The next one hundred years

Ian Woollard wrote:
>
> Umm. We're already at ~$1200/lb, but not for human cargo at
> present. Actually at unit cost, rather than price, the Russians
> are possibly down to maybe $300/lb already. Some estimates show
> that a price below $200/lb is possible, with nothing very exotic.
>

This is a very unique opportunity. These costs are low for, IHMO, three
reasons:
-- all of the development costs are written off
-- excellent ex-Soviet engineers work for a tiny fraction of Western
wages
-- the Soviet Union made great rockets

--
Al Globus
CSC at NASA Ames Research Center
aglobus@..., (650) 604-4404
http://www.nas.nasa.gov/~globus/home.html

The dinosaurs weren't spacefaring. We are. I don't think that's an
accident. Maybe we are life's taxi to the stars.