RE: Civilian Astronauts progress report # 19 L media & temp
Well, I guess I'll launch the first volley.
The first private company to succeed is the one that has the most money.
Period. I have seen many good technical designs, and have talked with many
of the X Prize contenders.
The result is that the design doesn't matter. Financing is everything.
The companies with real money are tight-lipped about their financing
because a) they do not want to jeapordize their hard fought investments,
and b) that is how businesses in the real world work.
Some companies are so tight-lipped that we do not even know what their
vehicle looks like. They are all fighting the same battle I described in
my presentation two years ago: the battle for legitimacy. Wall Street
doesn't understand space. There is no precedent for them to compare. You
can mention how airplanes created a new industry, but how can you prove
your spaceship will do the same? They want facts, return on investments,
loan payment schedules, and a lot of your own money up front.
Who's in the lead? I really shouldn't name names, but I am going to a
certain test vehicle rollout on March 1st. And it ain't an X Prize
contender. That is all I am going to say.
Sam
------
>This is the first I have heard of the Mayflower project. I had heard of CAC
>but some how got the impression they were a group of Civilian Astronauts
>sans a space vehicle.
>
>CAC - You are not listed on the X-Prize's web site
>(http://www.xprize.org/teams/index.html.asp?Client=26) as an entrant to the
>X-prize competition. Is this an oversight? I take it you are an entrant.
>
>SF-DISCUSS - There has been some discussion before on who will be the first
>to make a sub-orbital flight and claim the X-prize. I would like to reopen
>that discussion, and solicit opinions on the merits of various designs and
>current progress amongst the X-prize contestants, especially in light of
>recent news: CAC; Rotary Rocket ATV et al.
>So who do you all think is making the most significant progress? After
>reviewing CAC's web page I find their project very exciting!
>
>
>THANK YOU.............................................KAMAL
>
>
>
>> Civilian space travel to benefit coastal cities worldwide
>>
>> Houston, Texas - Feb. 17 - The planned launch of the Mayflower
>> Expedition's initial civilian space flight late this year or early in 2000
>> is
>> likely to boost the economies of coastal cities around the world,
>> according to Harry Dace, who directs the Civilian Astronaut Corps
>> project from his headquarters near Houston's Johnson Space Center.
>>
>> For example, the Los Angeles to Sydney route is a prime example of how
>> civilian space flight - or sub-orbital space travel - can benefit
>> travelers.
>> "It's a 15- or 16-hour flight from L.A. to Sydney," Dace says, "using
>> commercial air. Most of that is dead time for the passengers.
>> Mayflower can travel the same distance in about 45 minutes. Which
>> makes better sense?"
>>
>> All of the larger coastal cities such as Sydney, Lisbon, Bordeaux and
>> Rome could reap important benefits from not only business travel, but
>> from increased tourism, along with infrastructure expansion. "Look at it
>> this way," Dace explains. "Tourists are going to travel from the interior
>>
>> of their homeland to watch the Mayflower rockets launching and landing
>> right off their coasts. They're going to need hotel rooms, gas stations,
>> restaurants and all the support facilities that accompany tourism."
>>
>> "It's an exponential thing," Dace continues. "It's possible that highway
>> improvements between the interior and the coast may be needed in some
>> locations. Hotel construction is going to become priority, not only for
>> the tourists who travel to see the space flights, but also for the
>> passengers who travel aboard Mayflower."
>>
>> With nine flights already fully booked to their six-passenger limit and
>> four others filling quickly, Dace sees the initial overwater flights
>> originating near Galveston Island, Texas, as being on course for launch
>> within the next 10 or 12 months.
>>
>> "Tampa, Fla., will probably be the second city, after Galveston, to
>> benefit
>> from our manned space flights," Dace says. "We'd fly from Galveston to
>> Tampa using the protected area over the Gulf of Mexico. After Tampa,
>> well, that might be from the West Coast to Honolulu, or New York City
>> to Miami."
>>
>> New York to Miami route is a very heavy air-traffic route for business
>> people and tourists. Their time in the air is literally time that's
>> thrown
>> away. Mayflower will travel the distance in 15 to 20 minutes of actual
>> flight time, meaning that the traveler can enjoy almost a full day at
>> their
>> destination, over and above the flight time.
>>
>> Jim Akkerman, a retired NASA propulsion and space systems engineer,
>> designed the CAC space vehicle.
>>
>> Members of the Civilian Astronauts Corps are private citizens from
>> around the world who join the limited liability corporation to participate
>>
>> in a private club that's pioneering civilian space flight. The membership
>>
>> fee of $5,500 allows members to participate in a space voyage and when
>> the expedition's 340 flights have been flown to receive a partial rebate
>> of
>> their fee when CAC sells its equipment to a commercial vendor.
>>
>> Flight membership fees are held in escrow until approximately all of the
>> 2,000 civilian astronauts have joined the mission. According to the
>> contract flight members can resign and have their full fee refunded at any
>>
>> time until actual construction of the rocket begins.
>>
>> Initially, Mayflower will make two flights a day, with plans to increase
>> to
>> five or six daily as demand increases. The initial corps of 53 members
>> represented 11 countries, giving CAC a true international flavor. New
>> members are being added at a steady pace. The civilian astronauts include
>> a successful telecommunications entrepreneur, an emergency medical
>> technician, a retired mathematics professor and a television coordinator
>> of airtime for commercials.
>>
>> For more information on CAC and the Mayflower Expedition,
>> contact Bob Orkand at Merger Communications, (713) 267-2328 or
>> Harry Dace at CAC, (281) 482-4005. Graphics and artists' concepts are
>> available.
>>
>> Thank you for your continued interest in this important project.
>>
>> Harry Dace
>> CAC Director
>> 403 NASA Road 1 East, Suite 2000
>> Houston, Texas USA 77598
>> Tel: 281-482-4005
>> Fax: 281-482-8129
>> http://www.mayflowerrocket.com
>> cac@xxxxxxxxxxx
>>
>>
>
>--
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----------------------------------------
Sam Coniglio
Technical Writer and Jack of All Trades
Email: spaceman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Home Page: http://www.magicnet.net/~sam123/index.html
Sam's Space Site: http://www.magicnet.net/~sam123/space.html
Space Future Home Page: http://www.spacefuture.com
______________________________________________________________
References:
RE: Civilian Astronauts progress report # 19 L media & temp
From: "Prasad, Kamal" <Kamal.Prasad@xxxxxxxxxx>
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