Antigravity Technology Inventor Speaks Out

Michael McDonnough, CEO of Betavoltaic, will be speaking on the Kevin
Smith Show on Monday, October 25, 2004. During the interview, he will
be discussing his work in developing electromagnetic space engines.

Since Burt Rutan has proven, with basically old rocket technology,
that the private sector can get to space much cheaper than NASA can,
Michael McDonnough's goals seem infinitely more achievable.

Hear the heat at: http://kevinsmithshow.com




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(Kevin Smith) wrote in
om:

Michael McDonnough, CEO of Betavoltaic, will be speaking on the Kevin
Smith Show on Monday, October 25, 2004. During the interview, he will
be discussing his work in developing electromagnetic space engines.

Since Burt Rutan has proven, with basically old rocket technology,
that the private sector can get to space much cheaper than NASA can,
Michael McDonnough's goals seem infinitely more achievable.

"Antigravity"?

He'll never get off the ground, if that's what it (supposedly) is.

--Damon

(Kevin Smith) wrote in
. com:

Michael McDonnough, CEO of Betavoltaic, will be speaking on the Kevin
Smith Show on Monday, October 25, 2004. During the interview, he will
be discussing his work in developing electromagnetic space engines.

Since Burt Rutan has proven, with basically old rocket technology,
that the private sector can get to space much cheaper than NASA can,
Michael McDonnough's goals seem infinitely more achievable.

ROTFLMAO.

Burt has proven no such thing.

D.
--
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.

-Resolved: To be more temperate in my postings.
Oct 5th, 2004 JDL

"Derek Lyons" wrote in message
...
Since Burt Rutan has proven, with basically old rocket technology,
that the private sector can get to space much cheaper than NASA can

Burt has proven no such thing.

You must live in some parallel universe Derek. Last I checked, Burt won the
X-Prize after having spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $20 million.
When's the last time NASA put anyone into space for less than $20 million?

Jeff
--
Remove icky phrase from email address to get a valid address.

"Jeff Findley" wrote in
:


"Derek Lyons" wrote in message
...
Since Burt Rutan has proven, with basically old rocket technology,
that the private sector can get to space much cheaper than NASA can

Burt has proven no such thing.

You must live in some parallel universe Derek. Last I checked, Burt
won the X-Prize after having spent somewhere in the neighborhood of
$20 million. When's the last time NASA put anyone into space for less
than $20 million?

NASA generally has been putting people and payloads into orbit, which
is the real thing, albeit expensively. They've got rovers on Mars,
orbiters around various planets and human bootprints on the Moon.

Rutan et al have so far managed to send one man on a low-energy joyride
just outside of the atmosphere for a few minutes. It's not clear when,
if ever, they will accomplish much more than that. I'd like to think
eventually they could, but that's still in the indefinite future.

NASA has been giving us a lot more for our money. And given the
amount of money involved, they'd better have.

--Damon, looking for some perspective

"Damon Hill" wrote in message
34...
"Jeff Findley" wrote in
:

"Derek Lyons" wrote in message
...
Since Burt Rutan has proven, with basically old rocket technology,
that the private sector can get to space much cheaper than NASA can

Burt has proven no such thing.

You must live in some parallel universe Derek. Last I checked, Burt
won the X-Prize after having spent somewhere in the neighborhood of
$20 million. When's the last time NASA put anyone into space for less
than $20 million?

NASA generally has been putting people and payloads into orbit, which
is the real thing, albeit expensively. They've got rovers on Mars,
orbiters around various planets and human bootprints on the Moon.

It may be "the real thing", but it's a private club. US citizens can't buy
a ride on the shuttle at any price. SS2 promises to open up space travel to
anyone who can afford the $200k price tag.

Rutan et al have so far managed to send one man on a low-energy joyride
just outside of the atmosphere for a few minutes. It's not clear when,
if ever, they will accomplish much more than that. I'd like to think
eventually they could, but that's still in the indefinite future.

Over the past 30+ years, NASA has not sent anyone beyond LEO. As far as
manned space exploration goes, LEO is NOT the real deal. It's just going
around in endless circles.

NASA has been giving us a lot more for our money. And given the
amount of money involved, they'd better have.

Over the past 30+ years, NASA has spent something like 4 ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE
more money than Rutan has spent on SS1, and they're still stuck in LEO.
That's not a successful manned space exploration program, that's stagnation.

Jeff
--
Remove icky phrase from email address to get a valid address.

"Jeff Findley" wrote in
news
It may be "the real thing", but it's a private club. US citizens
can't buy a ride on the shuttle at any price. SS2 promises to open up
space travel to anyone who can afford the $200k price tag.

$200,000 for a few minutes of weightlessness? That's no bargain,
nor much of an accomplishment even at a tenth of the price.

Sorry, I can only see symbolism here, not substance.

Rutan et al have so far managed to send one man on a low-energy
joyride just outside of the atmosphere for a few minutes. It's not
clear when, if ever, they will accomplish much more than that. I'd
like to think eventually they could, but that's still in the
indefinite future.

Over the past 30+ years, NASA has not sent anyone beyond LEO. As far
as manned space exploration goes, LEO is NOT the real deal. It's just
going around in endless circles.

Lots better than a short joyride at ten times my annual income. That's
not real for me, personally. When they can offer orbital flights for
that amount of money, that'll be real progress--especially if it
includes a station visit. The Russians charge $20 million for that
service now and that's not realistic either.

NASA has been giving us a lot more for our money. And given the
amount of money involved, they'd better have.

Over the past 30+ years, NASA has spent something like 4 ORDERS OF
MAGNITUDE more money than Rutan has spent on SS1, and they're still
stuck in LEO. That's not a successful manned space exploration
program, that's stagnation.

You want lunar and Mars colonies, right? You'll have to settle for
the space station for the time being. It's still far more than
private enterprise has attempted to accomplish. And NASA can do only
so much as Congress funds it to, by extension, how much the public
supports the idea. So far they haven't supported the necessary
trillions for those grand schemes.

Reality check in 20 years, okay? There's change in the wind. Too
bad I won't be around for that.

--Damon, 54 and not very healthy

"Damon Hill" wrote in message
34...
NASA has been giving us a lot more for our money. And given the
amount of money involved, they'd better have.

Over the past 30+ years, NASA has spent something like 4 ORDERS OF
MAGNITUDE more money than Rutan has spent on SS1, and they're still
stuck in LEO. That's not a successful manned space exploration
program, that's stagnation.

You want lunar and Mars colonies, right? You'll have to settle for
the space station for the time being.

There is no direct connection between the shuttle/ISS program and any
program after. Some of the very research that would be useful for such
follow-on programs has been cut from ISS.

It's still far more than
private enterprise has attempted to accomplish. And NASA can do only
so much as Congress funds it to, by extension, how much the public
supports the idea. So far they haven't supported the necessary
trillions for those grand schemes.

Trillions aren't necessary. The end of shuttle/ISS will free up the
necessary funding for NASA to return to the moon.

Reality check in 20 years, okay? There's change in the wind. Too
bad I won't be around for that.

--Damon, 54 and not very healthy

Sorry to hear that. I'm "only" 35, so I hope to be around for the first
"return to the moon" flight. Unfortunately, due to the political realities
of NASA funding (likely to stay at about current levels, adjusted for
inflation), the longer shuttle/ISS drags on, the longer it will be.

Jeff
--
Remove icky phrase from email address to get a valid address.

"Jeff Findley" wrote:


"Derek Lyons" wrote in message
...
Since Burt Rutan has proven, with basically old rocket technology,
that the private sector can get to space much cheaper than NASA can

Burt has proven no such thing.

You must live in some parallel universe Derek. Last I checked, Burt won the
X-Prize after having spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $20 million.

Burt put someone on a suborbital joy ride. Many people delude
themselves into thinking that's as important as actual orbital acess.


As I've asked befo Would you consider the Chinese a space faring
nation if they had only gone sub orbital? Experience indicates that
most folks would not, instead they would have been asking and awaiting
for them to go orbital.

Also, as I've noted before; Prior to the X-Prize being fully funded
and Rutan entered the race, most space pundits treated the X-prize as
a sideshow and 'space acess' meant emphatically orbital.

When's the last time NASA put anyone into space for less than $20 million?

NASA gave up suborbital joyrides forty years ago. Wisely.

D.
--
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.

-Resolved: To be more temperate in my postings.
Oct 5th, 2004 JDL

"Jeff Findley" wrote:
Over the past 30+ years, NASA has not sent anyone beyond LEO. As far as
manned space exploration goes, LEO is NOT the real deal. It's just going
around in endless circles.

It's monumentally ignorant to assume they've been doing nothing but
going around in circles. (The hundreds of scientific ocean vessels
across the worlds oceans would be very surprised to learn they are
useless because they are not, like their predecessors, discovering new
continents and boldly going where no European had gone before.)

Over the past 30+ years, NASA has spent something like 4 ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE
more money than Rutan has spent on SS1, and they're still stuck in LEO.
That's not a successful manned space exploration program, that's stagnation.

That's only a problem for those that confuse stunts and spectaculars
with science.

D.
--
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.

-Resolved: To be more temperate in my postings.
Oct 5th, 2004 JDL