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FAQ
X prize: the facts
As SpaceShipOne
points its nose towards the stars, Nature news
fills you in on the nuts and bolts of
the X prize competition.
27 September
2004 |
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muse@nature.com
The new race to space
Behind the populist image of the X prize
lies an unsettling agenda, says Philip
Ball.
27
September 2004 |
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| Does the X
prize really herald a new era of space tourism? Clearly,
advocates of the competition believe so. But other space
experts are unconvinced. They say that there are enormous
technological hurdles to achieving longer stays in orbit
- and question whether there is enough demand to finance
such an industry. |
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"The entire
planet's population will no longer see itself as
bound to just one planet"
Brian
Feeney, X prize competitor, Da Vinci Project, Toronto,
Canada. |
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"The
Xprize foundation does oversell the impact of the prize
to some degree. But in ten years, I expect that it will
have a clear place in history"
John Carmack, X prize
competitor,
Armadillo Aerospace, Mesquite, Texas. |
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"It's
not a mass exodus into space by any means"
Jerry Gray, director
of aerospace policy at the American Institute of
Aeronautics and Astronautics, New York. |
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"We've
got a second space age starting"
Jim Benson, founder and
chairman of space
technology company SpaceDev, Poway, California |
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"I
don't see a new space age. The excitement and
buzz it creates may be the most important thing
it does."
Roger
Launius, National Air and Space Museum, Washington
DC. |
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"Within
eighteen months to two years we'll see people buying
flights on these sub orbital vehicles."
Peter Diamandis, chairman and president of the
X prize Foundation, St Louis, Missouri. |
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