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I'd be happy to take out a mortgage if this ride includes going around the Earth at least once. If it's just a go up, be up very briefly then I'd be less enthus

by chx 8y ago

I'd be happy to take out a mortgage if this ride includes going around the Earth at least once. If it's just a go up, be up very briefly then I'd be less enthusiastic. In other words, I am not Besos-rich but hell yes, I am going to space!

endianswap 8y ago
Yeah, I share the same sentiment. 200k+ for a few minutes in zero-g just isn't enough for me, but if it we're a few hours in zero-g as we go around the globe once? That'd be awesome and I'd easily justify that price.
- chx 8y ago
  Yeah if I want to feel freefall for a short time, I can just go for a tandem jump for 0.1% of this price. I even heard of indoor skydiving being fun and supposedly they are opening one here in Vancouver, BC next year.
  - gruez 8y ago
    >I can just go for a tandem jump for 0.1% of this price But neither of those is 0g. Skydiving is sort of 0g at the beginning when you’re accelerating, but that tapers off to 1g as you approach terminal velocity. Same goes for indoor skydiving.
- trevyn 8y ago
  Parabolic flight is about $5k and gets you a few minutes of zero-g in several 30-second chunks.
  - chx 8y ago
    Ooooooo this sounds amazing, thanks for the tip.
- mannykannot 8y ago
  Once around in LEO takes about 90 minutes.
pcurve 8y ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWp4suB60fg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWp4suB60fg skip to 1:18. That's about 55 miles high view, similar to Blue Origin. It's nice, but perhaps not $200k for most people. This is sped up view from ISS, which is 250 miles up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG0fTKAqZ5g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG0fTKAqZ5g Yeah I think a lot of people will gladly pay $200k for the second view... actually probably much more.
- fwdpropaganda 8y ago
  I wonder what the flat-earthers think of the first video. They probably just call it fake news. Regarding the second video, does anyone know why the limit of the atmosphere is visible?
walrus01 8y ago
The delta-v and velocity for a suborbital flight with 5 minutes of weightlessness is very different than orbital... For those who are curious, try simulating it in Kerbal Space Program. On the real earth (not KSP) including atmospheric drag you need around 8000m/s delta-V to achieve low earth orbit.
cma 8y ago
Musk/Shotwell have said you will be able to take inter-city rocket trips for the same price as an economy plane ticket by 2028.
- ballooney 8y ago
  It's 2018 and people still credulously report whatever pr optimised nonsense tech-time tuple Musk has said. _Of course_ you will not be flying New York-London on a rocket for $500 in 2028.
  - cma 8y ago
    I agree.
  - Yizahi 8y ago
    I recently doubted commercial viability of point-to-point Earth flights on BFR (on /r/spacex) and got lots of comments that since Musk promised it then of course it would be viable and as cheap as business class ticket now, maybe twice more. The calculation that followed was, quote "200000$ for fuel price divided by number of passengers and then add 5000$ per ticket for operational expenses, total 8000$ per ticket". I wonder what sane person could believe that, even with the stellar record of SpaceX RnD.
    - cma 8y ago
      Musk said for the price of an economy ticket.
dotancohen 8y ago
A point-to-point flight on the BFR will include a suborbital trajectory that should last half an hour, and take you halfway around the globe. It's target price is ~10,000 USD, but I'm sure (if it happens) then the first few years of flights will be substantially more expensive. I'm as skeptical as anyone that SpaceX could pull it off, but the numbers work out. With half-hour flights, BFR could do 10 routes per day whereas a Boeing 747 could only do one. So even if the ship costs five times as much to build as the Boeing, it will amortize in half the time. With such short flights vehicle flight staffing could be a quarter what current airlines staff, and there is no need of meal service. Note also that Gwynne Shotwell said that she has a personal interest in seeing the BFR fly and she firmly believes that it will. She's not Elon: Gwynne actually has both feet on the ground and runs the _business_ side of SpaceX. The only real hurdles that I see are the high-G launches and reentry, and of course reliability. Current launch vehicles have a ~1:50 launch failure rate. I'll fly on that, but I won't put my kids on it.
- Scarblac 8y ago
  Isn't a rocket much, much louder than an airplane? I'd think noise regulation is a major hurdle.
  - scrumbledober 8y ago
    The launch pads will need to be about 20km from inhavited areas, and 5km apart from each other.
    - dotancohen 8y ago
      So, only 80 square KM needs to be dedicated to each launch pad? 5² * π ≈ 80
mannykannot 8y ago
Anyone taking this ride for the prestige of being an astronaut, rather than intrinsic reasons, is likely to find that, for most people, suborbital flight doesn't count. Tom Wolfe's "The Right Stuff" describes John Glenn's understanding of this perception (though in general, that book is more journalism than history (and the movie is a movie.))
- chx 8y ago
  I want to see the Blue Marble. I am an 43 out of shape sw engineer and I am very realistic about me being an astronaut is as likely as me winning the next Boston Marathon (at this point finishing it would be very surprising).

by chx 8y ago

endianswap 8y ago

Yeah, I share the same sentiment. 200k+ for a few minutes in zero-g just isn't enough for me, but if it we're a few hours in zero-g as we go around the globe once? That'd be awesome and I'd easily justify that price.

chx 8y ago
Yeah if I want to feel freefall for a short time, I can just go for a tandem jump for 0.1% of this price. I even heard of indoor skydiving being fun and supposedly they are opening one here in Vancouver, BC next year.
- gruez 8y ago
  >I can just go for a tandem jump for 0.1% of this price But neither of those is 0g. Skydiving is sort of 0g at the beginning when you’re accelerating, but that tapers off to 1g as you approach terminal velocity. Same goes for indoor skydiving.
trevyn 8y ago
Parabolic flight is about $5k and gets you a few minutes of zero-g in several 30-second chunks.
- chx 8y ago
  Ooooooo this sounds amazing, thanks for the tip.
mannykannot 8y ago
Once around in LEO takes about 90 minutes.

pcurve 8y ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWp4suB60fg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWp4suB60fg skip to 1:18. That's about 55 miles high view, similar to Blue Origin. It's nice, but perhaps not $200k for most people. This is sped up view from ISS, which is 250 miles up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG0fTKAqZ5g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG0fTKAqZ5g Yeah I think a lot of people will gladly pay $200k for the second view... actually probably much more.

fwdpropaganda 8y ago
I wonder what the flat-earthers think of the first video. They probably just call it fake news. Regarding the second video, does anyone know why the limit of the atmosphere is visible?

walrus01 8y ago

The delta-v and velocity for a suborbital flight with 5 minutes of weightlessness is very different than orbital... For those who are curious, try simulating it in Kerbal Space Program. On the real earth (not KSP) including atmospheric drag you need around 8000m/s delta-V to achieve low earth orbit.

cma 8y ago

Musk/Shotwell have said you will be able to take inter-city rocket trips for the same price as an economy plane ticket by 2028.

ballooney 8y ago
It's 2018 and people still credulously report whatever pr optimised nonsense tech-time tuple Musk has said. _Of course_ you will not be flying New York-London on a rocket for $500 in 2028.
- cma 8y ago
  I agree.
- Yizahi 8y ago
  I recently doubted commercial viability of point-to-point Earth flights on BFR (on /r/spacex) and got lots of comments that since Musk promised it then of course it would be viable and as cheap as business class ticket now, maybe twice more. The calculation that followed was, quote "200000$ for fuel price divided by number of passengers and then add 5000$ per ticket for operational expenses, total 8000$ per ticket". I wonder what sane person could believe that, even with the stellar record of SpaceX RnD.
  - cma 8y ago
    Musk said for the price of an economy ticket.

dotancohen 8y ago

A point-to-point flight on the BFR will include a suborbital trajectory that should last half an hour, and take you halfway around the globe. It's target price is ~10,000 USD, but I'm sure (if it happens) then the first few years of flights will be substantially more expensive. I'm as skeptical as anyone that SpaceX could pull it off, but the numbers work out. With half-hour flights, BFR could do 10 routes per day whereas a Boeing 747 could only do one. So even if the ship costs five times as much to build as the Boeing, it will amortize in half the time. With such short flights vehicle flight staffing could be a quarter what current airlines staff, and there is no need of meal service. Note also that Gwynne Shotwell said that she has a personal interest in seeing the BFR fly and she firmly believes that it will. She's not Elon: Gwynne actually has both feet on the ground and runs the _business_ side of SpaceX. The only real hurdles that I see are the high-G launches and reentry, and of course reliability. Current launch vehicles have a ~1:50 launch failure rate. I'll fly on that, but I won't put my kids on it.

Scarblac 8y ago
Isn't a rocket much, much louder than an airplane? I'd think noise regulation is a major hurdle.
- scrumbledober 8y ago
  The launch pads will need to be about 20km from inhavited areas, and 5km apart from each other.
  - dotancohen 8y ago
    So, only 80 square KM needs to be dedicated to each launch pad? 5² * π ≈ 80

mannykannot 8y ago

Anyone taking this ride for the prestige of being an astronaut, rather than intrinsic reasons, is likely to find that, for most people, suborbital flight doesn't count. Tom Wolfe's "The Right Stuff" describes John Glenn's understanding of this perception (though in general, that book is more journalism than history (and the movie is a movie.))

chx 8y ago
I want to see the Blue Marble. I am an 43 out of shape sw engineer and I am very realistic about me being an astronaut is as likely as me winning the next Boston Marathon (at this point finishing it would be very surprising).