First Commercial Spaceport opens!

[Darth_Dude]

So Virgin Galactic just opened up the first commercial spaceport, with commercial flights expected to take place within 2 years.

And you can buy a ticket! If you've got $200,000 lying around..

What does the Escapist think of this? How does it make you guys feel?

Personally I'm very excited about the future, and going on one of these things will definitely be on my bucket list, (although to be fair, the price will have almost certainly come down in 5 years time)

Source: http://english.aljazeera.net/video/americas/2011/10/2011101853014335414.html

 

[Kekkles]

Capitalism is obvious and it's just plain wrong.

 

[Darth_Dude]

Capitalism is obvious and it's just plain wrong.

But....but.....what about all the flying in space?! And the Zero-G?!!

You sir, are a party-pooper.

 

[Kekkles]

But....but.....what about all the flying in space?! And the Zero-G?!!

You sir, are a party-pooper.

No, I just absolutely hate everything that Richard Branson stands for. In every sense he is one of the greediest men alive and yet he's still praised for his success?

 

[Darth_Dude]

But....but.....what about all the flying in space?! And the Zero-G?!!

You sir, are a party-pooper.

No, I just absolutely hate everything that Richard Branson stands for. In every sense he is one of the greediest men alive and yet he's still praised for his success?

But what about the idea, the concept. Space travel, for everyone, not just for the highly trained astronaut. Sure it costs a lot of money now, but so did the car when it was first invented.

 

[Ceress]

But....but.....what about all the flying in space?! And the Zero-G?!!

You sir, are a party-pooper.

No, I just absolutely hate everything that Richard Branson stands for. In every sense he is one of the greediest men alive and yet he's still praised for his success?

Considering he started out recording and distributing records all by himself, to opening space ports I'd say he deserves all the praise he gets...

 

[varulfic]

Capitalism is obvious and it's just plain wrong.

Explain how this is wrong if it's so plain.

 

[Spandexpanda]

I think commercial space travel can really only be a good thing. How could it not? Sure, it's expensive, but as an earlier poster pointed out, so was the first car. Similarly, air travel was prohibitively expensive at it's conception, but as time went by, it became cheaper and cheaper and now many people worldwide rely on it as a form of quick, efficient travel. It really has opened up the world. Similarly, this is the first step on a journey of discovery for mankind. Who knows, we may all end up on the moon in this lifetime. That'd be cool.

 

[Kekkles]

Have you never noticed this man opens up every kind of commercial "success", from starting with CD's to moving to whatever whim Virgin felt like opening and when they didn't work they were dropped like a hat. I can see the corners they'll cut for maximum profit even before it's been properly perfected. I can just see a big fat abort on the first flight and if not the first then the next in line.

There's a reason why people are trained to go into space. It's not just "Oh I fancy a little trip up skyward, let's go." It's not going to work, it's not going to happen because humans can't just take that sort of pressure change.

We don't have the technology either.

Derailer derailed.

 

[Quaxar]

Well, guess it's now about time for me to start building the first space hotel. Where else should they go in space?

I will be rich!
Plus there's no law against using death rays to get rid of competitors in space.

There's a reason why people are trained to go into space. It's not just "Oh I fancy a little trip up skyward, let's go." It's not going to work, it's not going to happen because humans can't just take that sort of pressure change.

We don't have the technology either.

Derailer derailed.

You do realize there have already been space tourists on the ISS? They also receive basic training and a full health-check-up before the start, to think that anyone would let somebody possibly die on board of the first commercial spacecraft is just ridiculous.
I have no idea what pressure change you are talking about, but if you mean the g-forces at the start you should know that astronauts are humans too and they too need technology to go into space...

 

[Darth_Dude]

We don't have the technology either.

Derailer derailed.

I direct this at you, good sir.

http://www.virgingalactic.com/overview/spaceships/

 

[Mr.PlanetEater]

Have you never noticed this man opens up every kind of commercial "success", from starting with CD's to moving to whatever whim Virgin felt like opening and when they didn't work they were dropped like a hat. I can see the corners they'll cut for maximum profit even before it's been properly perfected. I can just see a big fat abort on the first flight and if not the first then the next in line.

There's a reason why people are trained to go into space. It's not just "Oh I fancy a little trip up skyward, let's go." It's not going to work, it's not going to happen because humans can't just take that sort of pressure change.

We don't have the technology either.

Derailer derailed.

Do you remember what it was like to loose that sense of curiosity and wonder for what might be in the future?

EDIT: Though I do agree with you that the technology needs a lot of time before it is perfected.