by Tim Fernholz
interview on space exploration, 67–68
space seminars, 123
Bigelow, Robert, 115
Binnie, Brian, 96–97
bin Talal, Alwaleed, 2
Bjelde, Brian, 81–82, 86
Blackmore, Lars, 198, 217
BlastOff, 55–56, 61, 122
lunar dreams, 242
Blue Origin, 169–70, 244. See also New Glenn; New Shepard; Van Horn, Texas
Blue Moon, moon base, 236, 239–40
business plan, 126, 128
Cape Canaveral facility, 239
company beginnings, 70
competition with SpaceX, 160, 246–47
crewed test flights, 252
financing of, 127, 161
first successful launch, 12
headquarters and space museum, 127–28
NASA and, 160–61
planning for space tourism market, 203–4
plan to build in-house, 124, 127
registered as a company, 67
satellite taxi funding through CCDEV, 159–60
“Sea landing of space launch vehicles” patent, 200–201
spaceport plan, 4–5
think tank on space applications, 123
United Launch Alliance partnership, 12
Boe, Eric, 163
Boeing, 8–9, 27. See also Delta rockets; United Launch Alliance (ULA)
astronauts to ISS, 252
CCDEV competition and funding, 159–60, 162–65
CST-100 Starliner, 163
financial failures, 32–33
McDonnell Douglas purchase, 18
NASA space taxi program bid, 113
Rockwell International purchase, 18–19
Sea Launch Ukrainian partnership, 172–73
Boies, David, 187
Bolden, Charles, 143
Braden, Susan, 187, 189, 193
Branson, Richard, 5, 7–8, 97, 127, 210–12, 214, 234–35
Braun, Bobby, 198
Brinkley, Randy, 118–19
Bruno, Salvatore “Tory,” 11–12, 190, 208
Burton, Bill, 187
Bush administration, 101–2, 138, 178, 239
Bush, George W., 98–99, 141
Buzza, Tim, 214
C;
Cantrell, James, 56–60, 66, 69–70, 124, 235
Cape Canaveral, ix–x, 18, 145
Blue Origin at, 239
Columbia disaster, 72–73
launches, 27–28
launchpad, 226, 247
SpaceX at, 137, 150–52, 173, 216–17, 247
Carlson, Carissa, 246
Carmack, John, 16
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), 103
Challenger, xiii, 23–25, 75, 143
Christensen, Clayton, 113
Clarke, Arthur C., 20, 254
Columbia, xiii, 91–92, 99, 101, 197
design compromise and failure, 72–76
Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS), 103
financing of, 167
rules for, 119
solicitation for plans, 120–21
and SpaceX, 131, 137, 151–53, 155–56, 158
Conestoga 1, 52
Correll, Roger “Scott,” 188
CRS-7 rocket, 13, 216, 225
Crusan, Jason, 244
D;
DC-X, prototype reusable orbital rocket, 69–70, 125–26
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), 39, 82–83
Defense Department (DoD), 19. See also Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program (EELV); United Launch Alliance (ULA)
Air Force study of rocket failures, 25
satellite communication for defense, 31, 33, 35, 176
Delta II rocket, 18–22, 25
Delta III progress, then explosion, 28–29, 31–32
Delta IV, 31–32, 36, 176, 184
Diamandis, Peter, 6, 53, 56, 93
DirecTV, 32
Dragon spacecraft, xi, 13, 157, 224, 232
engineering design, 149–52, 154–58
missions to ISS, 173–74, 248
parachute testing program, 154
Druyun, Darleen, 188
Durbin, Dick, 185
E;
eBay, 2, 55, 66
Edison’s Conquest of Mars (Serviss), 46
Edwards Air Force Base, 50, 94
Elias, Antonio, 121
Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program (EELV), 26–27, 51. See also Atlas V; Delta IV; Falcon 9; United Launch Alliance (ULA)
budget overruns, 33–34
Congressional hearings, 182–85
and Defense Department, 176–80, 186
problems of, 120, 123
Russian conflict and, 182–83, 184–85
F;
Facebook, 132, 221–22
Falcon 1, 83, 90
avionics of, 84–85
delays, 86, 107, 110–11
development of, 82, 89, 92, 135–36
display of mock-up, 90–92
explosion, 111–12
flight problems, 128–30, 133–34
marketing problems, 136–37
move to Kwajalein Atoll, 109
named after Millennium Falcon, 81
Falcon 5, 92, 115
Falcon 9, x–xi, xiii, 115
carbon-fiber tank (COPV) issue, 225–26
cargo mission to ISS, 173
delays, 153–54
development of, 37–38, 130, 152–53
explosions, xvi–xviii, 9, 13–15, 173, 205–6, 208–9, 220, 223
financing and reusable rockets, 196, 199
first flight, 8
fuels, liquid oxygen or nitrous oxide, 223–24
market for, 136–37, 172–74
reusable rockets, xv–xvi, 201, 216–19, 247–49
success of, 174
test firing, 137
version 1.1, 174–75
Farrar, Tim, 232
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), 13–14, 91, 216
mishap investigations, 208–9
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
SpaceX protest ULA government business, 38–39
suit against ULA, 35
Feinstein, Dianne, 184
Ferguson, Chris, 162–63
Feynman, Richard, 23
Founders Fund, 132
French, George, 116, 120
French, James, 105, 124–26, 240
Friends of Amateur Rocketry, 51
G;
Garver, Lori, 141–44, 147–49, 164, 169, 246
Garvey, John, 25, 135
at Boeing, 31, 69
interviews, 54–57, 62–64, 78
Vector Space, 235
Gass, Michael, 182–85, 188
retirement, 190
Gates, Bill, 2, 26
George M. Low Space Transportation Award, 136
Gerstenmaier, Bill, 42, 102, 137, 163, 166, 207, 209, 224
Global Positioning System (GPS), 19–20, 25, 181
satellites for, 190, 193
Globalstar, 3, 27, 32
Goddard, Robert, 46, 48–49
Goddard rocket, 127
Goldin, Dan, 98, 100–101, 141
Google, 222, 229, 231, 234
Google Lunar X Prize, 242
Gore, Al, 19
Government Accountability Office (GAO), 140
Government Accounting Office (GAO), 154
government relations. See also Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program (EELV); Obama administration
lobbying, 142, 146, 176–77, 179, 186
Space Act Agreement, 104–5, 183
SpaceX and, 80, 82, 104
Grasshopper
reusable rocket, 199–200, 215
vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL), 15–16
Griffin, Michael, 59–60, 65, 93, 97, 98–99, 101–5, 138–42, 167–68
Gross, Bill and Larry, 55–56
Grove, Andy, 108
Guthrie, Julian, 95
H;
Halliwell, Mart
in, 197, 248, 250–51
Hawthorne, California, 150, 205, 218, 248
Heinlein, Robert, 46
Henderson, Scott, 239
High Frontier, The (O’Neill), 68
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The (Adams), 46
Hooke, Robert, 48
Horkachuck, Mike, 130, 151–52, 155, 157, 208
Hurley, Douglas, 163
Hutchison, Kay Bailey, 143
I;
Inmarsat, 32
Innovator’s Dilemma, The (Christensen), 113
In-Q-Tel, 103
Insprucker, John, 117
Intelsat, 234
International Space Station (ISS), ix, xi–xii, 41, 47. See also Dragon spacecraft; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
servicing vehicles problems, 207–8
space traffic management concern, 233
SpaceX and ISS transportation, 105–6, 202
transportation of astronauts, 98, 102, 163, 185, 207, 223, 252
Iridium, 3, 27, 32, 247
J;
Jain, Naveen, 242
Jarvis, Greg, 53
Johnson Space Center, 103, 145, 167
K;
Kendall, Frank, 180, 187, 189
Kennedy Space Center, 73, 145, 167, 169. See also Cape Canaveral
Space Launch Center 39-A (SLC-39A), x, 169
Kistler, Walter, 115
Koenigsmann, Hans, 66, 84–85, 112, 129, 135, 154, 209
Kohlenberger, James, 141
Koopman, George, 53
Kranz, Gene, 65
Krieg, Kenneth, 35
Kuipers, André, 149
Kwajalein Atoll (Marshall Islands), 109
L;
Larson, Phil, 148
Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The, 243
lawsuits
SpaceX v. Blue Origin, 194
SpaceX v. Blue Origin (patent), 200–201
SpaceX v. US Air Force, 186–90, 193
Lewicki, Chris, 56
Liberty Global, 229
Lick, James, 49
Lick refracting telescope, 49
Life to Mars Foundation, 50, 90
Light, Paul, 141
Lindenmoyer, Alan, 102, 104, 113, 117–19, 156–57
Lockheed Martin, 8–9, 27, 37. See also Atlas V; Titan IV rocket
financial failures, 32–33
joint venture with Russian state rocket company, 59
NASA space taxi program bid, 113
Proton rocket, 171–73
X-33 failure, 226
Low, George, 136, 151
Lueders, Kathy, 165, 168
Luxembourg, 174–75
commercial satellite backers, 52
M;
MacDonald, Alexander, 47–48
Mars, travel to, x, 54, 58, 197–98, 243–44
financing issue, 46–49
history of interest in, 48
Mars Curiosity rover, 198
motivation for, 47–48
pro-ams in Mojave desert, 50–51, 58
“Red Dragon” program, 41–42, 44
Mars Society, 45
Marty, Alan, 113, 167
Masayoshi Son, 234
Maser, James, 99–100, 118, 131, 192
McAuliffe, Christa, 23
McCain, John, 185, 186, 190, 192
McCaw, Craig, 2
McDonnell Douglas, 18, 27, 69, 125. See also Boeing; DC-X, prototype reusable orbital rocket; Delta II rocket
orbital rocket contract, 19
McGregor, Texas, 87–88, 137, 225, 248
Melvill, Mike, 95–96
Merlin rocket, 92, 113, 153, 165
Block V engineering for CCDEV, 165
design upgrades, 90
development of, 87–88, 108
engineering design, 134–35
in the Falcon 1, 133–34
Metzger, Phil, 68
Meyerson, Rob, 124
Microcosm, 64, 66
Microsoft, 2, 27
Mikulski, Barbara, 143
Millennium Falcon, 81
Mir (Russian space station), 53
Mojave Desert, 50, 63, 87, 211
Mojave Desert Advanced Rocket Society, 51
moon and moon landing
debate on exploration, 243–44
manned lunar orbit and outpost, 244
motivation for, 242–43
NASA public-private lunar research, 244
South Pole’s Shackleton Crater, 241–42
volatiles, 240–41
Moon Express, 242, 244
Mosdell, Brian, 20–22, 146
Mueller, Tom, 54, 62–63, 66, 87–90, 108, 192, 243
Muilenburg, Dennis, 244
Musk, Elon, x, 1. See also Mars, travel to; SpaceX
attitude and employee relations, 79, 86, 89–90, 91, 131, 226
on Bezos and Blue Origin, 15–17
blog posts, 107–8, 110, 133
conference speeches and talks, 40–45, 66, 79
congressional hearings, 182–83, 184–86
design philosophy, xiv, xvii, 13–14, 83, 85–86, 89, 126, 153, 155–56
education of, 49–50
finances, xi, xiv–xv, 61, 66, 253
financial past, 26, 45
in-house production and/or vendors, 86–87
and NASA, xiii, xvii, 13, 42, 90–91, 154–55, 170
overpromises, 79, 92
personal history and philanthropy, 45
on reusable Falcon 9 success, 249–51
Russia trip, 59–61
and ULA, 37–38
Musk, Kimbal, 26
N;
National Aeronautics and Space Act, 104
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), ix, 139. See also Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS); Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program (EELV)
Alternate Access to Station, 103
Ares and Orion projects, 140–42, 144, 148
attitude and direction, 98–99, 101
cargo mission contracts, 252
Challenger explosion, 23–25
Columbia failure, foam debris, 73–76, 142
Commercial Crew Development (CCDEV), 144, 149, 159–68, 193
Constellation program, 101–3, 105, 139–42, 144–45, 147–48, 156
crew safety, 64–65, 165–66, 224
“failure is not an option,” 64–65
and International Space Station, 69, 75, 91, 99
Mars Pathfinder mission, 101
Mars Polar Lander failure, 50, 100–101
Mercury program to plan for space shuttles, 23–24
and Musk, 13, 44
nickname: Never a Straight Answer, 100
Obama visit to Kennedy Space Center, 145–46
privatization of space technology, xii, 2, 8
robots as travelers to Mars, 47
spaceflight strategy, 139–40
Space Launch System (SLS), 149, 240, 244
space taxi program, xii, 112, 115–19, 121, 130, 148, 206
X-15, NASA/Air Force project, 94
National Reconnaissance Office, 177, 185
Keyhole-11 (KH-11), 109
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), 208
on the VSS Enterprise explosion, 214
Nelson, Bill, 143, 145
Netscape, 2, 27
New Glenn, 237–40, 245, 250
BE-4 engine, 237
New Shepard, 12, 15, 126–27, 160–61
fuel, liquid nitrous oxide, 96
reusable booster stage, 215
reusable rockets, 218
successful launch, 202–3
successful takeoff and landing, 15–17
testing failure, 161
Newsweek, on Blue Origin, 67
Nixon, Richard, 47
NK-33 (Russian engine), 206–7
North Korea, 254
Nosek, Luke, 66, 132–33
NPO Energomash, 188
Nunn-McCurdy law, 178
O;<
br />
O3b, “other three billion,” 229–30
Obama, Barack, xii
and Musk, 146–48
visit with Musk at Kennedy Space Center, 146–47
Obama administration, 137–39, 141–42
