Well there's interstellar commerce, starship and speeder repair. Imagine all the tourists that will come just to see the jawas, they're such cute little buggers.
Posted on 09/04/2007 3:48:02 PM PDT by Rogle
Associated Press
LAS CRUCES — The New Mexico Spaceport Authority today unveiled the design of Spaceport America, the state's commercial spaceport venture north of Las Cruces.
Spaceport officials say the low-lying 100,000-square-foot hangar and terminal facility will have a minimal impact on the environment, resembling a rise in the landscape.
Construction is to begin next year and is expected to be finished in late 2009 or early 2010
The cost of the entire spaceport project is estimated at $198 million.
(Excerpt) Read more at abqjournal.com ...
Cedar Dave saw on another thread that you mentioned the Space port and saw this in the Journal.
So, just what is the market for Spaceport services? Is there any reasonable expectation this will generate sufficient income to cover costs within, lets say, 10 years?
Especially if Brazil were to open one right on the equator, where lift to LEO is most efficient.
“...minimal impact on the environment...”
HUGE opportunity for the sellers of carbon credits, unless they find a way to send those rockets up with electricity.
Well there's interstellar commerce, starship and speeder repair. Imagine all the tourists that will come just to see the jawas, they're such cute little buggers.
COOOOOOL! Is that Tatooine?
NM Ping list...
Just a wretched hive of scum and villany.
If you want on or off the NM Ping list, please FReepmail me.
Sending stuff into orbit with electricity is not too difficult.
You just pulse a high power laser into the empty cone under the vehicle to expand the air and push it upward. The time between pulses allows fresh air into the cone, then you superheat that air. The laser tracks the launch vehicle all the way up, powering it from the ground, as it builds orbital velocity. It just has to reach that velocity before it runs out of atmosphere to use as expansion gas. A sea-level launch site would be preferable.
The laser launch system has been in development for 30 years, just waiting for the lasers and power systems to reach the point where they can deliver a useful sized payload into orbit.
If you have the distance, you can also build a maglev railgun to shoot stuff into orbit. No fuel other than electricity is needed. This one won’t work for live cargo, though. The G forces are too high unless the railgun is hundreds of miles long. And for the railgun, a high-altitude (mountain-top) location would be best.
Either one would be more efficient than a rocket that has to carry its own fuel with it.
The design team will work with the spaceport authority and Virgin Galactic to finalize the design. The authority expects to put the construction contract out to bid in the first part of 2008.
I wonder how much the winning bidder will have contributed to King Bill's presidential campaign.
/sar
A total approaching 2/3 of a billion of NM taxpayer dollars recklessly and frivolously spent.
“Sending stuff into orbit with electricity is not too difficult.”
What kind of an extension cord does that require?
To Infinity and Beyond!
Wouldn’t a space port kindof need to have clients before it could turn a profit?
This seems kind of silly at this stage of the tame.
Design Unveiled for Spaceport America (NM-Richardson's Spaceport)
Weekly World News-Space Aliens endorse Richardson
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.