OT: Virgin Galactic

[charliedid]

Originally Posted by gemship

Are you alright or what? Do you really think any of us actually talk to these billionaires? I know they don't give me the time of day and I bet they're too important to get on this forum and read what we post. We all may live on the same planet and that's pretty much about it. All I did was make a post to this thread that someone else started. It was an honest post and I didn't tell anybody how to spend their money. I may sound negative in saying this but I guess I kinda see this achievement to right up there with who's got the biggest battleship, cigarette boat or fancy bike. I don't really see it making the quality of life better on earth. People on this forum talk about a lot of "green" related stuff that's supposed lesson our carbon footprint well I guess this is the opposite to that.

Seriously I personally really don't care, I just see some irony to it. I will say I rode my bicycle for the first time in a while on a public road and it was annoying, no shoulder to the road and even when people slow to a crawl in cars behind me it sucked sharing the road with cars. It's no surprise to me that cyclist are a danger on roads to everyone including themselves, it wasn't enjoyable, I felt kinda stupid out there just waiting to get runned down and this was a narrow set of roads with mostly 25/30 mph speed limits. I really don't know how you guys do it.

Are you okay, maybe take a step back and look at the choices you make and adjust accordingly? No equivalency here, I ride road all the time and don't have any fears or trouble with humans piloting automobiles.

I'm not afraid to ride my bike but I'd never get on a rocket ship.

[gemship]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Geez, these 2 guys put their own money into these private projects, one was successful and the other probably will be too and the 'answer' is let's fling these 2 along with any other billionaires off into space..

I don't care if it was a 'publicity stunt', it's still amazing..along with other 'games' other very wealthy people 'play', like F1 or unlimited air racing or owning a fleet of war birds or an America's Cup contender...



Like this thread..gad zooks..
https://forums.thepaceline.net/showt...=270696&page=8

Yeah I get it, I don't care either. I do think it's kinda amazing. Actually I thought it was more amazing until I read some of the more intellectual comments in this thread regarding where Nasa states something like 50 nautical miles straight up from sea level as being space and that's as far as these too love birds will get give or take a few more miles. Then the peanut gallery further added on that this has been accomplished by NASA like over sixty years ago. I dunno just what's been stated in previous comments and I'll believe it as there are smarter people than myself here, I think it's still amazing that some filthy rich guys are trying to do it themselves. I just think it's kinda gross in a way that it adversely contributes to global warming and I just wish some would come up with a way to to reverse it's affects, you know something way more amazing from a science fiction novel kinda concept only for real.

Just remember Paceline forum= Peanut gallery...so it's OK to disagree

[redir]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

I don't have time to go into the wage analyses of CEO versus worker pay over the last 3 decades and it would cause this thread to be shut down so I won't.



In short, while they pay less and less of the fair share their boats keep getting bigger while we who pay more into the fair share, our dwellings keep getting smaller.

[Mr. Pink]

Originally Posted by guyintense

But this technology is from the 50s. Remember the X-plane project? The X-15 in particular.

Right. That sickening TV show that CNN put on yesterday was nuts, trying to make this into another [echo] Step Into The Future [echo] thing, with a smiley happy team of joy riders being hailed as innovators or something, when, I was thinking, didn't we do this fifty years ago, and they decided that rockets were a better idea?

[gemship]

Originally Posted by charliedid

[/B]

Are you okay, maybe take a step back and look at the choices you make and adjust accordingly? No equivalency here, I ride road all the time and don't have any fears or trouble with humans piloting automobiles.

I'm not afraid to ride my bike but I'd never get on a rocket ship.

Yeah actually I put this forum and my time here in perspective. I used to get on here for bike porn I'm still interested in new tech but more so in off topic talk. I hear you on getting aboard a rocket ship as there is more of a chance of dying but I have to say riding a bicycle on the street sucks and creates paranoia for me. I don't like the noise from the cars and I feel like I don't stand a chance if they run me down from behind. Now you have to understand this is subjective the roads you ride and the roads I ride maybe different. I will say that when I ride a motorcycle on these same roads I'm usually the one coming up from behind and I like it that way, it's got something to do with 150ish hp to the rear wheel I think. However I don't get a workout doing that. I dunno I don't completely fit in around here anyway I do know that.

[charliedid]

Originally Posted by gemship

Yeah actually I put this forum and my time here in perspective. I used to get on here for bike porn I'm still interested in new tech but more so in off topic talk. I hear you on getting aboard a rocket ship as there is more of a chance of dying but I have to say riding a bicycle on the street sucks and creates paranoia for me. I don't like the noise from the cars and I feel like I don't stand a chance if they run me down from behind. Now you have to understand this is subjective the roads you ride and the roads I ride maybe different. I will say that when I ride a motorcycle on these same roads I'm usually the one coming up from behind and I like it that way, it's got something to do with 150ish hp to the rear wheel I think. However I don't get a workout doing that. I dunno I don't completely fit in around here anyway I do know that.

I hear,

My real point is that if you intellectualize bike riding too much you run the risk of taking the joy completely out of the picture.

Choosing where you live and ride is in your hands.

[marciero]

A little perspective. Red is Earth, blue is Sir Richard and crew, green is space station. This is using 4000 miles as Earth radius.

[marciero]

Defining "space" in terms of gravity is problematic because the force decreases continuously- no abrupt cutoff. Hence arbitrary definitions.
As stated in the article, no significant difference in gravity at 50 miles.
Again using 4000 miles as earth radius

50% gravity at about 1600 miles from earth surface.
10% at about 8600 miles

One is never outside the influence of gravity due to any heavenly body, so "zero gravity" does not exist. But you could think of zero gravity as where the gravitational effects of various heavenly bodies cancel each other out. For example, earth and moon would pull equally if you were about 215 thousand miles between earth and moon, assuming moon is about 240,000 miles and radius about 1000 miles.

So even at the space station (altitude of 254 miles) the gravity is still about 88% of earth. It just feels like zero gravity because both the space station and occupants are orbiting

[William]

Originally Posted by Mr. Pink

The Wright's weren't wealthy. They were bicycle mechanics.

I'd be willing to bet he was referring to the first airlines as we know them today...which would be absolutely true.

Even outside of that flight is and was the hobby of means. The Wright's may have been the first, but from there it quickly became something that one needed a steady supply of cash to be able to buy, maintain, and constantly fuel to use. Certainly not the hobby of the average Jane/John Doe, never was and never will be. IMHO of course.






W.

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by BobbyJones

Yup. Y’all need to read some Ayn Rand or something.

Steinbeck would be preferable.

Burroughs would be more fun.

And Celine would be more appropriate.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mr. Pink]

And, as always, Karl Marx.

[unterhausen]

Originally Posted by marciero

So even at the space station (altitude of 254 miles) the gravity is still about 88% of earth. It just feels like zero gravity because both the space station and occupants are orbiting

Things that are in orbit are constantly falling towards earth, it's just that they are going so fast, they miss.

[professerr]

Originally Posted by William

AND DANG THOSE F1 BILLIONAIRE/MILLIONARE PEOPLE TOO!!! AND ALL THE ONES WHO SPONSOR THE TOUR DE FRANCE...AND, AND, AND, TREK AND SPECIALIZED!!! AND LET'S NOT FORGET THOSE BILLIONAIRE TECH PEOPLE!!! DANG THEM ALL!!!









W.

Bet there were plenty of serfs that defended Henry VIII too and never thought to question the divine right of kings. Glad we've made progress, but think we could do better.

[verticaldoug]

Virgin Galactic files to sell $500mm in equity.

Thanks suckers

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by unterhausen

Things that are in orbit are constantly falling towards earth, it's just that they are going so fast, they miss.

Well, they just fall more slowly. Unless energy is added, orbiting objects will eventually fall. The nearer the orbit, the greater the drag they experience, and the sooner they will fall.