Comments on: Science, the Vision, and smallsats http://www.spacepolitics.com/2005/08/09/science-the-vision-and-smallsats/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=science-the-vision-and-smallsats Because sometimes the most important orbit is the Beltway... Wed, 17 Sep 2014 13:35:41 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.0.38 By: Ted http://www.spacepolitics.com/2005/08/09/science-the-vision-and-smallsats/#comment-4118 Fri, 12 Aug 2005 14:14:10 +0000 http://www.districtofbaseball.com/spacepolitics/?p=629#comment-4118 Oops! Sorry Jeff. I humbly stand corrected.

]]> By: Jeff Foust http://www.spacepolitics.com/2005/08/09/science-the-vision-and-smallsats/#comment-4117 Wed, 10 Aug 2005 19:07:33 +0000 http://www.districtofbaseball.com/spacepolitics/?p=629#comment-4117 Not to nitpick, but it’s _Fernando_ Figueroa.

There may be a Fernando Figueroa at NASA, but the speaker at the smallsat conference was indeed Mr. Orlando Figueroa:

http://www.nasa.gov/lb/home/hqnews/2004/jul/HQ_04214_mcnally_figueroa.html

]]> By: Donald F. Robertson http://www.spacepolitics.com/2005/08/09/science-the-vision-and-smallsats/#comment-4116 Wed, 10 Aug 2005 19:05:28 +0000 http://www.districtofbaseball.com/spacepolitics/?p=629#comment-4116 The New York Times reported today that Space Adventures is advertising a flight around Earth’s moon in a Soyuz, yours for only $100 million.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/10/science/space/10private.html

My comment? I wish I had $100 million!

— Donald

]]> By: Ted http://www.spacepolitics.com/2005/08/09/science-the-vision-and-smallsats/#comment-4115 Wed, 10 Aug 2005 15:14:19 +0000 http://www.districtofbaseball.com/spacepolitics/?p=629#comment-4115 Not to nitpick, but it’s _Fernando_ Figueroa.

He’s probably right about a small mission costing around 10 million. As for being “too cute”, I might disagree somewhat. The cost of launch is always going to be a major hurdle whether it’s your own rocket or a ride on somebody else’s LV (with extra overhead for integration). Operating within a small budget, it only makes sense to be as innovative or as possible. Just for comparison, consider Iridium at $40M per satellite including launch costs, and a very capable and “cute” system.

]]>