Saturday, June 5, 2010

Non Government Space Vehicles



















Al Fin has published a brief blog about the number of new start up companies in commercial spacecraft, taking over where it appears that NASA has left off.

A few weeks ago I had a conversation with MIT Aero Prof. Annalisa Weigel, who is doing an interesting study of the Millennials in the Aero field. I asked here what are the top career goals for the grads and I was surprised, shocked in fact.

A short while ago it was to be an astronaut, so Aero is akin to playing college ball, with a 1 in 100,000 chance of hitting big.

Now they go off to the commercial rocket start-ups.

Thus Al Fin states:
The successful orbital launch yesterday, of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, opens the door for the further expansion of private enterprise in space. The vast riches of outer space resources offer the best opportunity for a rejuvenated global economy, and perhaps the creation of the first human $trillionaire.

Thus given these trends, the smart students now finally focusing on the commercial world, we may actually see a change. NASA should be buried, it did its job, declare victory, move on.