Spaceship debut causes chills

SPACESHIP DEBUT CAUSES CHILLS

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The Making of Spaceship Two - Slideshow

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$200,000 for a 3 day trip into low orbit space.

I love the idea, love the project and love the fact that people are trying to find their own way into space instead of sitting around waiting for NASA.

However, with a hefty price tag as it is .. It looks like it's going to be more of a rich mans hobby than an alternative means of space voyage.

reply to post by Detailed Perfection

It`s a three day trip, not three days in orbit. VSS Enterprise isn`t capable of reaching orbit. It`s carried up to 50,000 feet under the White Knight carrier aircraft, where it is released, and climbs to 65 miles. You will get about 5 minutes of weightlessness before atmospheric drag brings it back down.

Originally posted by Detailed Perfection
$200,000 for a 3 day trip into low orbit space.

I love the idea, love the project and love the fact that people are trying to find their own way into space instead of sitting around waiting for NASA.

However, with a hefty price tag as it is .. It looks like it's going to be more of a rich mans hobby than an alternative means of space voyage.

agreed~! however, I'll be deeply intrested in see what kind of videos/pictures come out of it, if anyone has a presence of mind to carry such an item ..

I can see the headlines now.. Virgin does Space. Virgin and Space going steady. NASA gets dumped by Space. Virgin moves in on NASA's main squeeze.

I wonder if the virgin astronauts will see UFO's and the implications when the passengers get back to earth with those stories!

reply to post by Detailed Perfection


IT just makes you wonder how NASA continually wastes BILLION of dollars on there program, when someone can do it for millions.

Yehhh yeh I know all the cool things they invented etc......... the fact is if it could be done for millions, why does it still cost NASA Billions.

Because I really believe there is a black op running that they haven't told us about, maybe even maned missions to farther places?????

It worries me that these ventures may get or be getting up the nose of powerful people, who dislike the idea of regular people, heading into a realm, which so far has been dominated by TPTB.

I worry these private ventures, cold leave a door open, for those who want to keep this realm for them alone, to sabotage and fiddle with these missions, to cause disaster, and thereby try and stop future ventures from leaving the ground.

It's a magnificent achievement by Branson, leading the World towards a place so far only visited by an Elite, barring the odd paying tourist who can only probably afford the trips through links to the Conspirators we fight.

Now the exploration of the Universe is opening up for all of us it seems, everything has a beginning, from here the only way is further out, leading to dreams come true, removing our reliance on different Space agencies for what we are led to believe is really up there.

My fear is, will TPTB really allow people to bring back the things they see? to tell us of strangeness? this is the time in our history, when we have a real chance of truth, a door opening for us to see for ourselves what is there, but will they let them share? or will they strive to make it look unsafe and unworkable?

Time will tell, and well done Richard Branson, a place in the Universal history books is all but guaranteed.

Originally posted by svpwizard
reply to post by Detailed Perfection

 

IT just makes you wonder how NASA continually wastes BILLION of dollars on there program, when someone can do it for millions.

Yehhh yeh I know all the cool things they invented etc......... the fact is if it could be done for millions, why does it still cost NASA Billions...

Spaceship Two can't do what NASA does -- and that is reach orbit. As zaphod58 said above, this ship is only a sub-orbital craft. Spaceship Two is only capable of a ballistic trajectory that skims sub-orbital heights, and its parabolic-path will give passengers 5 minutes of weightlessness (a path similar to the path taken by the zero-g simulating airplane, although this flies higher and has a longer moment of weightlessness).

To reach orbit (i.e., orbital speeds and/or orbital heights) would take a better spacecraft -- and more money.

NASA was doing flights with altitudes similar to Spaceship Two's back in the 1960s with the X-15 -- and it wasn't costing them billions.

That's not to say that someday Branson and Rutan won't be able to create a Spacecraft that can reach orbital speeds and/or altitudes, but "Spaceship Two" cannot do it.


[edit on 12/8/2009 by Soylent Green Is People]

reply to post by Soylent Green Is People


Didn't NASA start off in a similar way? and other countries who went into Space? they have to start somewhere, baby steps leading to bigger and bigger steps, it wouldn't be the right thing to do, to just jump into a stable earth orbit, right now it's meant to be a quick visit, the logical process would be, to think long term and think of maybe Space Hotels.

People will get bored with small trips, and will want more and more, I believe that the likes of Virgin already have this in mind.

To stay with what they have planned now, will just turn into a fair ground ride.

I'm just glad that we're finally seeing some privatization in the space race. This is definitely the future, and the way things will finally get done on this front (i.e. exploring the Universe). Sure, it's a very small step (and not orbital flight) but have to start somewhere...

EDIT: Interesting note, it seems ANYONE, not just press, can sign up for their press info, and get all of the press releases, etc., so just throwing it out there.

[edit on 14-12-2009 by Gazrok]

Originally posted by Komodo

Originally posted by Detailed Perfection
$200,000 for a 3 day trip into low orbit space.

I love the idea, love the project and love the fact that people are trying to find their own way into space instead of sitting around waiting for NASA.

However, with a hefty price tag as it is .. It looks like it's going to be more of a rich mans hobby than an alternative means of space voyage.

agreed~! however, I'll be deeply intrested in see what kind of videos/pictures come out of it, if anyone has a presence of mind to carry such an item ..

mayhaps it looks expensive now but put it into perspective.

the first commercial airline flight was a 23 minute flight in Florida. The maximum altitude was 15 feet and it cost $400.00 in 1914 which equates to roughly $8333.00 in 2009 dollars or $362.00/minute.

Branson's first commercial flight into space only costs $46.30/minute


[edit on 14-12-2009 by Tamale_214]

Originally posted by JohnPhoenix
I can see the headlines now.. Virgin does Space. Virgin and Space going steady. NASA gets dumped by Space. Virgin moves in on NASA's main squeeze.

I wonder if the virgin astronauts will see UFO's and the implications when the passengers get back to earth with those stories!

Virgin joins 65 mile high club.

any one else see the couple of programmes on the manafacture of this, and the testing on the discovery channel?

All i can say is dont even think about paying for this fellow ats'ers. this is increadible unstable.

they may have given it a fancy paint job. but that dont hide the fact that you riding in a plastic shell with a rocket attached to it...there are absolutly no safety features of this thing. no eject. no parachutes. its incredibly dangerous.

during the test flights there were a myriad of problems including bits falling off, the navigation system completly failing while 10 thousand feet in the air. considering the pilot cant fly by looking out the windows of this thing. that aint good.

This thing is a disaster waiting to happen mark my words!!

this is not what you expect, for 2009. this thing is simple.

[edit on 14-12-2009 by MR BOB]

if i had the money, i would go up in a heartbeat, but only once. after that i would want to do a full orbit trip up where the ISS is. the money might be a down payment on the next gen. passenger flights to actual space. GO BRANSON!

reply to post by MR BOB


wow...ok...logic stop for me, with that bit of info. didn't know it would be that unsafe with no backup bailout plan. methinks i might wait awhile.

I'll wait for a 'true' anti-gravity technology!

Mr. Bob offers a sobering caution....

Most space programs experienced many disasters in getting there...and private ones aren't likely to be that different...

I certainly wouldn't want to be in the first few flights of this thing, hehe....even if I could afford it (which I can't anyhow)....

On a lighter note, FlightGlobal has it on good authority the first musical group to perform inspace will be Spandau Ballet.