Would you fly Virgin Galactic?
Poll: Would you fly Virgin Galactic?
Total Members Polled: 187
Discussion
Commercial space travel is coming (eventually). The curve will be just like it was for commercial air travel IMO, and that means a decade or two of it being rubbish, dangerous, and eye-wateringly expensive. By the time it's cheap enough for a pleb like me to have a go it'll have been substantially de-risked, and rich people will be getting their kicks from surfing on wormholes or something.
...On yer bike, beardie, go fly yourselfcroyde said:
Bit puzzled by the point of SS2, apart from being an experiment for craft to come in the future, as you get on it, see Earth from high up and then a risky return to Earth.
Doesn't the 1960s and still going U2 spy plane give a similar view. Get some of them out of mothballs.
The U2 has a maximum altitude of around 80,000 feet (possible a bit higher) which is an altitude of around 15 miles. The U2 is still definitely an aeroplane at every stage of its flight as it is 100% dependent on aerodynamic lift from its wings and therefore must fly within the atmosphere. Its top speed is around 500 mph. It also uses conventional jet engines which can only operate within the atmosphere.Doesn't the 1960s and still going U2 spy plane give a similar view. Get some of them out of mothballs.
It is still in service with the USAF.
The original versions first flew in 1956 - so the design is almost 60 years old now.
The idea behind Virgin Galactic is purely commercial and fun/excitement. It is not a research or test vehicle (unlike the X-15 - which it mimics in some respects - but not by any means all).
There is no "point" to Spaceship 2 apart from providing the opportunity for non-professional astronauts to obtain some of the excitement of the experience of very high altitude flight and sub-orbital spaceflight. In other words, it has the same point as any "leisure" activity - the enjoyment of those who can afford it.
Spaceflight 2 will reach altitudes at around 4 times higher than any U2 ever could.
Does nothing for me. You would not be an astronaut. You would be strapped into a tiny confined space with a bunch of self-important millionaires and a gurning Branson, experience a boring plane ride and bumpy roller-coaster. Yes, playing in zero gravity with Angelina Jolie would be fun, but chances are you would be vomited on by Branson and clattered by Stephen Hawking's wheelchair as you clawed your way to her.
Ayahuasca said:
Does nothing for me. You would not be an astronaut. You would be strapped into a tiny confined space with a bunch of self-important millionaires and a gurning Branson, experience a boring plane ride and bumpy roller-coaster. Yes, playing in zero gravity with Angelina Jolie would be fun, but chances are you would be vomited on by Branson and clattered by Stephen Hawking's wheelchair as you clawed your way to her.
Damn - and here was me thinking that every time I flew in an airliner I was a pilot.I would gladly vomit over anybody to get that view (out the window - not Angelina Jolie's cleavage)..
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