a private company would have to the original engineering drawings, specs, etc. If they have to re-invent the capsule from scratch, it's not going to happen.

 

[mrmorris]

<font color="yellow">"...who will be the first child to explore space?"</font><br /><br />I'm not sure of the first name... but their last name will be 'Gates'. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[astrophoto]

Hey I am a svelte 103 kilos! I just happen to be 6'8" ... guess my height might rule me out anyway. Now I need to call a geneticist to get to space...

 

[liquidspace2k]

Anyone know how many people the Big G was suppose to carry, cause the Bigelow prize i believe calls for bring 7 people into orbit, and be able to dock to its station.

 

[najab]

Big Gemini was supposed to carry up to 10.

 

[mrmorris]

<font color="yellow">"Anyone know how many people the Big G was suppose to carry...</font><br /><br />That's ten *passengers*, plus two pilots, plus cargo. It could carry 2,500 kg of cargo in the version earmarked to be boosted by the Titan 3M. <br /><br /><br />*edit* -- ...and I <i>think</i> Bigelow's prize requires five people, not seven.

 

[mrmorris]

<font color="yellow">"I assume the prize is for 5 or more... "</font><br /><br />I'm sure that Bigelow would be ecstatic if someone created a ship for the contest that seated 100... but what I was getting at is the requirement to win the prize is five. Liquidspace2K indicated he thought it was 7.