Burt Rutan: Houston, we have a problem! : TEDTalks

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http://www.ted.com In this passionate talk, legendary spacecraft designer Burt Rutan lambasts the U.S government-funded space program for stagnating ("Houston, we have a problem."), and calls for space entrepreneurs to pick up where NASA left off. Rutan won the $10M Ansari X-Prize for SpaceShipOne, the first privately funded craft to enter space twice in a 2-week period. He's now collaborating with Virgin Galactic to build the first rocket-ship designed for space tourism.(Recorded February 2006 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 20:16) More TEDTalks at www.TED.com

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It is the dynamic ... ( 10 months ago by boldstandard)

It is the dynamic of private funding applied to avenues of interest that have no apparent (to most people) commercial purpose that has always moved things forward. It has almost always been the case that projects which were being privately funded in the beginning were hijacked by the government once they started to prove themselves, and then once they became successful (less than they probably would have if they'd remained private), the government took the credit.

true, they got the ... ( 9 months ago by thisisapreviewvideo)

true, they got the ufo tech

true, all ... ( 9 months ago by thisisapreviewvideo)

true, all conflicting each other, i think the things that must do that earth unite, all smart people (left brainer) and designer (rightbrainer) combine in one org (ike un but seriously) and think bout the earth and then can foward space. we get slow because now to much independent, private sector and all, and we loose the main focus, humanity and beyond

I agree with ... ( 8 months ago by vroyen)

I agree with boldstandard at the same time power is made by power being taken. The other thing is in most economies if not all it is very hard to tell the rich what to do with their money. By the way my parents never had a computer in the 70's and they recently purchased their first true computer in 2002.

Burt Rutan is ... ( 6 months ago by dude58677)

Burt Rutan is despised by the media for the exact same reasons that Ron Paul is. Burt Rutan has made NASA look like a bunch of idiots when it comes to reentry. He also refused to help Lockheed Martin build bombs and instead chose to help the public get into space. The media such as NBC is owned by defense contractors. I'm sick and tired of explaining to people who Burt Rutan is but it is because of the media that I have to.

I wont to go to ... ( 6 months ago by orclv)

I wont to go to mars !!!

That is so true. ... ( 6 months ago by molnes)

That is so true. Gotta love the "independent" media :(

With Burt Rutan ... ( 6 months ago by dude58677)

With Burt Rutan announcing that his goal is to send the average person to the Moon, if the media was unbiased, Burt Rutan would get non-stop coverage for weeks or even months.

i absolutely admire ... ( 5 months ago by myrightballitches69)

i absolutely admire burt rutan and i respect and love what he is trying to do for man. but in America right now, we have Bigger problems than having the average man get to the moon. and the conflict with NASA isnt helping.

I partially agree ... ( 4 months ago by joshatkins94)

I partially agree with you're saying, but frankly the original idea for feathered re-entry came from an NACA (now NASA) employee. And secondly, as Burt Rutan has said himself that it won't work on a return from orbit. And since NASA doesn't do any sub-orbital human spaceflight, they can't utilize feathered re-entry.

Burt himself admits ... ( 4 months ago by joshatkins94)

Burt himself admits they're making a hell of a lot of profit on sub-orbital spaceflight. If his dream - and that of Richard Branson - was to get the average person into space, they'd chase that dream and would sacrifice money for it.

"...at $200,000, ... ( 4 months ago by joshatkins94)

"...at $200,000, when you can operate it successfully for about 10% of that" That's 90% profit.

"...at $200,000, ... ( 4 months ago by joshatkins94)

"...at $200,000, when you can operate it successfully for about 10% of that" That's 90% profit.

The X-15 used ... ( 4 months ago by dude58677)

The X-15 used heated reentry.

Still, NACA did ... ( 4 months ago by joshatkins94)

Still, NACA did come up with the initial idea.

That's now what I ... ( 4 months ago by dude58677)

That's now what I heard, Burt Rutan was playing badminton and that is where the idea came from. If NACA did come up with the idea, they would have used it.

Here's a Wikipedia ... ( 4 months ago by joshatkins94)

Here's a Wikipedia link: tinyurl[.]com[/]6x2699. The NACA guy was a bit vague, but it was essentially the same idea. Either way, Burt Rutan actually did it and proved it was possible, which is a huge achievement. The X-15 contracts were awarded in 1955 and 56, to North American and Reactions Motors for the airframe and engines, respectively. The NACA idea didn't come about until 1958, and the X-15 made its test flight the following year.

burt rutan is such ... ( 3 months ago by brianlo777)

burt rutan is such a legend i look up to him

lols, r u retarded ... ( 3 months ago by brianlo777)

lols, r u retarded thats not the dream the dream is to further the progress of spaceflight by using money from rich billionaires

Well, rich ... ( 3 months ago by joshatkins94)

Well, rich billionaires have a lot of spare money. So they don't need a large amount of profit from an extra business. FWIW, I admire Burt Rutan hugely, and yes, I was a bit harsh in the comments, but it is a lot of comments and I think it can be done cheaper. Nonetheless, he's an incredible innovative aerospace engineer - most probably the best aerospace engineer alive today - he's not greedy, and he's very enthusiastic. My comments probably misrepresented my opinion of him; he's a pioneer.

Seriously, I look ... ( 3 months ago by joshatkins94)

Seriously, I look up to him. I was wrong. That's a full blown apology; sorry. Who knows when space tourism would have started had it not been for SpaceShipOne/Tier 1. Typo: a lot of comments -> a lot of profit

cmon Rutan, plant ... ( 2 months ago by johnsmdm)

cmon Rutan, plant life on Mars?

um, sarcasm. ( 2 months ago by clannon)

um, sarcasm.

My son is 4 now, ... ( 3 weeks ago by purger37)

My son is 4 now, when he turns 6 I'll show him this video, along with other similar ones. I hope it will inspire him to try and reach the stars.

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