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Except what Virgin is doing isn't "spaceships" or "space tourism". It's just a high flying plane. Its max altitude is still within the outer limits of the ear

by ck2 12y ago

Except what Virgin is doing isn't "spaceships" or "space tourism". It's just a high flying plane. Its max altitude is still within the outer limits of the earth's atmosphere for pete's sake. It can only hit 100km (62 miles): International law defines the lower boundary of space as the lowest perigee attainable by an orbiting space vehicle ... Due to atmospheric drag, the lowest altitude at which an object in a circular orbit can complete at least one full revolution without propulsion is approximately 150 km

tiddlydum 12y ago
True, but they're one of a few investigating new ways of launching rockets without having to go through the thick lower atmosphere and from stationary. Everything they're learning could be used to build a launch system that drops rockets from very high in the atmosphere -- imagine how much more efficient they'll be.
melling 12y ago
Sure it is. It's a company selling a trip to "space". If they succeed they can reinvest the revenue into R&D to build better "spaceships", and so on. Additionally, other people will see a profitable company and try to enter the market. There's a whole snowball effect. Tesla is doing the same thing with the electric car. By the way, outer space does begin at 100 kilometers. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kármán_line http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kármán_line
- ck2 12y ago
  What part of "atmosphere up to 150km" makes 100km space? At 100km it is dark and cold but there is atmosphere. That's not "space" in my book.
  - msl 12y ago
    The International Space Station, orbiting at around 420km is dragged down by atmosphere[1], so I'm going to call that 150km limit an arbitrary one. Also, the Wikipedia article on the subject[2] doesn't appear to consider it worthy of even mentioning. You are, of course, entitled to define "space" however you want in your own book, but be adviced that a lot of people will disagree with your definition. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Glider_mode https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Glider_mode [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Earth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Earth
  - melling 12y ago
    Unfortunately, you and I don't actually decide. We can simply reference what's already accepted.
TeMPOraL 12y ago
I always thought the boundary of space was placed at 100km. From the Wiki[0], The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale has established the Kármán line at an altitude of 100 km (62 mi) as a working definition for the boundary between aeronautics and astronautics. This is used because at an altitude of about 100 km (62 mi), as Theodore von Kármán calculated, a vehicle would have to travel faster than orbital velocity in order to derive sufficient aerodynamic lift from the atmosphere to support itself. [0] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_space#Boundary http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_space#Boundary

by ck2 12y ago

tiddlydum 12y ago

True, but they're one of a few investigating new ways of launching rockets without having to go through the thick lower atmosphere and from stationary. Everything they're learning could be used to build a launch system that drops rockets from very high in the atmosphere -- imagine how much more efficient they'll be.

melling 12y ago

Sure it is. It's a company selling a trip to "space". If they succeed they can reinvest the revenue into R&D to build better "spaceships", and so on. Additionally, other people will see a profitable company and try to enter the market. There's a whole snowball effect. Tesla is doing the same thing with the electric car. By the way, outer space does begin at 100 kilometers. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kármán_line http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kármán_line

ck2 12y ago
What part of "atmosphere up to 150km" makes 100km space? At 100km it is dark and cold but there is atmosphere. That's not "space" in my book.
- msl 12y ago
  The International Space Station, orbiting at around 420km is dragged down by atmosphere[1], so I'm going to call that 150km limit an arbitrary one. Also, the Wikipedia article on the subject[2] doesn't appear to consider it worthy of even mentioning. You are, of course, entitled to define "space" however you want in your own book, but be adviced that a lot of people will disagree with your definition. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Glider_mode https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Glider_mode [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Earth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Earth
- melling 12y ago
  Unfortunately, you and I don't actually decide. We can simply reference what's already accepted.

TeMPOraL 12y ago

I always thought the boundary of space was placed at 100km. From the Wiki[0], The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale has established the Kármán line at an altitude of 100 km (62 mi) as a working definition for the boundary between aeronautics and astronautics. This is used because at an altitude of about 100 km (62 mi), as Theodore von Kármán calculated, a vehicle would have to travel faster than orbital velocity in order to derive sufficient aerodynamic lift from the atmosphere to support itself. [0] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_space#Boundary http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_space#Boundary