Morgans wrote:


"Saville" wrote

We are seeing a replay of the 20's and 30's. there's work on rocket
powered
air racing; the X-prize was won and Diamandis is working on another more
lofty (pun intended) goal. This is one way aviation technology leaped
ahead in the past, and how space technology may leap ahead in the future.
Note that these are private enterprises.

You have to be kidding! If you think that the present proposed rocket
racing is going to lead to new advances, you are badly out of touch with
reality.

No I'm not kidding. You will see some technological advances from this sort
of activity - if it gets off the ground ;^)

And it may not be the present proposed rocket racing scheme, but the scheme
it leads to. Like - what if it leads to rocket XC races from coast to
coast? Or what if that leads to atmospheric skip races between this
continent and, say, Japan? Sanger skip vehicles is a 60-odd year idea. To
upgrade to a coast to coast race you have to improve reliability, for
example - something the Shuttle sorely lacks.

When people apply money and brainpower to an activity, good things can come
from it. They come up with better ways to do things in order to win. And
that leads to useful stuff for everyone.

Do I guarantee it in this case? No of course not. But what we are seeing
with stuff like the X-Prize is an example.

Best wishes