Virgin to offer 'space' tourism

[Chip NoVaMac]

In zero G I imagine spandex will be the attire....

With the number of different companies getting into the game here, its going to be the consumer who wins in the end. My only concern would be to go with the company that has the best equipment/safety record.

The first time someone dies in reentry its going to really hurt the whole industry.

D

i don't know. I would be willing to put my life on the line this one in a lifetime experience. We are not talking of "Black Sky" trips between LA and NYC in under an hour. Crammed with 200+ passengers. I am sure that during the early years of passenger flight, there were deaths. Yet, they died doing something that few could. And that is what counts.

In the end it will be all about the "spin".

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

Agreed, especially since SpaceShipOne went out of control on the descent in its test flight. The pilot brought it back but it doesn't bode well.

But the same could be said about the automatic controls available to aircraft in general. How many died in the early days for general aviation?

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

Exploration has always been dangerous. I just wonder with our 24/7 news coverage, if any loss of life will be tolerated. The current way that coverage is done concerns me. It has now been more than a year since the shuttle was grounded and no return in sight.

You have a strong point, along with the proposed rules for resumption of Space Shuttle flights.

 

[mvc]

Now this looks good

I said we'd be going into orbit to space hotels by 2030 before, well, I may have been a tad conservative. If this goes ahead it will be more like 2010?

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

Maybe after the '72 landing NASA should have gone towards a public partnership. look where we have gone in a few short years,