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Comments in this thread complaining that the rich get to do whatever they want are forgetting that the wright brothers (and others) enabled flight for all of us

by arriu 5y ago

Comments in this thread complaining that the rich get to do whatever they want are forgetting that the wright brothers (and others) enabled flight for all of us even though most people during that time could only dream about it. It might not happen for you and I, but let's think about the bigger picture.

FredFS456 5y ago
Wright brothers were certainly not dirt poor, but they weren't barons either. They were only able to build their planes because of their experience building other mechanical things.
- arriu 5y ago
  Let me clarify, my point is neither about their wealth or expertise. I'm simply pointing out that this could be a similar point in time for future commercial travel; focusing on their wealth is beside the point. Or it could fizzle out...
  - rtkwe 5y ago
    IDK Virgin Galactic seemed to be virtually dead for a decade or so until there was a chance to one up Bezos I wouldn't be surprised to see these continue to barely operate after this big push.
    - mulmen 5y ago
      So it is your belief that Virgin Galactic did nothing for a decade and then made a working spacecraft in the course of a few months but you don’t find this amazing?
      - rtkwe 5y ago
        They didn't, I know they weren't actually doing nothing that whole time but it's been almost 3 years since SpaceShipTwo's first 'space'flight and there was very little happening. SS2 first flew way back in 2010, it's all just moving very slowly until there's a chance for a PR opportunity and I'm not so convinced it won't immediately go back to doing 1-2 test flights a year for a while again after this.
        mulmen 5y ago
        I guess I don’t get your point. Is it that Branson should be moving faster? Taking more risks? Even after a test pilot was killed? Why should they go faster? Because SpaceX does? Why should everyone copy SpaceX? Should they do more frequent PR and show incremental developments/achievements? How is that any less of a PR stunt than shooting the CEO into space? Why are we impressed by SpaceX PR (they don’t have to invest so much in coverage) but not by anything else?
AmazonPacker 5y ago
> enabled flight for all of us even though most people during that time could only dream about it My dream in life is to be able to urinate when I need to. If I ever achieve that dream, my next dream is that Bezos's joy ride to the lower atmosphere might trickle down and enable joy rides to the lower atmosphere for all.
- bombela 5y ago
  Here; let me fullfil your dream with a single word: diapers.
afavour 5y ago
I want to be excited but I keep coming back to confusion over what the actual purpose of this will be. Flight has very clear benefits: getting you from A to B way faster than was ever possible before. With space flight there is no B to go to. You go up, you come down. If these companies were making breakthroughs in making space long term habitable I’d be excited. But I’m yet to see that.
- alfalfasprout 5y ago
  Actually, point to point travel on earth is something virgin galactic is targeting. If you can go to the edge of space you can travel at ludicrous speeds.
- nickik 5y ago
  > With space flight there is no B to go to. That not the case. Suborbital space flight of the model BO or Virgin do is, but that simply not generally true.
- nimithryn 5y ago
  I see these launches as early stepping stones to really profitable space industries. Asteroid mining, space manufacturing (like Varda: https://varda.com/ https://varda.com/), space hotels. You have to walk before you can run.
Meandering 5y ago
Firstly, I'm against corporate welfare and I don't care how people spend their money. But, damn... the people who ushered powered flight into the realm of possibility? That is a ridiculous analogy. SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic are incorporating scientific advancements and modern engineering into an industry that has been making orbital flights for over 50 years. We are not going from horses to cars... We are going from a 1920 Cadillac to a 2021 Toyota. Maybe it's a childhood dream and they have lofty goals to guide humanity into space... or it's a lucrative long-term investment... or a little of both. But, the technology has been there, we've had an active presence in space, and the modern space race will not provide us a huge leap in technology like we saw from the cold war. [1] Space tourism isn't going to move society forward. The "big picture" benefit of space tourism is reducing the cost of payloads which will continue to drop for NASA and telecommunication demand anyway. Space tourism will not substantially improve the quality of life for humanity, it will not provide breakthrough technology (outside of things like human life support systems), and it will not significantly enrich our collective culture. The median quality of life will not benefit from space activities until they bring us some cheap platinum and other precious materials. Sorry to be a Debbie Downer... I just hate the romanization of this whole thing. [1] https://d2pn8kiwq2w21t.cloudfront.net/original_images/infographicsuploadsinfographicsfull11358.jpg https://d2pn8kiwq2w21t.cloudfront.net/original_images/infogr...

by arriu 5y ago

FredFS456 5y ago

Wright brothers were certainly not dirt poor, but they weren't barons either. They were only able to build their planes because of their experience building other mechanical things.

arriu 5y ago
Let me clarify, my point is neither about their wealth or expertise. I'm simply pointing out that this could be a similar point in time for future commercial travel; focusing on their wealth is beside the point. Or it could fizzle out...
- rtkwe 5y ago
  IDK Virgin Galactic seemed to be virtually dead for a decade or so until there was a chance to one up Bezos I wouldn't be surprised to see these continue to barely operate after this big push.
  - mulmen 5y ago
    So it is your belief that Virgin Galactic did nothing for a decade and then made a working spacecraft in the course of a few months but you don’t find this amazing?
    - rtkwe 5y ago
      They didn't, I know they weren't actually doing nothing that whole time but it's been almost 3 years since SpaceShipTwo's first 'space'flight and there was very little happening. SS2 first flew way back in 2010, it's all just moving very slowly until there's a chance for a PR opportunity and I'm not so convinced it won't immediately go back to doing 1-2 test flights a year for a while again after this.
      - mulmen 5y ago
        I guess I don’t get your point. Is it that Branson should be moving faster? Taking more risks? Even after a test pilot was killed? Why should they go faster? Because SpaceX does? Why should everyone copy SpaceX? Should they do more frequent PR and show incremental developments/achievements? How is that any less of a PR stunt than shooting the CEO into space? Why are we impressed by SpaceX PR (they don’t have to invest so much in coverage) but not by anything else?

AmazonPacker 5y ago

> enabled flight for all of us even though most people during that time could only dream about it My dream in life is to be able to urinate when I need to. If I ever achieve that dream, my next dream is that Bezos's joy ride to the lower atmosphere might trickle down and enable joy rides to the lower atmosphere for all.

bombela 5y ago
Here; let me fullfil your dream with a single word: diapers.

afavour 5y ago

I want to be excited but I keep coming back to confusion over what the actual purpose of this will be. Flight has very clear benefits: getting you from A to B way faster than was ever possible before. With space flight there is no B to go to. You go up, you come down. If these companies were making breakthroughs in making space long term habitable I’d be excited. But I’m yet to see that.

alfalfasprout 5y ago
Actually, point to point travel on earth is something virgin galactic is targeting. If you can go to the edge of space you can travel at ludicrous speeds.
nickik 5y ago
> With space flight there is no B to go to. That not the case. Suborbital space flight of the model BO or Virgin do is, but that simply not generally true.
nimithryn 5y ago
I see these launches as early stepping stones to really profitable space industries. Asteroid mining, space manufacturing (like Varda: https://varda.com/ https://varda.com/), space hotels. You have to walk before you can run.

Meandering 5y ago

Firstly, I'm against corporate welfare and I don't care how people spend their money. But, damn... the people who ushered powered flight into the realm of possibility? That is a ridiculous analogy. SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic are incorporating scientific advancements and modern engineering into an industry that has been making orbital flights for over 50 years. We are not going from horses to cars... We are going from a 1920 Cadillac to a 2021 Toyota. Maybe it's a childhood dream and they have lofty goals to guide humanity into space... or it's a lucrative long-term investment... or a little of both. But, the technology has been there, we've had an active presence in space, and the modern space race will not provide us a huge leap in technology like we saw from the cold war. [1] Space tourism isn't going to move society forward. The "big picture" benefit of space tourism is reducing the cost of payloads which will continue to drop for NASA and telecommunication demand anyway. Space tourism will not substantially improve the quality of life for humanity, it will not provide breakthrough technology (outside of things like human life support systems), and it will not significantly enrich our collective culture. The median quality of life will not benefit from space activities until they bring us some cheap platinum and other precious materials. Sorry to be a Debbie Downer... I just hate the romanization of this whole thing. [1] https://d2pn8kiwq2w21t.cloudfront.net/original_images/infographicsuploadsinfographicsfull11358.jpg https://d2pn8kiwq2w21t.cloudfront.net/original_images/infogr...