Blue Origin revealed

MAFoley — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 22:45:33 GMT

Still waiting for a flying pogo stick to take me from here to there!
Love the quest!
Margaret

Blue Origin revealed

Zest One — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 22:49:05 GMT

Can't wait to take a picture of E.T. during my first flight!

Blue Origin revealed

the english guy — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 23:05:56 GMT

Good luck to Jeff Bezos (and don't stop at the "edge" of space, either!).

Blue Origin revealed

John — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 00:07:22 GMT

Very cool. Thank the God for the risk takers. Nice to see the internet moguls are venturing forth into the final frontier.

Blue Origin revealed

Tim Shepard — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 00:29:00 GMT

Well, that looks very aerodynamic, NOT!

Blue Origin revealed

Lynn Walters,Lexington,TN — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 00:43:05 GMT

Just can't wait for a "million dollar flight" It will be the greatest.

Blue Origin revealed

Alan Boyle — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 00:59:35 GMT

Several folks have pointed out that the look of the Goddard is similar to that of the Japanese spaceship design known as the Kankoh Maru:

http://www.uchumaru.com/spaceship/kankohmaru.htm

Blue Origin revealed

Nathan Koren — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 03:06:50 GMT

Tim, it doesn't need to be very aerodynamic. Won't spend long in the atmosphere, you know?

Blue Origin revealed

Liz K, Denton, Texas — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 03:10:52 GMT

Actually, "Gradatim Ferociter" means "Step by Step, Aggressively/Ferociously/Defiantly/Arrogantly". That -iter at the end of the word makes it an adverb, and therefore 'ferociter' cannot be translated correctly with 'with'.

Blue Origin revealed

Alan Boyle — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 03:20:23 GMT

Liz, I went back and forth on "Ferociter" ... I think "fiercely" came close to the mark, and I started out with that. But it seemed to me that "fiercely" didn't strike the right tone for a motto, and certainly it's meant as a positive rather than a negative term ... which ruled out "arrogantly." A common translation is "with spirit, courageously," and so I went with "with courage" because that seemed to strike a heroic tone. But upon reflection, I've changed the word to "courageously." Actually, if you're in a "Star Trek" frame of mind, "boldly" wouldn't be a bad way to go.

Here's the beginning of a treatise on Tacitus' use of the word, which would favor a translation something like "with spirit" or "spiritedly":

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0065-9711(1953)84%3C250%3ATUOF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-P

Yours with sincerity,
Alan ;-)

Blue Origin revealed

Stephanie Rose, Milwaukee, Wisconsin — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 03:22:33 GMT

Vision, passion, dedication. Beyond impressive to see such forward-thinking. I look forward to seeing the future of Jeff's endeavors. Congrats.

Blue Origin revealed

Robin — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 04:00:43 GMT

Alan, unless the rules for Lunar Lander Challenge are changed for this year, Blue Origin won't be allowed to compete because New Shepard's fuel is on the list of banned propellants (hydrogen peroxide in concentration greater than 70 percent).

Blue Origin revealed

Tracy Bezner, Okinawa, Japan — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 05:36:26 GMT

Glad to see private investment in space travel- the only real way this will EVER go forward as far as I'm concerned. NASA has been a money pit for years...

As far as the linguistics go, how about the Japanese for "ferociter"- "daitan-ni"?

Blue Origin revealed

Don Boyer, Waialua, Hawaii — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 05:54:26 GMT

"In response to my inquiry about that, Hicks said, 'I just want to remind you that we said previously we didn't plan to comment one way or another about tests, whether they are scheduled, were scheduled, happened, didn't happen, etc.' "

How nice. I can only think that a philosophy like that makes it sooo simple to avoid telling the (potential ticket-buying) public about any screw-ups or failures of system unless forced to by public enquiry via legal means. What kind of public relations philosophy is that for a company that wants to throw and eager public into space and bring them back for mega bucks? Methinks I will not be trusting anyone with the Madison Avenue mentality trying to sell me rides into space. Even NASA kills people in the business of trying to expand our world and species into the universe. It's inherent in the technological challenges. The public has every right to know everything before stepping aboard Wobbly Flight 106 to nowhere in particular.

Blue Origin revealed

Marcos D, Daytona Beach FLA — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 06:42:31 GMT

Money pit for years? Microwave ovens? Semi Conductors? DOH!

Blue Origin revealed

Jerry McMurry — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 10:23:46 GMT

Dear Don (Boyer),

Please try to relax. No one is forcing you to go into space. Why not grab a beer and sit out on one of those lovely Hawaii beaches and breathe deeply.

Blue Origin revealed

wg cannnon detroit michigan — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 12:04:07 GMT

Don Boyer,

The company is far from manned flights of any significance, nothing but a few hundred meters in the near future. The initial design is based on the dcx (not some off the wall Japanese design as some have pointed out), a program which should not have been abandoned. (look what spacedev is doing with another goverment abandoned design (Dreamchaser). Lot based on dcx but other tech definitely proprietary, with the competition it makes sense to keep some stuff secret.

But guess some folks just have to find something to complain about , don't they.

Blue Origin revealed

JC, Riverton, CT — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 13:39:59 GMT

The public has no right to know about the testing particulars of a private enterprise. Only a moron would broadcast his fumbles and mistakes during the process of developing something completely new for the market.

Thank God bold, private entreprenuers are shouldering the mantle of space exploration that has proven too heavy for the overfunded NASA's girly shoulders.

Blue Origin revealed

Alan Boyle — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 16:46:48 GMT

Actually, the public does have a right to know about the testing of a publicly licensed suborbital spacecraft. Within limits, of course. At some point, when a spacecraft operator is ready to take on passengers, those passengers will be required to give their informed consent to take on the risk of flight. That means they'll have to be given sufficient information about the testing of that craft to gauge the risk.

At this very early stage, Blue Origin isn't required to talk about every hiccup in the unpiloted testing ... and I certainly respect that (although that won't keep me from trying to find out about the hiccups). But even now, if there are incidents that impact the uninvolved public, the authorities would have to be notified. That comes with the territory when you're working in an FAA-regulated field.

Nobody likes to publicize his or her fumbles and mistakes, but there are circumstances when you have to do it ... particularly when you're working with things that can blow up.

On a sunnier note, I think it's really great that Blue Origin is sharing the excitement of the enterprise with the general public and look forward to hearing and seeing more.

Blue Origin revealed

Becky Anderson, Seattle, WA — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 16:49:19 GMT

So appropriate that space travel is starting to shift to private funding. Just like the DARPANet/Internet conversion, and the shift to more private charitable contribs. Our society is voting with its dollars on what we think is important, and I'm excited to see where we go!

Blue Origin revealed

Zathras — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 16:50:45 GMT

The design looks a tad clunky, but that's usually a matter of taste/choice. In the end it need only work to be beautiful. It's good to see yet another realize the horizon is not a limit but a beginning. Were it not for such we'd have to continue to settle for NASA's attempts which are proving to be lack-luster at best.

Blue Origin revealed

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 17:29:45 GMT

TRACKBACK: Click on the highlighted tag below to visit the Web site referring to this item:

"Cosmic Log has published a story titled Blue Origin Revealed, where you can read and learn about Blue Origin, which is Jeff Bezos aerospace company - see pictures and a short video of their successful maiden test flight of their Goddard rocket."

Blue Origin revealed

Alasdair Alla, Exeter, U.K. — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 18:15:13 GMT

I think it's obvious that Bezos has only released this footage so that he can recruit some new people with heavy lifter experience. He's looking for people with experience with Delta IV or Atlas V, and those aren't small vehicles. Blue Origin isn't in the suborbital business like Scaled Composites and Branson, no matter what Bezos is saying right now they're playing a longer game and working towards an full-blown single stage to orbit lifter. I've written up some thoughts at :

http://www.babilim.co.uk/blog/
2007/01/first-launch-for-blue-origin.html

Blue Origin revealed

Bob Detmers, Victor, Montana. — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 18:45:25 GMT

Can you buy tickets at Amazon? I buy everything else there. "Amazon" and you're done. Keep it up Jeff!

Blue Origin revealed

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 18:46:55 GMT

TRACKBACK: Click on highlighted link to visit the Web site referencing this item:

"Here is an example of why wacky Internet billionaires are so much better than stuffy old oil barons or steel magnates. ..."

Blue Origin revealed

seajay — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 19:30:48 GMT

It's the competition between moguls ( i.e. Branson, Bezos, Turner, Gates, et al) that public interests may benefit...I applaud all your efforts so that I may have opportunity. Way cool.

Blue Origin revealed

Alan Boyle — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 19:32:44 GMT

Armadillo Aerospace's John Carmack has some interesting observations on the Blue Origin revelations, which may support Alasdair's "longer game" hypothesis:

http://armadilloaerospace.com/n.x/
Armadillo/Home/News?news_id=340

Blue Origin revealed

Eric Wernimont — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 21:02:20 GMT

Congrats to the Blue Origin Team!

It appears that they used hydrogen peroxide monopropellant rockets for the propulsion on this test. If anyone is intereted in learning more about hydrogen peroxide rockets and thier advantages please see the General Kinetics Inc. website - www.gkllc.com

Blue Origin revealed

Brad Hall — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 21:32:05 GMT

This is a neat looking project, but I have to wonder. . . With it being so far behind Scaled Composite's SpaceShipOne at this point, is it potentially superior to that system in any way? Can it/will it leapfrog the capabilities of SpaceShipOne, as the Apollo leapfrogged the Soviets to the moon, or is it too little too late, like mechanical television?

Blue Origin revealed

Randy Campbell — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 00:31:16 GMT

wg cannnon wrote:
>The initial design is based on the dcx (not some
>off the wall Japanese design as some have pointed
>out), a program which should not have been
>abandoned.

The 'design' is not 'based' on the DC-X though that was what the design was compared to in that both were VTVL vehicles. And I think you might want to look into the suggestions before you 'dismiss' them.

Let's start off that the 'design' is "not some
off the wall Japanese design" since it DOES resemble the design cited:

http://www.astronautix.com/craft/kanhmaru.htm
http://www.astronautix.com/gallery/ckahmaru.htm

[...]

Brad Hall wrote:
>This is a neat looking project, but I have to
>wonder. . .

It's not meant as a 'competitor' directly to Virgin, it's 'supposed' to use suborbital passengers to help offset costs of development along the way to an orbital vehicle.

>Robin Snelson, who knows the ins and outs of the
>NASA competition as the creator of the Lunar Lander
>Challenge Web log, says Blue Origin's craft would
>be ineligible for the contest.

Because of the H2O2? I'll say I'm not really 'surprised' given the standing NASA (and most American aerospace for that matter) bias (wrongly) against Hydrogen peroxide. Just because WE had problems with it in the early 40s, (who would have figured that otherwise brilliant "Rocket Scientists" would forget to put a 'safety' valve on a pressure tank?) and we based our entire rocket program on Germans who took so many short cuts with the substance that to hear THEIR experience with the stuff you'd think there was no safe way to handle the stuff at all.

But, given Americans 'bias' against anything WE didn't do well with, why should we listen to someone who had raving sucess' with the substance?

(After all the British didn't go to the Moon, Americans did.... The 'point' that they were around 20 years ahead of us on ICBM research before they 'dropped' out in the early 50s is of course 'beside' the point right :O)

- Randy

Blue Origin revealed

Gart S. Trent, Savannah,Ga. — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 01:14:42 GMT

Right Time , Right place. Where Lonestar Aerospace Failed to launch in Midland in the 1980's Hopefully VanHorn will get a 'Go'. At LSA we were into Microwave powered (ground supply) Brown Seversky vehicles. Never got beyond the lab stage because we didn't have the funding. I think money is no object on this venture.

Blue Origin revealed

F. David Plummer — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 04:30:08 GMT

As I have always said, everything that can be done in space, should be done. This is the great experimental and exploration era of space flight for mankind, and will be remembered that way for centuries to come. A great turning point in history for humanity. "Break a Leg" Blue Origin !

Blue Origin revealed

CM, Modesto CA — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 05:02:36 GMT

It's an incredible waste of money, but it's his money to waste. At least it isn't coming from my pocket.

Blue Origin revealed

Anonymous — Sat, 19 May 2007 09:17:19 GMT

news

Blue Origin revealed

Al Bishop, Rio Rancho, NM — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 17:51:49 GMT

Alan Boyle,

Do you have a definition of publicly licensed vs. privately licensed? I'd be willing to bet that you couldn't even get test flight data on a Boeing Jet that has already been issued a type certificate by the FAA. So what makes you think that on an experimental ticket, you or anyone else is entitled to the test data? Just because the FAA may be the issuing authority, does not define your right to test data as public domain.

Blue Origin revealed

Keith Morris, Johnson, VT — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:01:22 GMT

The motto Gradatim Ferociter actually translates best as:

"Step by Step, We Boldly Go..."

Which you can see has overtones in Bezo's mission, and of course significant historical reference.