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They'll put the first Haggis into orbit.

Construction of a spaceport in the far north of the UK could finally get under way next month after planning permission was granted.

Shetland Islands Council says work to prepare the Saxavord Spaceport can proceed provided Scottish ministers don't call the project in for review. Three rocket pads would be built at the Lamba Ness peninsula in Unst.

The hope is the first launch of what's likely to be a meteorological satellite could occur before the year's end. It will be a tight schedule, however. Both Saxavord and the rocket company tipped to send up the spacecraft will first need a licence from the UK's Civil Aviation Authority. This will take, at minimum, six months for the spaceport to achieve from application; and nine months for the rocket operator.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60561379
 
The first images have been released of the 'Space Balloon' which will give the customers/aeronauts/users their first-class trip to the upper atmosphere.

"Space Perspective on Tuesday revealed illustrations of its swish cabins, which it hopes to start launching from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida from late 2024. More than 600 tickets have so far been sold, at $125,000 each. Space Perspective plans 25 flights in its first year, with all seats now booked."

1649782743810.png

1649782764843.png


https://phys.org/news/2022-04-space-balloon-company-luxury-cabins.html
 
Those are illustrations. They can come back when they have a prototype. Some other company has already shown me ads with illustrations of their model.
 
Those are illustrations. They can come back when they have a prototype
I expect that seeing as they've sold all 600 tickets already, and are due to 'send up the balloon' in 2024, that they're well on the way to having cabins(?) made.
 
Look at the video!

NASA TO TEST A MASSIVE SLINGSHOT FOR LAUNCHING SATELLITES INTO SPACE​

Using a slingshot to launch things into space sounds like an ambitious Evel Knievel trick. But, later this year, NASA is doing just that—but with a payload. The space agency has partnered with space technology company SpinLaunch. In October 2021, the company completed the first slingshot test launch using its suborbital mass accelerator. Now, it’s setting its sights on NASA. And should it all work out, this could be a game-changing partnership that launches small rockets and satellites in a more sustainable manner.

https://nerdist.com/article/nasa-sl...om&utm_campaign=social+flow&utm_medium=social

 
"Every action has an equal, and opposite, reaction"
I can only imagine the massive forces at play at the point of release of the 'rocket' - the launcher itself is surely likely to immediately try to catastrophically dismantle itself with the shift of the CoG.
 
"Every action has an equal, and opposite, reaction"
I can only imagine the massive forces at play at the point of release of the 'rocket' - the launcher itself is surely likely to immediately try to catastrophically dismantle itself with the shift of the CoG.
This is very likely. There's a well reasoned critique of the plan on YouTube, but it's in German. Maybe subtitles can help:
 
Look at the video!

NASA TO TEST A MASSIVE SLINGSHOT FOR LAUNCHING SATELLITES INTO SPACE​

Using a slingshot to launch things into space sounds like an ambitious Evel Knievel trick. But, later this year, NASA is doing just that—but with a payload. The space agency has partnered with space technology company SpinLaunch. In October 2021, the company completed the first slingshot test launch using its suborbital mass accelerator. Now, it’s setting its sights on NASA. And should it all work out, this could be a game-changing partnership that launches small rockets and satellites in a more sustainable manner.

https://nerdist.com/article/nasa-sl...om&utm_campaign=social+flow&utm_medium=social

Great visuals, daft idea.
 

NASA TO TEST A MASSIVE SLINGSHOT FOR LAUNCHING SATELLITES INTO SPACE


On 22 April SpinLaunch shot its first optical camera payload on a test flight. Check the video for a dizzying look at what it's like to leave the ground at over 1,000 mph.
Dizzying Video Shows What It’s Like to Get Shot Out of a Centrifuge at 1,000 MPH

California startup SpinLaunch recently performed the eighth demonstration of its suborbital mass accelerator, but unlike in previous tests, this flight vehicle was equipped with an onboard camera, providing an unprecedented view of the high-altitude launch.

This latest test happened on Friday, April 22, at the company’s 108-foot-wide (33-meter) suborbital mass accelerator in the New Mexico desert. Such tests are becoming routine for SpinLaunch, with the first demonstration of the kinetic launch system occurring last October. This time, however, the company did something new by strapping a camera, or “optical payload,” onto the 10-foot-long (3-meter) projectile. ...

Footage from the onboard camera shows the projectile hurtling upwards from the kinetic launch system at speeds in excess of 1,000 miles per hour (1,600 kilometers per hour). The flight lasted for 82 seconds, during which time the test vehicle reached an altitude of over 25,000 feet (7,620 meters), according to David Wrenn, vice president of technology at SpinLaunch. ...
FULL STORY: https://gizmodo.com/dizzying-video-shows-what-it-s-like-to-get-shot-out-of-1848878740

 
The High Hilton.

In the next decade, NASA is counting on private space stations to replace the International Space Station.

One of those in development (with $160 in early-stage NASA funding so far) is called Starlab, a partnership between Lockheed Martin, Nanoracks, Voyager Space, and, now, Hilton hotels. Hilton has been named as designers of the astronaut living areas aboard the orbiting space station.

"Hilton will bring the company's renowned hospitality expertise and experience to support the design and development of crew suites aboard Starlab, helping to reimagine the human experience in space, making extended stays more comfortable," according to a joint press release:

The research and design work being dedicated to Starlab could also lead to advancements driving sustainability and greater design efficiencies for future hotel owners in space and on Earth.
Voyager and Hilton will partner in the areas of architecture and design, leveraging Hilton's word-class creative design and innovation experts, to develop Space Hospitality crew headquarters aboard Starlab, including communal areas, hospitality suites, and sleeping arrangements for the astronauts. Additionally, the teams will seek to explore opportunities together for longer-term efforts including the ground-to-space astronaut experience, global co-marketing and branding, and other tourism, educational, and commercial efforts.

https://boingboing.net/2022/09/22/h...es-for-nasa-funded-private-space-station.html
 
"Hilton will bring the company's renowned hospitality expertise and experience to support the design and development of crew suites aboard Starlab,
I wouldn't be too overjoyed at the thought of 'Hilton' being involved in anything - they aren't the premium provider now that they once were.
Just select any one of their UK hotels that are not in London and read the reviews, such as these for the Leicester Hilton.
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel...icester-Leicester_Leicestershire_England.html
 
Trev: :chuckle:
Turning to the private sector for space travel makes more sense, really.
After all, government bodies have many demands made on taxpayers money and trying to explain the benefits of space exploration to the overworked and underpaid majority is a tough call.
However, private firms have their investors to please and all they need to do is to convince them that there's money to be made in space and, therefore, have access to the funds.
 
Who is doing the inflatable space hotels thing? Is it Baz Bamigboye? I see they did a pressure test on an inflatable space thing recently, going up to a massive over-pressure until it failed catastrophically.
 
Who is doing the inflatable space hotels thing? Is it Baz Bamigboye? I see they did a pressure test on an inflatable space thing recently, going up to a massive over-pressure until it failed catastrophically.

I suspect you're thinking of Robert Bigelow and his company Bigelow Aerospace. They've been developing and promoting inflatable space habitats for years.
 
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A long extract from Shatner's new book that covers his interesting yet bleak reaction to the overview effect.

From: Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder by William Shatner.


I continued my self-guided tour and turned my head to face the other direction, to stare into space. I love the mystery of the universe. I love all the questions that have come to us over thousands of years of exploration and hypotheses. Stars exploding years ago, their light traveling to us years later; black holes absorbing energy; satellites showing us entire galaxies in areas thought to be devoid of matter entirely… all of that has thrilled me for years… but when I looked in the opposite direction, into space, there was no mystery, no majestic awe to behold . . . all I saw was death.

I saw a cold, dark, black emptiness. It was unlike any blackness you can see or feel on Earth. It was deep, enveloping, all-encompassing. I turned back toward the light of home. I could see the curvature of Earth, the beige of the desert, the white of the clouds and the blue of the sky. It was life. Nurturing, sustaining, life. Mother Earth. Gaia. And I was leaving her.

Everything I had thought was wrong. Everything I had expected to see was wrong.

I had thought that going into space would be the ultimate catharsis of that connection I had been looking for between all living things—that being up there would be the next beautiful step to understanding the harmony of the universe. In the film “Contact,” when Jodie Foster’s character goes to space and looks out into the heavens, she lets out an astonished whisper, “They should’ve sent a poet.” I had a different experience, because I discovered that the beauty isn’t out there, it’s down here, with all of us. Leaving that behind made my connection to our tiny planet even more profound.

It was among the strongest feelings of grief I have ever encountered. The contrast between the vicious coldness of space and the warm nurturing of Earth below filled me with overwhelming sadness. Every day, we are confronted with the knowledge of further destruction of Earth at our hands: the extinction of animal species, of flora and fauna . . . things that took five billion years to evolve, and suddenly we will never see them again because of the interference of mankind. It filled me with dread. My trip to space was supposed to be a celebration; instead, it felt like a funeral.


Full Extract Here:
https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/william-shatner-space-boldly-go-excerpt-1235395113/
 
A long extract from Shatner's new book that covers his interesting yet bleak reaction to the overview effect.

From: Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder by William Shatner.


I continued my self-guided tour and turned my head to face the other direction, to stare into space. I love the mystery of the universe. I love all the questions that have come to us over thousands of years of exploration and hypotheses. Stars exploding years ago, their light traveling to us years later; black holes absorbing energy; satellites showing us entire galaxies in areas thought to be devoid of matter entirely… all of that has thrilled me for years… but when I looked in the opposite direction, into space, there was no mystery, no majestic awe to behold . . . all I saw was death.

I saw a cold, dark, black emptiness. It was unlike any blackness you can see or feel on Earth. It was deep, enveloping, all-encompassing. I turned back toward the light of home. I could see the curvature of Earth, the beige of the desert, the white of the clouds and the blue of the sky. It was life. Nurturing, sustaining, life. Mother Earth. Gaia. And I was leaving her.

Everything I had thought was wrong. Everything I had expected to see was wrong.

I had thought that going into space would be the ultimate catharsis of that connection I had been looking for between all living things—that being up there would be the next beautiful step to understanding the harmony of the universe. In the film “Contact,” when Jodie Foster’s character goes to space and looks out into the heavens, she lets out an astonished whisper, “They should’ve sent a poet.” I had a different experience, because I discovered that the beauty isn’t out there, it’s down here, with all of us. Leaving that behind made my connection to our tiny planet even more profound.

It was among the strongest feelings of grief I have ever encountered. The contrast between the vicious coldness of space and the warm nurturing of Earth below filled me with overwhelming sadness. Every day, we are confronted with the knowledge of further destruction of Earth at our hands: the extinction of animal species, of flora and fauna . . . things that took five billion years to evolve, and suddenly we will never see them again because of the interference of mankind. It filled me with dread. My trip to space was supposed to be a celebration; instead, it felt like a funeral.


Full Extract Here:
https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/william-shatner-space-boldly-go-excerpt-1235395113/

I did read a similar, albeit truncated, extract from his book in The Guardian a couple of days ago.
Whilst the other astronauts and Bezos were eager to break out the Champagne after stepping out of the Blue Origin capsule, you could see that Shatner was totally overcome by emotion.
 
I remember Shatner was very emotional on TV after his rocket ride.

He kept pointing out that after passing through the 60 miles of the earth’s atmosphere, there is only death and the blackest black.

Astronauts always said space smells like burning metal or burning gun powder.
 
I'm sure Bezos and Shatner experienced things differently because of different perspectives.
Shatner was along for the ride and could really look into space and consider it emotionally. Bezos and some others would see it as potential profit.
It's like one person admiring a piece of jewellery as a work of art and a thing of beauty whereas someone else looks at it and sees it's selling value.
 
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