Virgin Galactic Branson Flight

An incredible PR stunt which a trip to space for some costs in excess of $200K per passenger.
 
Just talked to my sister on Facebook , she's in the UK.
She had no clue this was happening, she was watching the tennis and checked a bunch of other Freeview channels,mostly broadcasting soccer and all she saw was a banner across the bottom of Sky TV that he was back down.
She works a lot and is not that up to date on current events, this is not the first time that this has happened but being he's British, I thought everyone would be watching.
My daughter (here) said she never knew either till I texted her this morning
 
That was so exciting! I only saw the return part from the feather drop, so I’m really looking forward to the first part.

Beautiful shots of an area of New Mexico that I’m quite familiar with.
 
Very good, but not as cool as Musk's Boosters coming back and landing to be used again. That brought tears to my eyes. One of the coolest things I have seen in my lifetime.

Nice to know that DW and I could afford a tip, should we so desire. But I do not think we are likely to.
 
When the price drops below $50K, I would take that flight. I saw the initial flights of Space Ship One in the Mojave desert during the X-prize competition. During the first flight the aircraft went into an uncontrolled spin. Virgin invested in the original company after they won the X-prize after the second flight. It has taken a long time to get to this point.
 
ShokWaveRider said:
Very good, but not as cool as Musk's Boosters coming back and landing to be used again. That brought tears to my eyes. One of the coolest things I have seen in my lifetime.
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When I first saw that I thought it was a "photo shop" job....Agree super cool.
 
RetiredAndLovingIt said:
Just talked to my sister on Facebook , she's in the UK.
She had no clue this was happening, she was watching the tennis and checked a bunch of other Freeview channels,mostly broadcasting soccer and all she saw was a banner across the bottom of Sky TV that he was back down.
She works a lot and is not that up to date on current events, this is not the first time that this has happened but being he's British, I thought everyone would be watching.
My daughter (here) said she never knew either till I texted her this morning
Click to expand...

My wife probably doesn't know and will not care anyway. I knew about this event because of the headlines on the Web sites that I use to get news.

I guess I would be more excited in technology advances that would impact more people. Better battery for energy storage, more efficient desalination plants for fresh water, etc... I guess I am a more terrestrial kind of guy, despite my career mostly in aerospace. :)
 
I thought both planes were gorgeous. Beautiful shapes and very nice graphics decorations.

It was super exciting to see those unique stages: Three fuselages taking off!! The dropping of the center space plane; The in air rocket launch - wow!; and gliding to land.

I still haven’t seen video of the center part around the apogee.

Hoping to catch replay video to see the whole flight.
 
Nick12 said:
An incredible PR stunt which a trip to space for some costs in excess of $200K per passenger.
Click to expand...


By no means a PR stunt - space is going to be a real commercial/business/industrial sector in the future, not just expensive tourism. This is how it starts, as it matures, prices come down and it becomes more affordable to the masses. Technology advances, more participants enter the business, competition drives prices lower. Will it ever be $1000/flight? Likely not, but maybe $10,000, $20,000, or $50,000 - very likely in the next 10 to 20 years. And in the future, we know that $10,000, $20,000 or $50,000 will be worth much less than those figures today.

Remember, there was a time when the PC cost $3000 to $5000 and you got a CRT, Keyboard, a CPU running at 5 MHz, maybe 4KB memory, and if you were lucky an 88KB floppy disk. It came with an operating system and nothing more. Any software out there was sparse, and cost was $50 and up for rudimentary things. Today, folks carry $100 disposable phones in their pocket which are 1000+ times more powerful and useful. Free software is abundant for most applications today. That's likely the kind of trajectory we'll see in the space sector in the future.
 
audreyh1 said:
Beautiful shots of an area of New Mexico that I’m quite familiar with.
Click to expand...

I didn't watch it, but may watch the replay for the vistas, which sound wonderful.

ShokWaveRider said:
Very good, but not as cool as Musk's Boosters coming back and landing to be used again. That brought tears to my eyes. One of the coolest things I have seen in my lifetime.
Click to expand...

+1. A very moving "Wow" moment. My best friend wasn't interested, but I showed her the video of the landing anyway. When those two rockets came back to earth and landed perfectly on their tails, she was completely blown away.

It seems to take a lot to impress many people these days, but that one event stood out. I didn't watch this morning's flight. I saw the livestream after Richard had successfully made his flight, and a short while before he was due to speak. The feed switched to a pre-produced corporate promo, highlighting the different Virgin companies - basically promoting how wonderful Virgin is. It was a bit of a turn-off. In that moment, I missed the old days of NASA just a little. I wonder if there will be a promo for Amazon Prime shipping after Jeff's flight? :LOL:

Freedom56 said:
I saw the initial flights of Space Ship One in the Mojave desert during the X-prize competition. During the first flight the aircraft went into an uncontrolled spin.
Click to expand...

I was at the second official flight - the one that was the qualifier for the Ansari X-Prize. It was exciting, hearing the countdown to the launch booming out into the early morning desert air, and seeing that little rocketship, which was already high up in the sky, accelerate vertically upwards. The historical significance of the area in which it was happening (the "right stuff") only added to the fun. I still have my photos of the crowd, and of pilot Brian Binnie, after the flight, standing atop Spaceship One as it traveled past the excited spectators.
 
Their rockets fire up in higher altitudes (upper atmosphere, which is more sensitive).

I am neutral in climate change debate. But why do Billionaires get to burn fuel and damage our environment (if going by the argument of those who say we are causing this immense harm to climate). Why are Billionaires exempt from their responsibilities. And most likely.. most of the future (proposed passengers) will be Uber rich as well.

Now make these one way flight to outer space.. then that would be more balanced approach :)
 
njhowie said:
By no means a PR stunt - space is going to be a real commercial/business/industrial sector in the future, not just expensive tourism. This is how it starts, as it matures, prices come down and it becomes more affordable to the masses. Technology advances, more participants enter the business, competition drives prices lower. Will it ever be $1000/flight? Likely not, but maybe $10,000, $20,000, or $50,000 - very likely in the next 10 to 20 years. And in the future, we know that $10,000, $20,000 or $50,000 will be worth much less than those figures today.

Remember, there was a time when the PC cost $3000 to $5000 and you got a CRT, Keyboard, a CPU running at 5 MHz, maybe 4KB memory, and if you were lucky an 88KB floppy disk. It came with an operating system and nothing more. Any software out there was sparse, and cost was $50 and up for rudimentary things. Today, folks carry $100 disposable phones in their pocket which are 1000+ times more powerful and useful. Free software is abundant for most applications today. That's likely the kind of trajectory we'll see in the space sector in the future.
Click to expand...
A billionaire exec chairman riding into space to promote his $200K plus ride for upcoming customers, yes a PR stunt.
 
audreyh1 said:
I thought both planes were gorgeous. Beautiful shapes and very nice graphics decorations.

It was super exciting to see those unique stages: Three fuselages taking off!! The dropping of the center space plane; The in air rocket launch - wow!; and gliding to land.
Click to expand...
Agree, very cool to see... To me it was also impressive to see how quick it all was. Almost like it was all planned... :cool: From takeoff, to the "release" of the ship and rocket ignition, to space and then return safely to land on a piloted ship on the same runway they took off from. All in about an hour...


images
 
I'll admit pretty cool but I'm just waiting for the Jeff Bezos "hold my beer" sequel in a few days. We are barely on the precipice of space travel being affordable for most humans on this planet !
 
I love space stuff but this doesn't impress me at all. I could see paying to go the the Space Station or the moon. But an up and down like this? Nothing burger. Unless they were really along for the ride on a shakedown of new technology leading to more useful shuttles, etc. later this seems useless.
 
I have mixed feelings. Yeah it was a PR stunt. Yeah it's a Nothing Burger up-and-down flight, only slightly more interesting than any other airplane ride. Yeah it's only open to billionaires right now, and folks with excessive dough to blow going forward. Yeah it produces pollution and contributes to climate change.

But you have to walk before you can run. If the billionaires don't do this, who will?

In this cynical world where corporate profits and stock prices are more important than the societal value of an enterprise, it's nice to see at least two tycoons blowing their dough on things which advance the future of our species.

Maybe there's hope for us yet. I'm a fan, albeit somewhat reluctantly.
 
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I bet they have learned a lot, and that's why I am interested in Mr. Branson's space plane.

Mr. Branson's space plane and Mr. Bezos' pop-gun rocket are fun, but that other billionaire is sending humans to the ISS, recovering booster rockets to use again, and currently builds the most powerful rocket in use today. Branson and Bezos may wear the Big Hat, but Mr. Musk has the cattle.
 
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