Burt Rutan: Entrepreneurs are the future of space flight

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  • Опубліковано 18 жов 2024
  • www.ted.com In this passionate talk, legendary spacecraft designer Burt Rutan lambasts the US government-funded space program for stagnating and asks entrepreneurs to pick up where NASA has left off.
    TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers are invited to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes -- including speakers such as Jill Bolte Taylor, Sir Ken Robinson, Hans Rosling, Al Gore and Arthur Benjamin. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, politics and the arts. Watch the Top 10 TEDTalks on TED.com, at
    www.ted.com/ind...
  • Наука та технологія

КОМЕНТАРІ • 90

  • @Deadman3913
    @Deadman3913 17 років тому +7

    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.

  • @erikig
    @erikig 3 роки тому +5

    Just stopped by to say hi 👋 to virtual Burt after the Virgin Galactic flight.

  • @ford2n2003
    @ford2n2003 7 років тому +3

    I've watched this 10 times and it just gets better!! Burt Rutan the greatest Aviation Innovator of our generation!! Love the Boomerang!! Got to get to Oshkosh and meet him.

  • @orgonsolo6291
    @orgonsolo6291 4 роки тому +5

    Probably the best TED talk EVER!!!

  • @oisiaa
    @oisiaa 14 років тому +3

    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.

    • @TheJustinJ
      @TheJustinJ Рік тому +1

      Agreed that he is a VIP of Aviation.
      But there are many unsung hero's who laid the foundation and I would not discount.
      Kelly Johnson was a Brilliant Leader. So was Werner Von Braun. Burt shares many traits with these two. Both were geniuses at assembling teams and getting impossible things done, all three are "Entrepreneurs" in their own right. Burt was the best at this. Raising private money to build projects.
      But neither he nor the others were the one who discovered or invented the principals of flights or individual technologies that were and are so
      Important.
      The GOATS should also include:
      Max Munk
      Eastman Jacobs
      Robert T. Jones
      Theodore Theodorsen
      Richard Whitcomb
      Ludwig Prandtl
      Adolf Busemann
      For Aircraft Designers who don't get enough credit:
      Anthony Fokker
      Robert Hall
      Igor Sikorsky
      John Leland Atwood
      All giants in their own right, relegated to a footnote in history in spite of their achievements.

  • @iugey
    @iugey 13 років тому +5

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

  • @rumingjiang69
    @rumingjiang69 Рік тому +1

    1:43 is the best part😀

  • @JakeBroe
    @JakeBroe 4 роки тому +2

    What a great talk!

  • @nobodynemoq
    @nobodynemoq 3 роки тому +2

    He might have been too optimistic about the timeline, but he was definitely right about the big picture. Really interesting speech. He must be really happy, that finally descendant of hist first spacecraft took passengers into space.

  • @BULLOCK1973
    @BULLOCK1973 10 років тому +4

    This guy truly is a genius!! A maverick in flight design, imagination!! Just a great man!! The last of the true thinkers. He doesn't follow stupid new technology.

  • @r.i.pete55
    @r.i.pete55 7 місяців тому

    This video inspired me to finally go to college 15 years ago and attempt to get into the aviation field. I never got into aviation but I finished college and gave myself a brighter future. cherish this video

  • @boldstandard
    @boldstandard 17 років тому +2

    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.

  • @jordantaylor8549
    @jordantaylor8549 4 роки тому +4

    13 years later ...and he was right

    • @psanderbrand
      @psanderbrand 4 роки тому +2

      Sadly, I can't think of one suborbital spaceflight company that was a success.
      We have SpaceX, but they occupy a totally different market than Rutan predicted.

  • @1schwererziehbar1
    @1schwererziehbar1 16 років тому +2

    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.

  • @Zenderquai
    @Zenderquai 12 років тому +3

    Awesome talk, but I'd love to know what he said about Bush at 1:50 ish that got such a good laugh...

  • @purger37
    @purger37 16 років тому +1

    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.

  • @kevincozens6837
    @kevincozens6837 3 роки тому +2

    100,000 people will have flown sub-orbital flights by 2020? That never happened. The space programs have seen development by the private sector but still it is barely more than what was available decades ago.

  • @MrWasuji
    @MrWasuji 11 років тому +2

    While I agree with some things, I have to disagree with his comparison with the internet. The reason the internet and the PC took off(pun?) is because it allows a wide variety of input from just about anyone. It has not, nor can I imagine it being, been the case that a homebrew spaceship is developed. If your neighbor built a rocket, would you try it out? Also, we need a reason to go out there. Exploration has not been enough so far.

  • @ippys1997
    @ippys1997 7 років тому +3

    240p by the official TED account? Oh 2007...

  • @mckennacisler01
    @mckennacisler01 9 років тому +2

    I wonder if a suborbital airliner can actually go as fast or faster than the Concorde for a reasonable price... (if you can get no air resistance for half the flight to offset the cost of getting up to 100km) If we could though, I think we could help boost both the airline innovation cycle he talked about and the popularization of space flight. Also, speaking of commercial space ventures, I wonder what kind of incentives we'd see for big mineral companies if asteroid mining became feasible? I think it would be a while before conservationists started complaining about depleting the asteroid belt...

  • @oci62
    @oci62 15 років тому

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

  • @samuels.michael3582
    @samuels.michael3582 3 роки тому

    he already said it years ago.. today we are on those phases..

  • @OCSTRETRACER
    @OCSTRETRACER 9 років тому +8

    I plan to start my own space program one day.

    • @r.i.pete55
      @r.i.pete55 7 місяців тому

      How’s it going?

  • @Seirunir
    @Seirunir 11 років тому +2

    I just love to think about, that when I have children, what I can tell them about technologies we (not) had when I was in their age: Cassettes, VHS, Computers with less power than the average smartphone today, No MP3, No Internet, No Flatscreens, different currency (at least in europe) and so on xD
    It's just amazing how the world changed since I was born, and I'm only 22 :D

  • @eazyrider17
    @eazyrider17 17 років тому

    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.

  • @Archin-dn4bp
    @Archin-dn4bp 3 роки тому +2

    We will fly to the Moon and Mars.
    Now it is not so far.

  • @whereistomm
    @whereistomm 3 роки тому +2

    This aged well

  • @Jcthor96
    @Jcthor96 13 років тому +8

    Thats my uncles dad :D thats awsome right

  • @violethey4095
    @violethey4095 10 років тому +11

    I can understand what Rutan says, but I still find terribly sad that our progress in space engineering depends on money. Science and development should depend on real resources and not in economic investments and profit.

    • @a.dykeman1980
      @a.dykeman1980 7 років тому +2

      Well, here's the problem: Nobody thinks like that anymore. Only the highest-level movers & shakers and the lowest-level dreamers, these days, really understand that the numbers on your credit card, on your bills and your receipts, are just numbers. The world economy may not even realistically represent the proper value of world resources anymore. "Money" has become so ubiquitous, so absolute, that it's literally its own entity and its own context. I'll bet you nobody has thought in the last 50 years "Hey, what does my money actually represent?"

    • @TheJustinJ
      @TheJustinJ 2 роки тому +1

      @@a.dykeman1980 economics and reality are not contradictions. They are synonymous, wholly and completely inseparable to the end of time.

  • @ItsRainmakingTime
    @ItsRainmakingTime 14 років тому

    It's Rainmaking Time!
    How do I get in touch with Burt?
    Kim Greenhouse

  • @hassandoukkali3611
    @hassandoukkali3611 Рік тому

    is sample game can let us be stronger in this case ?...

  • @SoCalRyeder
    @SoCalRyeder 15 років тому

    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!

  • @AmericanFlagsExpress
    @AmericanFlagsExpress 16 років тому

    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.

  • @SXAJT
    @SXAJT 15 років тому

    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................

  • @AERO1779
    @AERO1779 14 років тому

    I originally watched this on the TED website.

  • @Goldiney
    @Goldiney 13 років тому +2

    @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.

  • @veknashs
    @veknashs 14 років тому

    AMAZING GUY!! they should air this or something

  • @djunior874
    @djunior874 11 років тому +2

    I think one major contributor to this problem is religion- Don't be startled, just think about it, it makes sense. As long as people believe they're going to Heaven, the longer they think there's no point progressing humanity.

  • @jdt2003
    @jdt2003 11 років тому +2

    Actually government would contract out to Lockheed and Boeing still leaving the bill on the taxpayers. That is until it becomes profitable.

  • @joshatkins94
    @joshatkins94 16 років тому

    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.

  • @api9mm
    @api9mm 17 років тому +2

    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.

  • @g6rcteam81
    @g6rcteam81 4 роки тому +2

    Its 2020 next week lol he was wroooooooonnnnnngggggg .

    • @g6rcteam81
      @g6rcteam81 4 роки тому +2

      I still havent got my space ride! how about 2030

  • @cooljool1
    @cooljool1 13 років тому

    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

  • @veknashs
    @veknashs 14 років тому

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

  • @joshatkins94
    @joshatkins94 16 років тому

    Still, NACA did come up with the initial idea.

  • @vroyen
    @vroyen 17 років тому

    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.

  • @nine9s
    @nine9s 17 років тому

    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.

  • @MalcolmOG
    @MalcolmOG 15 років тому

    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

  • @sylfamas
    @sylfamas 17 років тому

    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

  • @KraussHelmut
    @KraussHelmut 12 років тому

    Does anyone know where I can find the slides? Thank you!

  • @manganl
    @manganl 15 років тому

    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.

  • @darthallykat
    @darthallykat 11 років тому +1

    I hope he was joking when he said Al Gore invented the internet. I swear I heard some members of the audience laughing.

    • @ford2n2003
      @ford2n2003 7 років тому +1

      CERN invented the internet!!

  • @molnes
    @molnes 16 років тому

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

  • @andymckee53
    @andymckee53 9 років тому +2

    Burt focuses on speed and speed alone when comparing aircraft. This is very narrow minded. A few simple calculations show that the EFFICIENCY of commercial air travel has more than Tripled in the time since the DC8. True the cruising speed is almost identical but a modern airliner can fly at least 40% further taking 3 times the passengers for a third of the cost Per passenger mile in fuel. Also to my knowledge the SR71 did not stop being used because it was corroded (as Burt says). It stopped being used because it was very expensive to operate and satellites took over the role. The SR71 is mostly made from Titanium which does not corrode! But I do agree with the general message of his talk. NASA was doomed to failure as soon as they landed on the moon. Game over - nothing more to aim for. When Werner Von Braun retired (after having designed the Space Shuttle concept) they lost their leader - their one man of vision and genius - and became a committee. I do have hope for the future though as Elon Musk and others take up the mantle. Ironic that a South African will make 'America' great again in space but I guess a German (Werner Von Braun) was the one that made it great before so there's nothing new there.

  • @laburgy
    @laburgy 3 роки тому

    There are areas where he skews the facts to suit his thesis. Example the Russian "Concordski" which it was always felt owed most of its design to spies, who stole the French Anglo plans. Here is what happened at The Paris airshow, that he glossed over "At the Paris Air Show on 3 June 1973, the development program of the Tu-144 suffered severely when the first Tu-144S production airliner crashed.
    At the end of the officially approved demonstration flight, which was an exact repeat of the previous day's display, instead of landing as expected the aircraft entered a very steep climb before making a violent downwards manoeuvre. As it tried to recover the aircraft broke apart and crashed, destroying 15 houses and killing all six people on board the Tu-144 and eight more on the ground." It further proved unreliable and was not a "success" for the USSR. (It was not called Russia that that time).

  • @wouter1411
    @wouter1411 11 років тому

    Burt Rutan rules.

  • @katzkitson
    @katzkitson 14 років тому

    America needs Burt Rutan to run NASA.

  • @jagonation
    @jagonation 14 років тому

    @oisiaa you forgot a huge one: HOWARD HUGHES

  • @TheTrieye
    @TheTrieye 12 років тому

    cool

  • @sooryaku1
    @sooryaku1 11 років тому +2

    we meet 240 p again

  • @DanielCatesmodca
    @DanielCatesmodca 11 років тому

    Dat way-too-loud intro.

  • @AntiMatter3000
    @AntiMatter3000 12 років тому

    ...oh..

  • @ninanotturna
    @ninanotturna 15 років тому

    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).

  • @AntiMatter3000
    @AntiMatter3000 12 років тому

    I agree with what you said at first.
    But you are out of your damn mind if you think Russia is better than the USA.
    Mexico is a better place to live than Russia, that should tell you a lot.

  • @mythologicalmyth
    @mythologicalmyth 7 років тому +3

    Burt has a limited scope of knowledge rooted in aerospace engineering but is constrained by Darwinian fear of survivability.

    • @TheJustinJ
      @TheJustinJ 2 роки тому +1

      Yellowstone, and a random meteor or two have our number. So do bat-borne viruses, in conjunction with TCM.

  • @MalcolmOG
    @MalcolmOG 15 років тому

    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