SGU Episode 433: Difference between revisions
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* http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24711935 | * http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24711935 | ||
=== Space Ports <small>()</small> === | === Space Ports <small>(27:10)</small> === | ||
* http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2412201/Houston-unveils-plans-America-s-largest-space-port-bid-retain-title-Space-City-USA.html | * http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2412201/Houston-unveils-plans-America-s-largest-space-port-bid-retain-title-Space-City-USA.html | ||
S: Alright so Jay, you're going to tell us why cities are clamouring to build spaceports. | |||
J: Well yeah, this is really cool I stumbled on an article recently that showed a map of the United States and all of the existing spaceports that are in the United States. And I was shocked, I really didn't realise, I didn't know that we had as many as we do and I didn't realise that there are a lot of states out there that are also applying with the FAA using the Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Commercial Space Transportation to get a license to build a spaceport. So this, in 2011 the US Commercial Space Transportation Developments and Concepts, Vehicles Technologies and Spaceports, it was a booklet that instructs states on how to apply for licensure to actually start a commercial spaceport. That's really cool, right? The government actually did something before it was even needed but I think that the trend has become pretty obvious, we're seeing a lot of countries dump a ton of money into developing the technology. So what we found was that Alabama, Colorado, multiple places in Florida and Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming, these are all states in the United States, have all applied for this license, and I'll give you an idea of what spaceports we have today in the United States. There's two launch sites in the Pacific Ocean, there's a sea platform which is called Sea Launch Platform, they really got creative on that name. And that site is owned by a Russian company called Energia and the US uses that site also to launch commercial satellites. Alaska has two spaceports, the Codiak Launch Complex and the Poker Flat Research Range. California houses two spaceports and they're called the California Spaceport and the Mojave Air and Spaceport. New Mexico, Texas, Oklahma also have spaceports. Nowo the biggest and coolest one, that is built or almost ready to be used is in New Mexico and their spaceport is called Spaceport America and it's called the "world's first commercial spaceport" and they hope to deliver affordable services to help usher in the coming age of the low-cost spacetravel that everyone is anticipating. The facility cost 209 million dollars and it's home to Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic. Like I said, the facility is nearing completion and seems to live up to what we would want a fully-functional private spaceport to be, and that is, it looks pretty damn cool. It actually is, when I first saw a picture of it, I didn't really know what I was looking at because just by the shape of the building and everything, I kind of had a different expectation of what a spaceport should look like, but... | |||
E: It looks more like a modern museum or something like that. | |||
J: Yeah, it does. It has a very modern museum-like look to it but they hav ea ton of land, and they have a lot of paved areas and I guess there's a lot of things that go into this, not just the big building where they're going to house the facility to, I would imagine to repair spacecraft and prepare spacecraft for launch and reentry and everything, whatever, there's all that stuff going on but they just need a lot of different areas to do the things that they need to do. They're going to be able to support vertical take-off and landing and also traditional aircraft take-off and landing which I thought was cool because that's definitely a technology that people are working on. Virginia has two spaceports, to continue down my list, the Midadlantic Regional Spaceport and the NASA Wallops Flight Facility and Florida of course has Cape Canaveral Spaceport and NASA's Kennedy Space Centre. | |||
S: I'm going to Cape Canaveral next month. | |||
J: I want to go! Why are you going? | |||
S: I'm going to watch a Maven Rocket launch. I have tickets. | |||
J: Did you have to buy tickets? | |||
S: VIP tickets. Yep. | |||
E: Maven? | |||
R: VIP tickets. | |||
J: Oh, shit Steve. | |||
E: VIP tickets? | |||
S: A listener generously offered them to us and you guys didn't jump on them quick enough. | |||
J: This is all where the famous Apollo program took flight in the 60s and 70s and where the Space Shuttle launched and did all of its business in the 80s to 2000s. And in 2010 the FAA approved | |||
(31:27) | |||
=== Gender <small>()</small> === | === Gender <small>()</small> === | ||
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| SGU Episode 433 |
|---|
| November 2nd 2013 |
 |
| (brief caption for the episode icon) |
| Skeptical Rogues |
| S: Steven Novella |
B: Bob Novella |
R: Rebecca Watson |
J: Jay Novella |
E: Evan Bernstein |
| Quote of the Week |
“Seeking what it true is not seeking what is desirable.” |
| Links |
| Download Podcast |
| Show Notes |
| Forum Discussion |
Introduction
You're listening to the Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, your escape to reality.
This Day in Skepticism ()
- November 2, 1959: Quiz show scandals: Twenty One game show contestant Charles Van Doren admits to a Congressional committee that he had been given questions and answers in advance.
News Items
Ghost Story ()
Lorenzo's Oil ()
Li Fi ()
Space Ports (27:10)
S: Alright so Jay, you're going to tell us why cities are clamouring to build spaceports.
J: Well yeah, this is really cool I stumbled on an article recently that showed a map of the United States and all of the existing spaceports that are in the United States. And I was shocked, I really didn't realise, I didn't know that we had as many as we do and I didn't realise that there are a lot of states out there that are also applying with the FAA using the Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Commercial Space Transportation to get a license to build a spaceport. So this, in 2011 the US Commercial Space Transportation Developments and Concepts, Vehicles Technologies and Spaceports, it was a booklet that instructs states on how to apply for licensure to actually start a commercial spaceport. That's really cool, right? The government actually did something before it was even needed but I think that the trend has become pretty obvious, we're seeing a lot of countries dump a ton of money into developing the technology. So what we found was that Alabama, Colorado, multiple places in Florida and Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming, these are all states in the United States, have all applied for this license, and I'll give you an idea of what spaceports we have today in the United States. There's two launch sites in the Pacific Ocean, there's a sea platform which is called Sea Launch Platform, they really got creative on that name. And that site is owned by a Russian company called Energia and the US uses that site also to launch commercial satellites. Alaska has two spaceports, the Codiak Launch Complex and the Poker Flat Research Range. California houses two spaceports and they're called the California Spaceport and the Mojave Air and Spaceport. New Mexico, Texas, Oklahma also have spaceports. Nowo the biggest and coolest one, that is built or almost ready to be used is in New Mexico and their spaceport is called Spaceport America and it's called the "world's first commercial spaceport" and they hope to deliver affordable services to help usher in the coming age of the low-cost spacetravel that everyone is anticipating. The facility cost 209 million dollars and it's home to Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic. Like I said, the facility is nearing completion and seems to live up to what we would want a fully-functional private spaceport to be, and that is, it looks pretty damn cool. It actually is, when I first saw a picture of it, I didn't really know what I was looking at because just by the shape of the building and everything, I kind of had a different expectation of what a spaceport should look like, but...
E: It looks more like a modern museum or something like that.
J: Yeah, it does. It has a very modern museum-like look to it but they hav ea ton of land, and they have a lot of paved areas and I guess there's a lot of things that go into this, not just the big building where they're going to house the facility to, I would imagine to repair spacecraft and prepare spacecraft for launch and reentry and everything, whatever, there's all that stuff going on but they just need a lot of different areas to do the things that they need to do. They're going to be able to support vertical take-off and landing and also traditional aircraft take-off and landing which I thought was cool because that's definitely a technology that people are working on. Virginia has two spaceports, to continue down my list, the Midadlantic Regional Spaceport and the NASA Wallops Flight Facility and Florida of course has Cape Canaveral Spaceport and NASA's Kennedy Space Centre.
S: I'm going to Cape Canaveral next month.
J: I want to go! Why are you going?
S: I'm going to watch a Maven Rocket launch. I have tickets.
J: Did you have to buy tickets?
S: VIP tickets. Yep.
E: Maven?
R: VIP tickets.
J: Oh, shit Steve.
E: VIP tickets?
S: A listener generously offered them to us and you guys didn't jump on them quick enough.
J: This is all where the famous Apollo program took flight in the 60s and 70s and where the Space Shuttle launched and did all of its business in the 80s to 2000s. And in 2010 the FAA approved
(31:27)
Gender ()
Who's That Noisy ()
- Answer to last week: Hardness of birthstones
Questions and Emails ()
Question #1 ()
How does someone new to skepticism get involved.
Science or Fiction ()
Item #1: In the past week astronomers have recorded the largest solar flare every directly observed. Item #2: A new study finds that playing immersive video-games increases a player’s tolerance for pain and reduces their empathy for the pain of others. Item #3: Neuroscientists have discovered a new type of information processing in the brain that significantly increases the brain’s computing power.
Skeptical Quote of the Week ()
“Seeking what it true is not seeking what is desirable.”- Albert Camus
S: The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe is produced by SGU Productions, dedicated to promoting science and critical thinking. For more information on this and other episodes, please visit our website at theskepticsguide.org, where you will find the show notes as well as links to our blogs, videos, online forum, and other content. You can send us feedback or questions to info@theskepticsguide.org. Also, please consider supporting the SGU by visiting the store page on our website, where you will find merchandise, premium content, and subscription information. Our listeners are what make SGU possible.
References
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