This is all good and fun , but really should we not be pioneering technology that caters to the pore and the majority of humans on the planet rather than a technology that will only cater to the super wealthy at first and then maybe the very upper middle western class in 30 years ?

As far as i understand the altitude for this craft would be to low and short lived for scientific use maybe some of the research from this will go into national space programs.

stuff like this is far better than war and entertainment is defiantly an important thing i still feel this for such a small section of privileged society that its just an insult to the majorty of people on earth.

Yes of course... because science should only be done if it caters to everyone on the planet.

Great point

edit: and besides, you have no way to really know how much this can or will influence the rest of the aviation industry.

>> ^westy:

This is all good and fun , but really should we not be pioneering technology that caters to the pore and the majority of humans on the planet rather than a technology that will only cater to the super wealthy at first and then maybe the very upper middle western class in 30 years ?
As far as i understand the altitude for this craft would be to low and short lived for scientific use maybe some of the research from this will go into national space programs.
stuff like this is far better than war and entertainment is defiantly an important thing i still feel this for such a small section of privileged society that its just an insult to the majorty of people on earth.


“I do not think that the wireless waves I have discovered will have any practical application”
(Heinrich Rudolf Hertz)

Something to think about for you.

You make it sound like all researchers worldwide are only researching in ONE field which has no use (yet) for the poor. As for the "we" part of your statement: Virgin Galactic is a privately owned company and they can pioneer whatever technology they like.

Why should this be an insult to the majority of people on earth? Was the moonlanding an insult too? Or the space-programme of all spacefaring nations? What about arctic or deep sea research?

Don't get me wrong, I too am saddend by the devide between developed and undeveloped nations, but stopping "our" developement is not a solution. Even more so when all(certainly allmost all) technology for undeveloped nations to become developed is available.
(Yes, I know I am ignoring many other factors which keep the poor poor, but they have nothing to do with technological and intelectual advancement of the human species in general)

P.S. and while I'm already rambling: I really hate HD-embeds without the fullscreen button

>> ^westy:

This is all good and fun , but really should we not be pioneering technology that caters to the pore and the majority of humans on the planet rather than a technology that will only cater to the super wealthy at first and then maybe the very upper middle western class in 30 years ?
As far as i understand the altitude for this craft would be to low and short lived for scientific use maybe some of the research from this will go into national space programs.
stuff like this is far better than war and entertainment is defiantly an important thing i still feel this for such a small section of privileged society that its just an insult to the majorty of people on earth.


Let the rich die and iron out all the kinks...

...seriously though, the cost of technology always decreases. Don't worry about being able to afford a space flight one day. Unless you're like 70 years old...

>> ^westy:

This is all good and fun , but really should we not be pioneering technology that caters to the pore and the majority of humans on the planet rather than a technology that will only cater to the super wealthy at first and then maybe the very upper middle western class in 30 years ?
As far as i understand the altitude for this craft would be to low and short lived for scientific use maybe some of the research from this will go into national space programs.
stuff like this is far better than war and entertainment is defiantly an important thing i still feel this for such a small section of privileged society that its just an insult to the majorty of people on earth.


I'm sure someone said the exact same thing to the Wright brothers...

Behold, the Veritech fighter.

Close NASA and redirect all funding to SpaceX and Virgin Galactic.

Pushing the boundaries of tech "for the rich" is exactly what drives down the cost of tech for the masses. Ever heard of the One Laptop Per Child program? Nobody involved in the creation of laptops during the 80's and 90's were interested in helping undeveloped countries. But as the tech evolved, cost dropped and made it possible.

The same thing is going on with energy research. Those companies are only even viable because the rich might be early adopters. But when the tech gets good enough, it will be cheap enough to help everybody.

I'm all for helping underdeveloped countries, but you are barking up the wrong tree here.

All that technology and they still can't invent a radio where you can actually understand what the other person is saying.

>> ^westy:

This is all good and fun , but really should we not be pioneering technology that caters to the pore and the majority of humans on the planet rather than a technology that will only cater to the super wealthy at first and then maybe the very upper middle western class in 30 years ?
As far as i understand the altitude for this craft would be to low and short lived for scientific use maybe some of the research from this will go into national space programs.
stuff like this is far better than war and entertainment is defiantly an important thing i still feel this for such a small section of privileged society that its just an insult to the majorty of people on earth.


I don't think we live in a world where restricting development for the sake of keeping things fair is viable. Or functional, or reasonable. It certainly is short-sighted.

When bionic eyes and limbs go commercial, when they're superior to what we're born with, it's going to be hideously, prohibitively expensive at first, but then the price will come down as the technology is finessed and further developed. Soon enough, they'll be available to a significant percentage of the population. That's progress.

> This is all good and fun , but really should we not be

OMG no... we should not be wasting billions/trillions on the BS games we play, and instead we should be pumping hugely more money into this and everything else scientific in all fields.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag.(show it anyway)

Ditto.>> ^deathcow:

> This is all good and fun , but really should we not be
OMG no... we should not be wasting billions/trillions on the BS games we play, and instead we should be pumping hugely more money into this and everything else scientific in all fields.

>> ^westy:

This is all good and fun , but really should we not be pioneering technology that caters to the pore and the majority of humans on the planet rather than a technology that will only cater to the super wealthy at first and then maybe the very upper middle western class in 30 years ?
As far as i understand the altitude for this craft would be to low and short lived for scientific use maybe some of the research from this will go into national space programs.
stuff like this is far better than war and entertainment is defiantly an important thing i still feel this for such a small section of privileged society that its just an insult to the majorty of people on earth.


No no no no no no no NO NO NO NO god no.

Firstly, who are you to decide what people spend their money on? Richard branson's company can do whatever the hell richard branson chooses because he made the successful company. Why the hell don't you spend all your time and money and effort on solving world hunger problems, if you're so keen to point out where others can increase their charity.

There's money in this for branson, that's why virgin is doing it. If there's one thing that will give a gigantic boot to the progression and interest in space travel, space flight, space technology, it's commercial companies finding a way to make money out of it.

If i told you to live and work inside your house all day every day, you'd get bored and want to escape the house and see the town. If i told you to live and work in your town all the time, you'd want to see the country. If i told you to stay in your country, you'd want to see the world. Why are people so content to sit on this rock indefinitely? If not space, what else? Do we just stay here like a fenced animal, our eyes blinkered, focused so hard on chasing bits of paper with "£20" or "$20" on them?

There are enough people in this world such that we can do more than JUST solve world hunger. We didn't drag people away from charity events to work on space flight.

Carl Sagan, one of the thinkers I admire most in the history of literature and science, wrote quite a bit about the pros and cons of space exploration, particularly in light of the problems we face here on our home planet. Pale Blue Dot is a good place to start for anyone who wants to read his thoughts on the matter.

From the book's introduction ("Wanderers"): "That's what this book is about: other worlds, what awaits us on them, what they tell us about ourselves, and—given the urgent problems our species now face—whether it makes sense to go. Should we solve those problems first? Or are they a reason for going?"

Coincidentally, in the paragraph preceding the quote mentioned above, Sagan writes: "No one on Earth, not the richest among us, can afford the passage. [...] There does not seem to be sufficient short-​term profit to motivate private industry. If we humans ever go to these worlds, then, it will be because a nation or a consortium of them believes it to be to its advantage—or to the advantage of the human species."

I can't imagine how excited he would have been to see private industry beginning to invest in space exploration.

That is just wild!

The point about developing stuff for poor people is fairly humorous. My parents had money so I know what it's like to feel wealthy (with none of the power) but now I'm a regular old Joe the plumber butt kinda guy probably like Westy - so what are you saying Westy, that you'd only be interested if they developed Quarter Pounder vending machines and $4 out da doe liters of Miller High Life - the champagne of beers?! That is about just as wild as watching that very neat piece of engineering.

And if anyone from Virgin is here - contact me to do more private label design stuff!!

all systems are go... for fun in space!