University teams are commonly called amateurs, perhaps not politely.
Martian Summer by Andrew Kessler describes what they were able to get done
on Mars.
I'd love to see a college human spaceflight program someday, even of that
means the college needs to be in orbit. 😄
Trent
On Sun, 24 July 2022, 11:43 am Matthew JL, <prmattjl@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
A thought that is surely going to inspire some interesting conversation...
Of course this mailing list is dedicated to the world of amateur rocketry,
but with the slow ramp-up of more powerful and technologically capable
liquid engines (I am optimistic about the future of Half Cat and
derivatives even in the face of regulatory challenges), it seems like
inevitably someone's going to build an engine that warrants putting a
person on top of it.
So let's look ahead in the hobby another 10-15 years and imagine what that
might look like. Capsule-and-booster as tradition warrants (and Copenhagen
Suborbitals is doing)? A spaceplane in the vein of the X-15 or SS1/SS2?
What will bridge the gap between the amateur space now and something as
ludicrous as homebuilt spacecraft? I look forward to some thoughts.
Best,
-Matt L.