Bransons Tourist Spaceship Crashed

[pErvinalia]

I'm mystified by the attraction of this project.
What the fuck is the big buzz of a few minutes of weightlessness? You're not going into orbit, you're just going up and coming straight back down. Not much difference from doing a free-fall parachute drop, without the excitement.
And for that you're paying hundreds of thousands.

You can get the feeling of weightlessness any time you want. Just jump in a swimming pool. You can have a few hours of weightlessness for nothing. Not a few minutes for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

You know what it's most probably about. Posers will pay it, to be able to say "I've been into space".
That's what it's about. Bragging rights.

Possibly. But it would be one hell of a view.

[mistermack]

You know what it's most probably about. Posers will pay it, to be able to say "I've been into space".
That's what it's about. Bragging rights.

Possibly. But it would be one hell of a view.

I suppose so. More of an unusual view, than an amazing one. The thing is projected to fly to 110 km altitude, and they will be weightless for just six minutes.
Apart from a quick thrill, and the bragging rights, it seems totally pointless to me.

You can't see much from 110 km up, and looking through a thick window isn't much different to an HD tv picture. It might be fun for the rich, but it doesn't really achieve anything.

[cronus]

You know what it's most probably about. Posers will pay it, to be able to say "I've been into space".
That's what it's about. Bragging rights.

Possibly. But it would be one hell of a view.

I suppose so. More of an unusual view, than an amazing one. The thing is projected to fly to 110 km altitude, and they will be weightless for just six minutes.
Apart from a quick thrill, and the bragging rights, it seems totally pointless to me.

You can't see much from 110 km up, and looking through a thick window isn't much different to an HD tv picture. It might be fun for the rich, but it doesn't really achieve anything.

You could afford a 4K TV with that monies and still have enough left over to site it in a 3/4 home theatre. That's bragging rights....not risking your one and only life on a Branson death gamble.

[mistermack]

You could afford a 4K TV with that monies and still have enough left over to site it in a 3/4 home theatre. That's bragging rights....not risking your one and only life on a Branson death gamble.

True. But to be fair to them, the people who pay for this trip will have enough money for any home theater you care to name. That would be peanuts to them.

I doubt if this project will ever regain the confidence of the buying public now though.
Even if this crash turns out to be pilot error, it illustrates just how inherently dangerous it is.
If the pilots don't get it dead right, it breaks up.

I know the same applies to landing a jet, but they are inherently safe. The pilots are landing thousands of them, every day, all over the world, in all kinds of weather, with just a minute number of mishaps.
This thing is on the edge in flight, and on landing.
Having said that, people climb mountain cliffs. So some people get a kick out of danger.

Good luck to them. It's not for me.

[rainbow]

Could be in a bit of a pickle?

[Hermit]

"Build it, and they will come." Suckers.

Except, the rest of Branson's empire has been propping up his "space" project on a day to day basis since outside funding has ceased. That was at least $580 million from an Abu Dhabi based company and the US state government of New Mexico. Virgin Galactic ("galactic" for suborbital flights?) has been in negotiations with Google for further funding since last June. A reconsideration by Google will not be altogether surprising.

[klr]

Branson is like a kinder, gentler version of Donald Trump.

And his hair is probably real.