Can you really build your own space shuttle?

Question

I was thinking of the astronaut farmer lol....but would the gov't really go to great lengths to stop you from building a space craft? Can a average joe like me build a space craft?

THanks,

K

Don't call me a moron....This question really interests me and if it's possible.

Answer 1

Nope

Answer 2

Only the space shuttle main engines were secret.  It's very expensive to build a shuttle, however.

The astronaut farmer used a rocket.  That would be much cheaper.

I doubt an "average" anything could make it work.  But a small team could probably do it.  The Huntsville Alabama L5 Society attempted to launch a rocket to space (not orbit, just 100 km up).  They failed, but their design looked as if it would work.

Answer 3

It's actually been done.  Burt Rutan's Spaceship One won the $10 million X Prize in 2004 for being the first reusable private craft to enter outer space.  Private space travel is just beginning to take off (no pun intended).

Although, it's certainly not something "any average joe" can do, you need extensive knowledge of aerospace engineering and a whole lot of funding.

Answer 4

I think a person could build a rocket but they would need some help from a structural engineer for building the launch platform, then you would need a aerospace engineer to help design the rocket, then you would need a chemical expert to help find the cheapest and most efficient fuel for the rocket, then a mechanical engineer to build the rocket parts in a machine shop, then an electrical engineer to do the wiring throughout the rocket, then a computer specialist to program your guidance & navigation systems and to insulate the computers from electromagnetic damages from heavy solar flare activity, but in the long run their just helping you and the rocket will be yours.

There is a much larger prize out there than the X-Prize it is called America's Space Prize and the person or persons who wins it gets 50 million dollars U.S., here is a link i found http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America's_S...

Answer 5

The guys at Armadillo Aerospace are as close to that movie as real life gets. Pretty close actually.

Answer 6

Andy S is right, and his answer is good.

If you want to do this, you're going to need to get a good education and a good amount of cash.

Answer 7

No, the U.S. government wouldn't go to great lengths to keep you from building a spacecraft.  However, if you want to fly it into, out of, or inside of U.S. airspace, you need a permit from the FAA.

The STS orbiter is a very highly complex piece of equipment that requires quite a lot of specialized skills and equipment to put together.  It's virtually impossible for a single person or a small organization to build one like it.

"The Astronaut Farmer" is a great movie, but fanciful.  In the movie, Farmer had many of the skills one would need to duplicate the early space missions.  He wasn't an average joe by any means.  He essentially assembled a replica of an existing older rocket design from parts that had already been manufactured and then left as derelicts.  That's how the author gets around the problem of needing very specialized equipment and techniques to manufacture aerospace components to appropriate tolerances.  The problem is that space equipment as a "shelf life."  Parts of old rockets change over time in their chemical and physical properties.

The conflict with the government was more for dramatic purposes.  "The Astronaut Farmer" wasn't about building a space ship; it was more about how people with imagination and determination ought to win out over small-minded bureaucrats.

Answer 8

If you got the money, honey, someone will build it.  There's a big prize being offered actually for the first guy (or gal) that does it...of course, you're asking specifically about building a shuttle, and they are working on other designs I think.  Anyway, why would you want a shuttle?   That's sooooo 1990's man.