Community Chat

[Kachina624]

Virgin Galactic and Spaceport New Mexico sent the first three paying customers to the edge of space today and returned them safely.  Seat aboard the spacecraft are currently $450,000 a pop.  Today's passengers were scientists from Italy.

They have 500 people on a waiting list who've paid their money so you'd better hurry.

[sunshine45]

hard pass from me, even if it was FREE and i was pushed to the front of the line.

[Goldengate8361]

I do know a few people I'd like to send out to space. 

[Nataliesgramma]

I am afraid something similar to that sub thing taking people to see the Titanic wreck will happen with Space trips like this

[ValuSkr]

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@Nataliesgramma wrote:

I am afraid something similar to that sub thing taking people to see the Titanic wreck will happen with Space trips like this

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Yes, and taxpayers will fund the rescue / recovery of these billionaires.

[moonandthestars]

@Nataliesgramma I was going to say that I'd love to go on that space flight (if I had a lot of money to burn or if I was gifted a pass to be on it). But now that you mention and am thinking of the terrible titanic sub tragedy, I'll have to decide on this with more caution.  

[MorningLover]

CNBC

Space tourism company Virgin Galactic, founded by Sir Richard Branson in 2004, completed its long-awaited first commercial spaceflight, called Galactic 01, on Thursday.

Taking off from Spaceport America in New Mexico, the company’s spacecraft was flown by a pair of pilots and carried four passengers: a Virgin Galactic trainer, to oversee the mission from inside the cabin, and its first trio of paying customers.

The three paying passengers are members of the Italian Air Force. The flight also carried 13 research payloads onboard.

Virgin Galactic’s start to commercial service comes after years of delays and setbacks. The company previously said if Galactic 01 was a success, it would plan to fly its second mission as soon as August and then aim to begin flying its spacecraft, VSS Unity, once a month.

The company continues to raise capital to fund development of its coming Delta class of spacecraft, aiming to build a fleet of vehicles that can each fly at least once a week.

Virgin Galactic has a backlog of about 800 passengers. Many of those tickets were sold at prices between $200,000 and $250,000 over a decade ago, but the company reopened ticket sales two years ago, with pricing beginning at $450,000 per seat.

[Mz iMac]

Not me!  I still remember this........

graphic footage

Spoiler

On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, killing all seven crew members aboard. The spacecraft disintegrated 46,000 feet (14 km) above the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 11:39 a.m. EST (16:39 UTC). It was the first fatal accident involving an American spacecraft while in flight.

[Kachina624]

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@ValuSkr wrote:

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@Nataliesgramma wrote:

I am afraid something similar to that sub thing taking people to see the Titanic wreck will happen with Space trips like this

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Yes, and taxpayers will fund the rescue / recovery of these billionaires.

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@ValuSkr    Actually the trip was funded by the Italian Air Force as part of a scientific project.  The other 499 on the waiting list are probably millionaires.

Remember several years ago, two men were killed when one of these planes crashed.  They were test pilots working for Richard Branson.

[Desertdi]

@Kachina624 

Gosh...renovate the house and get a "fancy" car...OR fling myself into outer space!!!!.    What a decision...