T-Minus Seven Days and Counting…
A private enterprise called Copenhagen Suborbitals is taking aim at making regular manned flight into space a reality. In the wake of national programs such as NASA having their financial legs cut out from underneath them, such endeavors are a pleasant development surely. In years to come, I fully expect such programs to increase in both frequency and size of operations.
Such programs should develop if we are to continue our progress in setting foot on other planets. The private sector has both the innovation and will to make this happen. If you think that this is a pretty rare occurrence, there are no less than 85 companies of various sizes that have either proposed or are in various stages of development for space craft or components of their own. All this industry needs is a successful effort to start the ball rolling. To date most of these companies are in the development and testing phase. It is a pretty risky attempt to put space flight in the range of the every man, and no one wants to see the effort be restricted because corners were cut in the race to be first.
In just seven days from now, barring any glitches, a submarine will tow a rocket out to sea from the Dutch coast. At that time they will launch a vehicle with a crash test dummy aboard.
I wish them all the luck in the world. It is certainly my hope that this is just another stepping stone to the stars for humanity.
Related Articles
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- Work Continues on New NASA Spaceships (foxnews.com)
- Virgin Galactic Spaceship-Launching Jet Damaged in ‘Minor Runway Accident (space.com)
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Mike’s Take 