P
PistolPete
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There has been a lot of talk as of late as to who will be doing what in the near future. Some are predicting rainbows and sunshine while others are talking doom and gloom and I think that it is time that we all put down our predictions so that we are all clear as to where everyone stands. These are not necessarily best case or worst case scenarios but realistic predictions of where you think we (as in the human race) will be by the year 2032.<br /><br />What about me, you ask? Well, I put out the question, I should be prepared to have my own answers (I will add more as I think of them):<br /><br /><br />NLT 2009: The first operational SS2 makes its first passenger carrying flight for Virgin Galactic.<br /><br />NLT 2010: SpaceX Dragon capsule makes successful first flight.<br /><br />NLT 2012: Bigelow launches Sundancer.<br /><br />Between 2010-2020: More companies join Virgin Galactic. Trip prices slowly drop to around $50k per seat by 2020.<br /><br />NLT 2015: Ares I flies.<br /><br />Between 2015-2020: Bigelow completes Nautilus space station.<br /><br />NLT 2020: Orion capsule finally flies. First private circumlunar flight.<br /><br />NLT 2028: ISS deorbited.<br /><br />Between 2025-2030: NASA returns to the Moon, begins setting up Moon base.<br /><br />NLT 2030: Commercial suborbital transoceanic space travel begins.<br /><br />SITREP 2032: While suborbital space tourism and suborbital transportation have become accessible to the masses, orbital space tourism is still exclusively for millionaires. By this time there are a few commercial space stations that have facilities for tourists, however, industrial applications are the main money makers for commercial stations. There are between 3 to 6 separate space stations in orbit, most privately funded, and none of them as grandiose as the one depicted in <i>2001: A Space Odyssey</i>. NASA, in cooperation with international partners, is in the process of setting up a permanently manned station on the Moon. However, bec <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><em>So, again we are defeated. This victory belongs to the farmers, not us.</em></p><p><strong>-Kambei Shimada from the movie Seven Samurai</strong></p> </div>