Virgin Galactic.

Palomar · 2006-06-09 06:32:49

*Okay, I'll be the first person to reply (sheesh...what a bunch of chickens here). Saw this post yesterday.

Mr. Branson or whomever (employee) who registered your name: Welcome to New Mars.

If I could afford such a spaceflight I'd put that money towards astronomy and/or science projects which are ailing: Such as Bepi-Colombo (last I knew).

Whatever you wealthy folks do with your money is your business of course. I don't wish you any bad luck ... and you don't need my well-wishing anyway.

Only about 500 people have been off the planet and gained their astronaut wings since spaceflight began in the 1960s

Frankly I don't and won't consider anyone who takes such a flight an "astronaut." Why? Because real astronauts know how to pilot the craft they're in. To lump the likes of James Lovell or Neil Armstrong with some celebrity who can't even fly a single-engine airplane (or who has never taken a single flying lesson ever) together as "astronauts" is absurd.

It's been interesting watching you all trying to juggle profiteering on one hand and humanitarian outreach on the other.

Robert Zubrin warned in The Case for Mars about various "sirens" which lead away from the goal of going to Mars -- such as a return to the Moon and etc. But by golly, some people (who purportedly should know better AHEM) have indeed heeded various "sirens," have gone off track and joined the recent (since Pres. Bush's "Space Initiative") bandwagons.

To each their own, but the sell-out has been chagrining.

Ms. Taxpayer-middleclass-medical-transcriptionist here would like to say my interest remains solidly in going to Mars: Manned exploration of it, and establishing a colony there. I haven't and won't change my tune.

If your endeavors DO help to build an infrastructure which leads to manned Mars exploration/colonization, fine -- great. Some folks have tried to convince me in that regard. I'll believe it when I see it...

SpaceNut · 2006-06-09 07:27:37

I second that Cindy, any deversion from the goal of going to mars with a manned mission is just wasting all those that jump onto that band wagons time and money.

I see nothing new in its posting other than the possibility of web hits to drum up business...

John Creighton · 2006-06-09 16:29:35

7 minutes in 0 G would be fun. I just don't have an extra 200k lying around. I think buying a house or something first would be a smarter use of money.

Grypd · 2006-06-09 16:37:46

John yes I have to agree with you.

To Mr Bransons researcher who inputted this I have to let you note we do consider the White knight and the Burt Rutan method to be of limited space value. If you really want to go to space you need a lot more effective vessel sorry. And I do support mr Branson having followed his Career with interest.

Rxke · 2006-06-09 16:46:01

I will always be a fan of Branson, because he had the balls to sign The Sex Pistols!

(I'm dead serious)

I'm not against VG or SS1,2... But I see them for what they are: suborbital jaunts.

In an ideal universe, VG will make huge profits and Branson invests this money in bigger and higher jumping crafts, selling seats at a discount for science etc.

Maybe, maybe it will eventually fund something revolutionary. That depends on Branson's vision.

And he's always been a risk-taker, so...

Rxke · 2006-06-11 01:07:50

Though I still have a hard time believing it's Sir Richard Bransom himself talking, I like the level-headedness of the following quote:

I see the Spaceship Company as an early first step on our way ultimately to the stars. Even though I probably won't live long enough to see that happen. Right now one of my chief aims is to provide the opportunity for ordinary people to travel into space and look back at the planet where we all live. Our Spaceship Company will be operating regular flights by the end of the decade. That isn't really a very long time to wait. Eventually we hope to make it possible for almost anyone to reach the final frontier at an affordable price. It's very exciting. You have to remember that early commercial plane flights were prohibitively expensive but within a decade thousands of people had flewn. I foresee a similar trend with private suborbital spaceflight.

There are good points.

I bet, when the first passenger-flights started to happen, these 'flights of fancy' were equally being begrudged by common people, noone could've thought that the passtime of the filthy rich and happy few would revolutionise our transportation means, some decades later.
And you *need* these rich passengers, you can't go, designing and building incrementally more performant ships when all you do is just show them to the people, w/o earning at least ome of your money back.

Yes, we know, we know... Suborbital, orbital order of magnitude harder etc. But if you can get your audience hooked, you know you have a customer-base, which will make it much simpler to get financial backers support your SpaceShip X+1 next increment.
And if somebody with a vision, willing to push the envelope, there will be fairly big incremental designs, today 3 mins weightless; SS2: seven; SS3, I'd say 30 minutes, somewhere along the line a plane that also goes quite a distance horizontally, etc etc.
Make the steps big enough, so that people will keep coming. (back!)
Not in this lifetime, perhaps, but who knows, the Western world gets richer day by day, today's $200k will be like shelling out k20$ in 2030, And imagine what kind of flight you could be buying then if VG is still pushing the envelope then 8) it won't be a SS2 flight.

I wish them luck, and hope a jaunt in a SS2 becomes the must-have-experienced thing for rich brats, so they line up en masse.

John Creighton · 2006-06-11 13:09:10

Didn’t I once read that after enough flight the price might fall to 20k per flight (I can’t remember). If so that is a price I could see paying in the future. Not right now but maybe after paying down enough student loans. Going to the edge of space would be quite an experience and for 20k it might just be worth it for some of the upper middle class.

Rxke · 2006-06-11 14:05:14

Topic locked.

user 'Richard Branson' is an imposter. See: http://www.newmars.com/forums/viewtopic … 0026#90026

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#1 2006-06-09 06:32:49

Re: Virgin Galactic.

#2 2006-06-09 07:27:37

Re: Virgin Galactic.

#3 2006-06-09 16:29:35

Re: Virgin Galactic.

#4 2006-06-09 16:37:46

Re: Virgin Galactic.

#5 2006-06-09 16:46:01

Re: Virgin Galactic.

#6 2006-06-11 01:07:50

Re: Virgin Galactic.

#7 2006-06-11 13:09:10

Re: Virgin Galactic.

#8 2006-06-11 14:05:14

Re: Virgin Galactic.

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