Up Up and Away - IEEE’s Spectrum Magazine has a nice feature up, projecting 2012 to be the year of commercial spaceflight. The 20th of February, 2012, will be the 50th anniversary of the first U.S. orbital manned spaceflight, and wouldn’t it be nice to make the occasion by doing it again;but this time as part of a private initiative?
In 2012 privately funded human spaceflight will advance from promises and one-off stunts to serious flight-testing of spaceships. Governments will be the biggest customers, with unmanned systems possibly docking with the International Space Station (ISS) this year and perhaps eventually taking the place of the retired U.S. space shuttles. Meanwhile, spacecraft designed to give well-heeled tourists a thrill will be firing up their rockets, letting their passengers enjoy a few minutes of weightlessness, and gliding in for landings.
space engineer, scifi author, technology maven, and addicted to beauty in all forms - the best is always yet to come ...
