8 ms·

Space exploration has always been a phallic endeavor. Now I see that Virgin has taken a very very...yonic style to it's spaceport architecture.

hugh3 16y ago
It doesn't look quite so bad in the second picture where it blends into the background. Architecturally I think this style is called "How to spend as much money as possible on something that is still just a big shed in the desert". Seriously though, was there any real need to build a "spaceport"? Wouldn't White Knight/Spaceship 2.0 equally capable of operating out of any decent-sized airport, if you make sure you arrange priority landing for the spaceship? (Does Spaceship Two land on a runway?)
- locopati 16y ago
  Ups the cachet considerably, no? If you're paying that kind of money for a flight, isn't it more fitting to fly out of a Spaceport then Albuquerque International Airport? Plus, given time, we may see a vicious hive of scum and villainy grow in the surrounding area.
  - hugh3 16y ago
    Indeed, I was just wondering whether there was any practical reason for it. But since "sounds cool" is a more-than-sufficient justification for any Virgin activity at this stage, and since "building a spaceport" was really just "buying an old airport in the middle of the desert and putting up a new sign" I guess I'm not too surprised. Plus, given time, we may see a vicious hive of scum and villainy grow in the surrounding area. Albuquerque?
    - astine 16y ago
      It's much closer to Roswell...
      - skalpelis 16y ago
        He meant Mos Eisley.
        camiller 16y ago
        If you have to explain it...
        astine 16y ago
        I got the Star Wars reference. I used to live in Albuquerue and I was implying that Roswell was more like Mos Eisley than Albuquerque. Though that's just a personal opinion.
        duhprey 16y ago
        Makes sense. Albuquerque's west side is full of a bunch of whiney Luke types "I wish we were cool like the main city" :)
  - m-photonic 16y ago
    Don't you mean a wretched hive of scum and villainy?
- astine 16y ago
  This way they don't need to work around the schedule of a busy major airport, which I'm guessing would probably be unwilling to accommodate them. Pleasure flights and pilot lessons are usually out of small regional airports for similar reasons.
- Avshalom 16y ago
  One of the very important reasons why it got built in New Mexico is that the White Sands test range has restricted airspace to infinity, which is unique out side of like the pentagon. As a result the air/space space right next to it is nicely uncluttered so they don't have to worry about space debris nearly as much.
  - hugh3 16y ago
    That makes a lot of sense. But "infinity"? I'd like to see them enforce that beyond a few light-minutes...
    - DougWebb 16y ago
      I'm sure they're sending cease and desist notices to a number of galaxies all of the time. They're just waiting for the response before escalating.
      - hugh3 16y ago
        At least White Sands is outside the tropics, so we don't need to worry about the sun. Not so sure about the moon.
- zipdog 16y ago
  The passengers don't exactly just turn up, check their bags, and fly. They need to go through a complex medical check-up to ensure that they are fit for spaceflight. If I recall, the tickets include a two-week stay at the spaceport (to ensure everyone is healthy and ready for the process), and given the cost of tickets, it probably needs to be a nice place to stay.
astine 16y ago
I think that the 'phallic' aspect of rocketry has more to do with physics than anyone's actual obsession with penises. Personally, I think when you read phalli into it, I think that says more about you than rocketry. I think that the same can be said about this hanger... I didn't see what you saw until you mentioned it... Now I can't stop seeing it through. Thank you very much.
- Alex3917 16y ago
  All rockets have to look like phallic because of physics. But you could argue that their phallic nature helps shape our attitudes about them.
  - jerf 16y ago
    You can, but anyone with an ounce of engineer or scientist in them ought to just say "Occam's Razor" and consider the case closed. Are rockets shaped the way they are because of physics, or are they shaped the way they are because of physics and because men are obsessed with big penises? Occam's Razor.
    - stcredzero 16y ago
      Not so fast. One could also contend that phalluses are shaped that way because of evolutionary biology responding to underlying physics and geometry. Einstein's formulation of Occam's Razor was, "simple as possible, but no simpler." You haven't established your either-or choice as the only possibilities. (In other words, there is an underlying causation to both!)
Avshalom 16y ago
Of course they did it's New Mexico, home of Vagina O'Keeffe.
pavel_lishin 16y ago
You've taught me a new adjective. Thank you.

hugh3 16y ago

It doesn't look quite so bad in the second picture where it blends into the background. Architecturally I think this style is called "How to spend as much money as possible on something that is still just a big shed in the desert". Seriously though, was there any real need to build a "spaceport"? Wouldn't White Knight/Spaceship 2.0 equally capable of operating out of any decent-sized airport, if you make sure you arrange priority landing for the spaceship? (Does Spaceship Two land on a runway?)

locopati 16y ago
Ups the cachet considerably, no? If you're paying that kind of money for a flight, isn't it more fitting to fly out of a Spaceport then Albuquerque International Airport? Plus, given time, we may see a vicious hive of scum and villainy grow in the surrounding area.
- hugh3 16y ago
  Indeed, I was just wondering whether there was any practical reason for it. But since "sounds cool" is a more-than-sufficient justification for any Virgin activity at this stage, and since "building a spaceport" was really just "buying an old airport in the middle of the desert and putting up a new sign" I guess I'm not too surprised. Plus, given time, we may see a vicious hive of scum and villainy grow in the surrounding area. Albuquerque?
  - astine 16y ago
    It's much closer to Roswell...
    - skalpelis 16y ago
      He meant Mos Eisley.
      - camiller 16y ago
        If you have to explain it...
      - astine 16y ago
        I got the Star Wars reference. I used to live in Albuquerue and I was implying that Roswell was more like Mos Eisley than Albuquerque. Though that's just a personal opinion.
        duhprey 16y ago
        Makes sense. Albuquerque's west side is full of a bunch of whiney Luke types "I wish we were cool like the main city" :)
- m-photonic 16y ago
  Don't you mean a wretched hive of scum and villainy?
astine 16y ago
This way they don't need to work around the schedule of a busy major airport, which I'm guessing would probably be unwilling to accommodate them. Pleasure flights and pilot lessons are usually out of small regional airports for similar reasons.
Avshalom 16y ago
One of the very important reasons why it got built in New Mexico is that the White Sands test range has restricted airspace to infinity, which is unique out side of like the pentagon. As a result the air/space space right next to it is nicely uncluttered so they don't have to worry about space debris nearly as much.
- hugh3 16y ago
  That makes a lot of sense. But "infinity"? I'd like to see them enforce that beyond a few light-minutes...
  - DougWebb 16y ago
    I'm sure they're sending cease and desist notices to a number of galaxies all of the time. They're just waiting for the response before escalating.
    - hugh3 16y ago
      At least White Sands is outside the tropics, so we don't need to worry about the sun. Not so sure about the moon.
zipdog 16y ago
The passengers don't exactly just turn up, check their bags, and fly. They need to go through a complex medical check-up to ensure that they are fit for spaceflight. If I recall, the tickets include a two-week stay at the spaceport (to ensure everyone is healthy and ready for the process), and given the cost of tickets, it probably needs to be a nice place to stay.

astine 16y ago

I think that the 'phallic' aspect of rocketry has more to do with physics than anyone's actual obsession with penises. Personally, I think when you read phalli into it, I think that says more about you than rocketry. I think that the same can be said about this hanger... I didn't see what you saw until you mentioned it... Now I can't stop seeing it through. Thank you very much.

Alex3917 16y ago
All rockets have to look like phallic because of physics. But you could argue that their phallic nature helps shape our attitudes about them.
- jerf 16y ago
  You can, but anyone with an ounce of engineer or scientist in them ought to just say "Occam's Razor" and consider the case closed. Are rockets shaped the way they are because of physics, or are they shaped the way they are because of physics and because men are obsessed with big penises? Occam's Razor.
  - stcredzero 16y ago
    Not so fast. One could also contend that phalluses are shaped that way because of evolutionary biology responding to underlying physics and geometry. Einstein's formulation of Occam's Razor was, "simple as possible, but no simpler." You haven't established your either-or choice as the only possibilities. (In other words, there is an underlying causation to both!)

Avshalom 16y ago

Of course they did it's New Mexico, home of Vagina O'Keeffe.

pavel_lishin 16y ago

You've taught me a new adjective. Thank you.