Virgin Galactic
Jul. 11th, 2021 02:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithVirgin Galactic has made its suborbital test flight. \o/ My observations include ...
* Not quite 100% of rich people are useless assholes. There's always a nonzero fraction who do awesome things with all that money. The problem is, you have to shuck a lot of oysters to find those pearls.
* Particularly telling is that Mr. Branson hasn't changed his tune. He's saying exactly the same things after the flight as before it, and repeating them because nobody believes him. That's enough, quit pestering the man. Integrity and honesty may be rare, but they do exist.
* I'm amused by the style of the vehicle. Look at all the extra portholes! That's a hallmark of commercial flights, before they go to shutters and something like transparent aluminum for the roof. Spacers call them "peekaboo planes." Just keep in mind that, like on an oceangoing vessel, every aperture in the hull is a weakness and a potential failure point. But I swear, almost every spacefaring culture thinks of these things.
* This is not a joke or a publicity stunt or a way to fleece sheep. It's an important step in becoming a spacefaring species. Not just because it marks an economic threshold, but because looking down on the planet from space tends to change people. Mr. Branson got it. Welcome to the family, bro, and thanks for busting your ass on that step so more people could reach it.
* Not quite 100% of rich people are useless assholes. There's always a nonzero fraction who do awesome things with all that money. The problem is, you have to shuck a lot of oysters to find those pearls.
* Particularly telling is that Mr. Branson hasn't changed his tune. He's saying exactly the same things after the flight as before it, and repeating them because nobody believes him. That's enough, quit pestering the man. Integrity and honesty may be rare, but they do exist.
* I'm amused by the style of the vehicle. Look at all the extra portholes! That's a hallmark of commercial flights, before they go to shutters and something like transparent aluminum for the roof. Spacers call them "peekaboo planes." Just keep in mind that, like on an oceangoing vessel, every aperture in the hull is a weakness and a potential failure point. But I swear, almost every spacefaring culture thinks of these things.
* This is not a joke or a publicity stunt or a way to fleece sheep. It's an important step in becoming a spacefaring species. Not just because it marks an economic threshold, but because looking down on the planet from space tends to change people. Mr. Branson got it. Welcome to the family, bro, and thanks for busting your ass on that step so more people could reach it.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-11 09:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-11 11:36 pm (UTC)Yes ...
Date: 2021-07-12 12:53 am (UTC)Everyone has flaws. What matters is what people accomplish in spite of them. Being rich can be a pretty serious handicap, but he managed to overcome that and do something amazing.
>> his company's working on that goal of expanding affordability, right? <<
That's a later step.
1) Develop reusable spaceflight. You can't do some important other things with single-use equipment, it's too damn expensive and tedious.
2) Commercialize spaceflight for rich people. Milk them for as much as you can -- they have it to spare -- and use it to subsidize further development.
This has the excellent benefit of getting rich people into space. That's not a frill. It's one of the few experiences with a real chance of getting a clue into them. It is worthwhile for even a tiny number of enlightenments, because each rich person has a great deal of power and influence, so motivating them to protect the planet is always a big win.
3) Then you work on pushing down the cost so that more people can enjoy spaceflight. This is really the refinement phase, and takes a while, but the more you do, the better it tends to get.
Just remember, folks, it is still space and it will kill you if you can. Making it a rich person's thrill doesn't mean it won't eat a few along the way. If that makes you uncomfortable, don't chase the golden ticket.
I'm just really pleased to see humanity moving up another step.
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2021-07-12 03:24 am (UTC)One day I'll write a story where:
a) the poor gift economist who doesn't understand capitalism and lives with almost nothing [in the material sense] feels sorry for her rich friend who has crazy luxuries...but almost nothing in the way of companionship, and
b) someone uses prior cross-cultural experiences to realize, "Hey rich & poor culture are different, we need to teach [rich person] how to be nice according to our rules in our part of town."
Cue drama! Bwahahaha!
(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-11 11:53 pm (UTC)I'm glad he succeeded, he's a pioneer. Granted, Unity is a dead-end technology, nothing more than joyride for the rich. But it's a way to raise money to build a real spaceplane, and to get more people out there and experience space, or near to it anyway.
But yeah, he's one of the rare decent sort of billionaire. Him and Musk are pretty good substitutes for Delos David "D. D." Harriman
Although Bezos is more like an evil version of Harriman...
Thoughts
Date: 2021-07-12 01:17 am (UTC)Sooth.
>> Granted, Unity is a dead-end technology, nothing more than joyride for the rich. <<
I disagree, but then, I have ulterior resources. Just because a peekaboo plane isn't a science rocket doesn't make it a mere toy. Practical uses:
* Anything that practices more spaceflight is useful, because you never know where new ideas will come from.
* Anything that caters to the rich is conducive to safer and more comfortable spaceflight. That's not just good for humans, it's good if you need to ship anything delicate Topside.
* Anything that can get a clue into rich people is extremely valuable. And they want this experience badly enough to chase it and pay for it; they don't have to be pestered, pressured, or forced into it. The Big Blue Marble effect is very real and very powerful. It's almost universal on spacers, nerds, and mystics, so don't be surprised if there's a big drop between real astronauts and rich space tourists. But it can affect even them and it can be profound and it never goes down to 0%.
Also if you find a cracked rich kid crying in the corner at a con, try to be sympathetic, like you would for someone who played with entheogens and is freaking out over how big the Universe really is. It's not their fault they're not equipped to handle such things. They can learn.
>> But it's a way to raise money to build a real spaceplane, and to get more people out there and experience space, or near to it anyway. <<
That too.
If you're high up enough that you float and couldn't breathe outside, it's space.
>> But yeah, he's one of the rare decent sort of billionaire. Him and Musk are pretty good substitutes for Delos David "D. D." Harriman <<
True. People do get around. I mean, I can rattle off the steps because I've seen them in so many lives.
>> Although Bezos is more like an evil version of Harriman... <<
Many if not most rich people are evil. If he can do some good, I'm willing to make use of that. Maybe he'll figure out that it's more interesting than evil.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-12 09:11 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-12 11:12 am (UTC)Branson isn't wholly responsible for what the Virgin group of companies does, there's layers of managers and so on. That said, he could've stopped that sooner yes. Also, yes, he's human, so not totally decent all the time.
Still better than Bezos, who's business model seems to be based on being an evil bastard.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-16 02:11 am (UTC)I'm also old enough to remember why the rich and famous are often referred to as "the jet set" - when air travel around the world was unaffordable for the masses. The days when people dressed up to get on a plane, even from NYC to Boston. But that did indeed lead to affordable flights - I did manage to go to Iceland and Australia twenty years ago.