Despite the front page on the BBC brandishing this story I feel underwhelmed and I am sure I am not alone. This may be Branson's biggest expedition to date but I don't think it sets the world alight in the way that his previous exploits have done so. In 1986 he captured the Blue Riband for fastest crossing of the Atlantic:
This was very good for the Virgin/Branson publicity machine and important for the image of his airline and other ventures.
However, much like this new 'Galactic' effort, this was kind of done on the cheap. The Blue Riband had previously been contested in the days before the jet age by very large passenger ships carrying hundreds if not thousands of fare paying passengers. Branson's effort had just himself as a 'fare paying passenger'.
Sadly for Branson the efforts of Musk/SpaceX have downsized the publicity potential for what has gone on here. That time that SpaceX landed two of the rocket boosters was one of the most exciting moments in space thus far, the Tesla 'Rocketman' was also quite crazy. This should have persuaded Branson to throw in the towel on his 'space' ambitions but we all have our pride.
If you really want to see the edge of space then I am sure that if you ask the USAF nicely then they can oblige with a flight on a U2 plane. The view is pretty much the same on this tried and tested plane as what Branson offers with this 'Virgin Galactic' thing, which is far from Sagan's 'Pale Blue Dot' or Apollo's 'Earth Rise'. Top Gear presenters have had been to the edge of space (70 000 ft):
I am sure the Russians could offer similar passage. you could even grease the palms of someone with a 50+ year old English Electric Lightning in private ownership to get you up to 70 000 ft. But nobody is beating a path to the door of those with planes capable of this, to come back to earth and demanding to go that bit higher. Consequently I very much doubt there is a market for Virgin Galactic. Maybe Virgin Galactic will have as much impact as the Virgin F1 team, canned after a few seasons lollygagging at the back of the grid. But Branson seems okay keeping these fun adventures going and good on him for that (even if a few test pilots die on the way or if he himself ends up free falling without a parachute). As billionaires go he isn't a bad chap but I ain't no fan-boy.
> Sadly for Branson the efforts of Musk/SpaceX have downsized the publicity potential for what has gone on here. That time that SpaceX landed two of the rocket boosters was one of the most exciting moments in space thus far, the Tesla 'Rocketman' was also quite crazy. This should have persuaded Branson to throw in the towel on his 'space' ambitions but we all have our pride.
That was the same trip, and probably more exciting than anything since Apollo. Seeing those two rockets landing together before cutting to a dummy in a car blasting out of orbit, all choreographed to David Bowie, it looked like something from a movie.
However back when spaceship-one went to space (not orbit obv) and back twice in 2003, it felt like space was just around the corner. It took over a decade before SpaceX successfully landed their rocket to surpass that feeling.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/26/new...
This was very good for the Virgin/Branson publicity machine and important for the image of his airline and other ventures.
However, much like this new 'Galactic' effort, this was kind of done on the cheap. The Blue Riband had previously been contested in the days before the jet age by very large passenger ships carrying hundreds if not thousands of fare paying passengers. Branson's effort had just himself as a 'fare paying passenger'.
Sadly for Branson the efforts of Musk/SpaceX have downsized the publicity potential for what has gone on here. That time that SpaceX landed two of the rocket boosters was one of the most exciting moments in space thus far, the Tesla 'Rocketman' was also quite crazy. This should have persuaded Branson to throw in the towel on his 'space' ambitions but we all have our pride.
If you really want to see the edge of space then I am sure that if you ask the USAF nicely then they can oblige with a flight on a U2 plane. The view is pretty much the same on this tried and tested plane as what Branson offers with this 'Virgin Galactic' thing, which is far from Sagan's 'Pale Blue Dot' or Apollo's 'Earth Rise'. Top Gear presenters have had been to the edge of space (70 000 ft):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_May_at_the_Edge_of_Space
I am sure the Russians could offer similar passage. you could even grease the palms of someone with a 50+ year old English Electric Lightning in private ownership to get you up to 70 000 ft. But nobody is beating a path to the door of those with planes capable of this, to come back to earth and demanding to go that bit higher. Consequently I very much doubt there is a market for Virgin Galactic. Maybe Virgin Galactic will have as much impact as the Virgin F1 team, canned after a few seasons lollygagging at the back of the grid. But Branson seems okay keeping these fun adventures going and good on him for that (even if a few test pilots die on the way or if he himself ends up free falling without a parachute). As billionaires go he isn't a bad chap but I ain't no fan-boy.