Community Chat

[chrystaltree]

Billionaires just wanna have fun.

[febe1]

Rather than spend my 250,000 for that trip, I would spend it on having my dog cloned.  

[CalminHeart]

I'm sure it's good that he figured out how to do this. Who knows what the future will bring.

On the flip side, it seems wasteful to spend that kind of money on a hobby. I don't get it. If I was that rich, I'd be helping the most vulnerable.

[CJC]

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@CalminHeart wrote:

I'm sure it's good that he figured out how to do this. Who knows what the future will bring.

On the flip side, it seems wasteful to spend that kind of money on a hobby. I don't get it. If I was that rich, I'd be helping the most vulnerable.

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Or donate to cancer research. 

[Vivian]

I know these billionaires can spend their money as they choose but, in my not-so-humble opinion, it is NOT money well spent. With all the horrors in the world, couldn't they think about a few other people, like starving children as just one example? In Haiti, not one person has had a Covid vaccine. Think what a billion dollars could do.

When I read about these flights of the billionaires I am reminded of some really old movies that attempted to predict the future. They were all wrong. I know that space travel might lead to new developments but with other inventive ideas there was a reason for innovation. Trains, airplanes, etc. ultimately were used by millions. Does anyone think that an equivalent number of humans want to take a 52 mile trip to look at the earth? Maybe I'm not sufficiently farsighted to see practical applications but nothing really new is happening here except for who pays. To me it is a totally self-indulgent exercise.

[ValuSkr]

He's very talented!

[Lucky Charm]

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@just bee wrote:

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@Kachina624 wrote:

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@songbird wrote:

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@skatting44 wrote:

American ingenuity and the power of private industry.

Yea, he beat  Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk  as the 1st in space.

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England should be proud of him.  Good day for them today.  If England wins the Euro 2020...well even better.

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@songbird    England???  It's New Mexico taxpayers who made this possible. From some of the poorest counties in the state too, supporting the billionaire. 

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@Kachina624 

Yes -- and thank you for pointing it out.

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@just bee @Kachina624 @songbird

I can't find any info w/o having to *pay*, can you elaborate a little more on the funding of this project?

TIA

[Kachina624]

@Lucky Charm   

The New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) is a non-governmental panel, appointed by the Governor of New Mexico, whose members represent the public sector in the development and construction of Spaceport America, the world's first purpose-built commercial spaceport.

Two-thirds of the $212 million used to build the spaceport was paid by the State of New Mexico with the rest provided by bonds backed by Doña Ana County and Sierra County, which will be partially repaid by locally generated gross receipts tax revenues. NMSA operates the spaceport, whose anchor tenant is Virgin Galactic, a component of the Virgin Group of global companies operated by Sir Richard Branson.

This project has been a huge weight on NM taxpayers.  It was a project supported by former Governor Bill Richardson and has pretty much been  a fiasco up to now with delay after delay of yesterday's flight.  It has sat unused for years waiting for Mr. Branson. So far, with millions invested in the project, it has resulted in about a whopping 20 permanent jobs for New Mexicans, about 1/4 the staffing of a fast food restaurant. 

By the way, Mr. Richardson was not present for the flight yesterday.  He was in Las Vegas watching a prize fight. 

[Lucky Charm]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

@Lucky Charm   

The New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) is a non-governmental panel, appointed by the Governor of New Mexico, whose members represent the public sector in the development and construction of Spaceport America, the world's first purpose-built commercial spaceport.

Two-thirds of the $212 million used to build the spaceport was paid by the State of New Mexico with the rest provided by bonds backed by Doña Ana County and Sierra County, which will be partially repaid by locally generated gross receipts tax revenues. NMSA operates the spaceport, whose anchor tenant is Virgin Galactic, a component of the Virgin Group of global companies operated by Sir Richard Branson.

This project has been a huge weight on NM taxpayers.  It was a project supported by former Governor Bill Richardson and has pretty much been  a fiasco up to now with delay after delay of yesterday's flight.  It has sat unused for years waiting for Mr. Branson. So far, with millions invested in the project, it has resulted in about a whopping 20 permanent jobs for New Mexicans, about 1/4 the staffing of a fast food restaurant. 

By the way, Mr. Richardson was not present for the flight yesterday.  He was in Las Vegas watching a prize fight. 

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Thanks, Kachina.

Quoted your post, because, well, it's worth repeating.

[just bee]

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@Lucky Charm wrote:

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@Kachina624 wrote:

@Lucky Charm   

The New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) is a non-governmental panel, appointed by the Governor of New Mexico, whose members represent the public sector in the development and construction of Spaceport America, the world's first purpose-built commercial spaceport.

Two-thirds of the $212 million used to build the spaceport was paid by the State of New Mexico with the rest provided by bonds backed by Doña Ana County and Sierra County, which will be partially repaid by locally generated gross receipts tax revenues. NMSA operates the spaceport, whose anchor tenant is Virgin Galactic, a component of the Virgin Group of global companies operated by Sir Richard Branson.

This project has been a huge weight on NM taxpayers.  It was a project supported by former Governor Bill Richardson and has pretty much been  a fiasco up to now with delay after delay of yesterday's flight.  It has sat unused for years waiting for Mr. Branson. So far, with millions invested in the project, it has resulted in about a whopping 20 permanent jobs for New Mexicans, about 1/4 the staffing of a fast food restaurant. 

By the way, Mr. Richardson was not present for the flight yesterday.  He was in Las Vegas watching a prize fight. 

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Thanks, Kachina.

Quoted your post, because, well, it's worth repeating.

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@Lucky Charm 

@Kachina624 

There's something else that's related and worth repeating but it can't be repeated here.

So, for now, just one word: Boondoggle.