Burt Rutan: Entrepreneurs are the future of space flight

[Rossome4040]

Glo0balization is killing inginuity and invention by creating monopoly's that can steal inventions and inovations and scrap them so that no one can have them and the global elite can continue degrading and genocidally socially engineering society... That is why Russia is more like the USA used to be and the USA and west is more like the east was 20 years ago.

[TheTrieye]

cool

[iugey]

Burt Rutan is awesome. I am inspired to pursue a career in aerospace!

[Sentios]

I agree that it's innovative individuals who bring about the future, but if this generation of profit seekers lead the way the common man won't be able to afford it anyways.

[cooljool1]

People always focus on the technical benefit of NASA, ignoring its drain on industry. Now that NASA is gone, we are finally seeing companies like Virgin Galactic come into existence. Without NASA, however, these companies would have been on the scene sooner

[Jcthor96]

Thats my uncles dad :D thats awsome right

[98rallets]

@DeoVindice00 I'm confused too. Maybe the Bush administration's specific space policies could have been better, but Bush was way more pro-private-sector than just about anybody else.

[Tio2Man1969]

I would sweep floors, take out the trash, clean the bathrooms, cut the grass, get everyone coffee, clean the offices....whatever it would take just to get my foot in the door at RAF/Scaled Composites and work my way up to test Pilot!!!! Could you imagine being under the wing of his brother Dick Rutan? Would be AWESOME!

[hhead44]

fascinating man.

[katzkitson]

America needs Burt Rutan to run NASA.

[eimb1999]

Wish I could have seen this without the obvious edits.

[oisiaa]

I am absolutely convinced that Burt Rutan in the top 5 most important aerospace personalities in all of history. The only people who I can think hold a higher position are Wilbur and Orville Wright, Werner Von Braun, and Kelly Johnson.

[jagonation]

@oisiaa you forgot a huge one: HOWARD HUGHES

[UrDaShInGPriNcE]

@oisiaa ummm what about Sergei Korolev? (the man who put the first satellite and man in orbit). Konstantin Tsiolkovsky? (the father of astronautics), Robert Goddard? (the man who pioneered the liquid fuel rocket).

I do admire Burt Rutan but he doesn't even come close to any of the legendary giants of flight or spaceflight history. He pioneered some airframe designs but that's about it.

[MikDonsen]

Energy issues are part of the problem. Sending someone to space if still 100 percent efficient is expensive. We basically needs alot of fusion reactors to built. But the tech for that is super underfunded. No proof it will work. THe hippies are against nuclear, big business don't care because it won't become viable for atleat 30 plus years.

[slamuraiify]

nice sideburns

[ermarauder]

@slamuraiify those are mutan chops, not side burns.

[veknashs]

AMAZING GUY!! they should air this or something

[ermarauder]

@veknashs go to ted.com and watch it in entirety

[veknashs]

@ermarauder I've seen it :) thanks!!

[ItsRainmakingTime]

It's Rainmaking Time!

How do I get in touch with Burt?

Kim Greenhouse

[13twistedevil13]

wow.....30,000 views in almost 3 years huh?...little weird. This sounds like a fun idea but we all know why there has been no innovation in this topic. And if any of u don't see the suppressed information we have not been given...well then u just have no hope.This all could have happened a long time ago if i t wasn't for our so called leaders. People can be so naive...it's sad.......

[BearsysRevenge]

It's probably had many, many, many more views on it's TED page.

[AERO1779]

I originally watched this on the TED website.

[youvebeenthunderstru]

Burt is a fucking legend. He's putting space back in the public eye again. About fucking time, too.

[SXAJT]

what can i say about burt rutan..........

he is aviation legend....

he is a peace of history

next to wright brothers, lindberg

we need new ideas

and we need people like burt rutan................

[manganl]

Burt Rutan understands the very simple concept that we cannot keep all our eggs in one basket. Humanity needs to be viably established off-planet before some earthbound psychopaths destroy life on Earth.

May he live long and prosper and retire on the Moon.

[youvebeenthunderstru]

Haha! Like that. "may he retire on the moon".

[onethatcansee]

Ok, I'll say it... Jimmy Stewart with side burns lol :P

[ninanotturna]

Outer space and flying is cool and all, but we have more pressing issues on which to spend our time and resources on planet earth. Sorry man, your passion must wait (at least if we are a rational and a reasonable species).

[NikoKun]

Rutan is just an amazing guy... I hope his vision of the future of space travel comes true someday. I hope people make it true.

[rockystefano]

love the side burns

[sansanbel]

Really good

[RyanInSD]

I think manned space flight has simmered down mostly because we now have robots to do that job without the risk of losing astronauts. A noble cause none the less, space exploration is of the highest importance!

[redstone1963]

Well said.

[oci62]

Impressive , I am very impressed of his presentation , the content, at least he caught me..

[oryxx]

Burt would do well with Ron Paul... Get the government out of flight development, and leave it to the private enterprise.

[AmericanFlagsExpress]

Inspiring kids begins with inspiring imitation. Building a flying model is the first step. Joining the EAA Young Eagles program is a terrific second step. This type of motivation is not coming from our schools. It requires personal mentoring at a very early age. Today's a good day to start.

[BlandyDoes]

I will make my money soon and get my ticket! In fact when I do make my money then I will build my own spaceship to go sub-orbital! I cant wait!

[polyrhythmic1]

AMEN!  This guy speaks the truth!

[calapanpo]

probably heard this before but Apollo 13 didn't say "houtson we have a problem" they said "houston we've HAD a problem" just a small difference

[gulloogtg]

my dear mate,

if u listen to it again, astroz said that twice,

Houston We have a probelm here;

13, say again please,

Houston we've had a problem!!!!!!!!

GO RUTAN,

GO CALPOLY

[gulloogtg]

my dear mate,

if u listen to it again, astroz said that twice,

Houston We have a probelm here;

13, say again please,

Houston we've had a problem!!!!!!!!

GO RUTAN,

GO CALPOLY

[calapanpo]

He says that in real life, Apollo 13 the movie was where they said "Houston, we have a problem"

[Berdwerd]

ya i thought i was quick witted with sarcasm, but he almost got even me with the plant life jab lol

[1schwererziehbar1]

elvis is right. i think we'll witness a lot of progress in space travel the next years. just as we did with computers in the nineties. it has yet begun.

[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.

[BlandyDoes]

beautiful thought... I am 23 and I am thinking now how to invest in the future of space flight. Investing time with children to do this kind of thing is a good way to go I think. If we can do this I can see really good things coming out of those children's minds.

[DMCpro6944]

well he is right about giving kids/adults more creativity and ispiration ,instead of garbage food and stupid tv programs.

[johnsmdm]

cmon Rutan, plant life on Mars?

[clannon]

um, sarcasm.

[brianlo777]

burt rutan is such a legend i look up to him

[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.

[orclv]

I wont to go to mars !!!

[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.

[molnes]

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

[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.

[joshatkins94]

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

[joshatkins94]

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

[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.

[dude58677]

The X-15 used heated reentry.

[joshatkins94]

Still, NACA did come up with the initial idea.

[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.

[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.

[Goldiney]

@dude58677 He makes NASA look like a bunch of idiots? While this man's feathering design may have helped reentry, NASA has delved deeper into the cosmos than any other agency or person ever has. NASA has peered 13 billion years into the past, when the universe was in its infancy. Show some respect for the organization that has gotten us where we are today, dude.

[dude58677]

@Goldiney

There is very little respect for Burt Rutan and he is trying to get YOU into space.

[98rallets]

@Goldiney After the US vs USSR space race that Mr. Rutan so eloquently described ended, NASA has done nothing for us. What benefit does sending a space probe past Neptune have for our society? The private sector innovates and succeeds because it must to survive, while the public sector does nothing because it's insulated from reality.

[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.

[pootron]

5 stars. If we really cared about security and innovation, we would trade, and explore space rather than invade for the limited resources on this rock.

[eazyrider17]

Burt Rutan is one of the greatest minds of our time. I believe that he will go down in history as such, but probably not in his lifetime.

[isadashhqdotcom]

Nice Videos! Come and visit the International Space Agency (ISA) youtube site. Just click on this user to go to the ISA youtube site! Ad-Astra! To The Stars! In Peace For All Mankind!

[api9mm]

He almost said it. I thought he would. The stagnation of NASA since the mid 70's was the result of Werner von Braun's team retiring. The Soviet space program was entirely developed by enslaved German Scientists. They all died off in the 80's as the Soviet space program slowed as well. The great space race of the late 40's through 70's was the result of a surge of captured German technologies and people.

[thisisapreviewvideo]

true, they got the ufo tech

[kedvenceim]

He is a genius, just like Edison, but I hate the fact that this is just for the fun of the rich and bored.

[nine9s]

That's where things start. The rich people pay very high prices for an early product with a lot of bugs, and the money they pay funds further research to bring the costs down and quality up. The plane was invented in the very early 1900's, but it took more than fifty years for airflight to be a reasonable means of travel for the masses. It just takes time.

[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.

[brianlo777]

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

[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.

[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

[DrRandale]

not for long. Just the next 20years. ;)

[kronikthai]

a lot of these ted talks have conflicting goals...greens versus capitalist polluters, etc.

[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

[delapeyre]

Eventualy an asteroid will hit us,they do all the time its just when? Yes we should get all our eggs out of the one earth basket, And fast!

[Spacedgurl]

Burt Rutan is the greatest engineer of our time. 100 years from now we will truly understand this. Burt Rutan is my biggest hero....the guy is a giant and not recognized. -Me, Engineer

[darmago]

The epitome of youtube comments.

[viper8red]

The answer to this is stop spending endless billions of dollars by going to war every gosh darn few years with some newly perceived enemy and start putting our money on the next explorable frontier, space.

[Deadman3913]

This man is in the top ten of all my heroes. Whatever anyone thinks of the man, you can't deny he's done some great things. I hope he inspires many more 'do-ers' in the near future.

[kwixson]

While I admire and greatly respect Mr. Rutan, I wonder if he gives enough credit to the progress by public (i.e. government) enterprise in base science that enable later commercial development. I am somewhat dismayed that he does not examine the dynamic of public funding applied to avenues of interest that, at the outset, have no apparent commercial purpose.

[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.

[swivelingchairguy]

"It will allow us to colonize and keep us going extinct"

I wonder if he believes an asteroid is going to kill life on earth someday.

[sylfamas]

think of it another way. USA spends 160billion dollars yearly for a war, and just 20 billion dolar in 10 YEARS for international space station. Imagine what you can do with 160 billion dollars per year