OT: Price to fly into space with Virgin

[sg8357]

Originally Posted by bthornt

See the link below, only $450,000!

https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sc...00-2021-08-05/

That is for the poors, a Soyuz ride with a stay at the ISS is $21 million.
Note that the ISS orbits do not count on your Skymiles.
According to Delta, Skymiles stop at the Karman line.

[bigbill]

Originally Posted by reuben

Yes, technology eventually trickles down to something the common man can afford. Having said that, and trying not to be snide, I don't think that the guy living under the bridge is ever going to able to afford a trip like that. Nor will the people living under bridges 100 years from now.

The guy under the bridge isn't taking a vacation in Hawaii or Yellowstone as well, so I don't understand your point. Is it the responsibility of billionaires to solve homelessness and/or mental illness?

[Mr. Pink]

Originally Posted by bigbill

I know this is headed for class warfare, but I think the billionaire space club is a good thing for society. All technology is expensive when it begins, but competition brings prices down. This isn't about the middle-class folks getting a ride to space, this is about bringing that technology to earth. I'm using internet that I get via Starlink, based on satellites launched into space SpaceX.

Not necessarily. Re: The Concord.

[bicycletricycle]

Originally Posted by Mr. Pink

Not necessarily. Re: The Concord.

True, supersonic travel was an expensive dead end. Like many expensive boondoggles it was a state enterprise. It even had a little cold war by proxy motivation built into the three major supersonic projects (Russia, US, Brits/France).

The reasons why super sonic travel didn't take off are complex. Sonic boom legislation and increased fuel efficiency from high bypass engines being the two major factors.. The europeans started earlier and saw the writing on the wall but suffered from sunk cost fallacy so they continued to "market" (manufacturing the minimum amount possibel and selling them to state backed airlines). Russians did a bad job at copying the concord and ended up transporting mail in theirs for a while, crashed one at the Paris airshow. Americans put less government money behind theirs and Boeing realized it was a loser and bailed out after making a full size wooden model.

As far as these rockets go, they get plenty of Gov't money so they aren't exactly free market enterprises. They do have some elements of competition though so if demand holds up the costs will come down.

$450k looks like a good deal to me.

[retropean]

This is just the beginning. I am sure it will get cheaper and attainable for many more. Hopefully I will be able to go in retirement (20 years)!

[reuben]

Originally Posted by bigbill

The guy under the bridge isn't taking a vacation in Hawaii or Yellowstone as well, so I don't understand your point. Is it the responsibility of billionaires to solve homelessness and/or mental illness?

No, my point is that there's limit to the trickle down effect, and I don't see rides into space becoming common for poor/homeless people for a very long time. Probably never.

[Clean39T]

This is fine.

[bicycletricycle]

Perhaps, but they have smart phones.

Smart phones basically require these kinds of crazy huge money projects for their core technologies.

So I would say the trickle down is real.

Originally Posted by reuben

No, my point is that there's limit to the trickle down effect, and I don't see rides into space becoming common for poor/homeless people for a very long time. Probably never.

[bicycletricycle]

I don't get it. I am not trying to be an *** here, I really don't understand your comments relation to the picture.

Originally Posted by Clean39T

This is fine.

[redir]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

It already has:

https://www.space.com/30073-virgin-g...lot-error.html

That didn't have passengers though did it?

[reuben]

Originally Posted by bicycletricycle

Perhaps, but they have smart phones.

Smart phones basically require these kinds of crazy huge money projects for their core technologies.

So I would say the trickle down is real.

How long do you think it will be before a $45,000 USD space trip comes down to the price of a $1,000 smartphone?

[bigbill]

Originally Posted by reuben

How long do you think it will be before a $45,000 USD space trip comes down to the price of a $1,000 smartphone?

I paid $3200 for a 50" TV in 2004. The $350 one I'm watching now (that I bought in 2017) is much nicer. There are hard limits on the costs such as the size of the vehicle, gravity, and the availability of trips. Cars used to be a novelty for the wealthy. Henry Ford changed that with assembly lines and simplified designs, but the ground was broken by the few with money.

[rrudoff]

It will not get enormously cheaper. Putting a mass into orbit requires a certain amount of velocity for the rocket and a large amount of energy and relies upon using a fuel and oxidizer in vey large quantities. You can miniaturize a Satellite, but not a human. It will always be hugely wasteful and selfish from a resources and global warming perspective to do this a tourist. I have zero issues with space flight for scientific and other purposes that serve the public as a whole but for a joy ride...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bicycletricycle]

Originally Posted by reuben

How long do you think it will be before a $45,000 USD space trip comes down to the price of a $1,000 smartphone?

That isn't what I meant.

I'll give an example.

We spent billions on the GPS system for submarine navigation and ICBM aiming. That doesn't mean we all got submarines and missiles, we did all benefit though.

Same can be said for a lot of these big projects, both gov't and private.

[SlowPokePete]

Originally Posted by bicycletricycle

I don't get it. I am not trying to be an *** here, I really don't understand your comments relation to the picture.

I'm guessing that while the rich folks chase their dreams of doing useless things the Earth continues on a path of destruction, perhaps avoidable/stoppable/reversable if they were willing to throw a fraction of their excess money toward a common good.

They should sell one way tickets.

SPP