that man meat rocket is blasting off shortly. Regardless of what you think of Bezos this is a pretty cool moment, particularly for Wally Funk. She was part of Mercury 13 in the 60's which Nasa cancelled before the women finishing training. By the time she qualified she was too old (in the 90's I think) and now she finally gets to go to space at 82.
Side note I just watched "For All Mankind" on Apple TV which goes into the backstory of that program in part (blended with alt-history) - excellent show.
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We're probably another 60 years from the 'common man' going to space.
Not just that, but what's the point of the "common man" going into space if it is just to fly up, have some weightlessness and come back? If it is to visit a moon colony or something, I get it. To take a joy ride? Not anything the "common man" is ever going to do before there are other reasons to fly up there
Or they just want to take joy rides.
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common folks going to space is pretty laughable.
Not just that, but what's the point of the "common man" going into space if it is just to fly up, have some weightlessness and come back? If it is to visit a moon colony or something, I get it. To take a joy ride? Not anything the "common man" is ever going to do before there are other reasons to fly up there
The billionaires will need someone to mine the asteroids they capture!
Or they just want to take joy rides.
What? It would cost far more to get the workers to space than they'd possibly save in taxes or unions.
Short term - it's all about their egos or if you want to be kind to them, maybe about fulfilling some childhood dreams.
Long term - potential for massive profits if they can mine asteroids for rare metals.
"The only way that I can see to deploy this much financial resource is by converting my Amazon winnings into space travel. That is basically it," Bezos says in an interview with Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner, published by Business Insider on Saturday.
This is the only way? Not curing cancer or Alzheimer’s or a hundred other horrible diseases? Not ending hunger throughout the world? Not developing alternative energies? Not a million other things that the richest man in the world could throw untold billions at, but the same thing every other Bond villain wannabe billionaire is doing? Whatever.
"The only way that I can see to deploy this much financial resource is by converting my Amazon winnings into space travel. That is basically it," Bezos says in an interview with Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner, published by Business Insider on Saturday.
This is the only way? Not curing cancer or Alzheimer’s or a hundred other horrible diseases? Not ending hunger throughout the world? Not developing alternative energies? Not a million other things that the richest man in the world could throw untold billions at, but the same thing every other Bond villain wannabe billionaire is doing? Whatever.
I agree that's a pretty tone-deaf statement, but he is developing alternative energy. General Fusion is one of the front runners for a commercially viable fusion plant.
General Fusion
"The only way that I can see to deploy this much financial resource is by converting my Amazon winnings into space travel. That is basically it," Bezos says in an interview with Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner, published by Business Insider on Saturday.
This is the only way? Not curing cancer or Alzheimer’s or a hundred other horrible diseases? Not ending hunger throughout the world? Not developing alternative energies? Not a million other things that the richest man in the world could throw untold billions at, but the same thing every other Bond villain wannabe billionaire is doing? Whatever.
Agreed. And, while it is pretty cool, can you really call this ‘space travel’ or a ‘space flight’? To me, this seems like the equivalent of getting half way past first base with a girl in high school and then claiming you went all the way.
Phil Hughes
@PJHughes45
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Everything about this spectacle is pure hilarity. Bezos went to space in a giant penis with his brother and an old lady for 2 min. Then proceeded to touch down safely in the dickhead where 2 stairs were awaiting their arrival to step down a ft and a half
Agreed. And, while it is pretty cool, can you really call this ‘space travel’ or a ‘space flight’? To me, this seems like the equivalent of getting half way past first base with a girl in high school and then claiming you went all the way.
Ask Alan Shepherd.
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Agreed. And, while it is pretty cool, can you really call this ‘space travel’ or a ‘space flight’? To me, this seems like the equivalent of getting half way past first base with a girl in high school and then claiming you went all the way.
Ask Alan Shepherd.
He walked on the moon...
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Agreed. And, while it is pretty cool, can you really call this ‘space travel’ or a ‘space flight’? To me, this seems like the equivalent of getting half way past first base with a girl in high school and then claiming you went all the way.
Ask Alan Shepherd.
I get your point but, really don’t see the parallels. What Shepherd did was ground (space?) breaking at the time for the US. Being the first American to do it means a lot. This just seems like a mega rich guy who did it because he could so he could check off another thing on his bucket list.
Really? Think of it this way:
1. 50-60 years ago sending 'regular' people to space was laughable.
2. 5 years ago landing a first stage booster was unheard of, now it happens so much, nobody cares.
3. If we went from landing on the moon to private citizens giving space 'just the tip' in a giant penis rocket in 50 years +/-, what do you think the next 50 years has in store?
Costs will continue to go down as the industry innovates/matures. Everything that is standard now for the common folks started off as a rich person toy. Just look at the evolution of cars, all the stuff that is standard today started off as luxury options in high end cars.
You really think this charade of joyrides to the edge of the atmosphere is going to continue?
One article I have read is that they reduced the cost of space travel by a factor of 44 from what the government was spending.
I'm a doctor, not an Amazon delivery driver.
One article I have read is that they reduced the cost of space travel by a factor of 44 from what the government was spending.
I think the opinion was aimed at Bezos acting as if the only place worthwhile to spend his money was in the area of space travel.
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common folks going to space is pretty laughable.
Really? Think of it this way:
1. 50-60 years ago sending 'regular' people to space was laughable.
2. 5 years ago landing a first stage booster was unheard of, now it happens so much, nobody cares.
3. If we went from landing on the moon to private citizens giving space 'just the tip' in a giant penis rocket in 50 years +/-, what do you think the next 50 years has in store?
Costs will continue to go down as the industry innovates/matures. Everything that is standard now for the common folks started off as a rich person toy. Just look at the evolution of cars, all the stuff that is standard today started off as luxury options in high end cars.
In other news the earth is flat!
One article I have read is that they reduced the cost of space travel by a factor of 44 from what the government was spending.
My opinion is that, it’s money that could be spent to further the research and potentially reducing the effect of, or eradicating things like diseases (cancer, AIDS, Alzheimer’s, etc.) or hunger. Is traveling to space cool? Of course. Is it necessary? Not really. It’s nice that they brought the cost of traveling to space down but, if that money were spent on say, cancer research or cancer drugs, it likely could’ve reduced the costs of treatment and those drugs for people who get crippled with debt simply because they want to live.
But, again, that’s just my opinion.
Whatever man. I’m not putting on those sun glasses. And you can’t make me!
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common folks going to space is pretty laughable.
Really? Think of it this way:
1. 50-60 years ago sending 'regular' people to space was laughable.
2. 5 years ago landing a first stage booster was unheard of, now it happens so much, nobody cares.
3. If we went from landing on the moon to private citizens giving space 'just the tip' in a giant penis rocket in 50 years +/-, what do you think the next 50 years has in store?
Costs will continue to go down as the industry innovates/matures. Everything that is standard now for the common folks started off as a rich person toy. Just look at the evolution of cars, all the stuff that is standard today started off as luxury options in high end cars.
You are greatly underestimating the amount of resources necessary to launch a person into space. SpaceX's rockets take 902,000 pounds of fuel to launch into sub orbital space. At what point is a million pounds of fuel going to become affordable for an average person. This isn't TVs and Phones getting smaller and cheaper and the internet getting faster and faster. There are immutable laws of physics involved in launching a person into space and the resources required will only ever be affordable to wealthy folks.
Shit.
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that Bezos, Branson, Musk should be spending the money on curing cancer, hunger, and homelessness rather than spending money on space travel.
One article I have read is that they reduced the cost of space travel by a factor of 44 from what the government was spending.
My opinion is that, it’s money that could be spent to further the research and potentially reducing the effect of, or eradicating things like diseases (cancer, AIDS, Alzheimer’s, etc.) or hunger. Is traveling to space cool? Of course. Is it necessary? Not really. It’s nice that they brought the cost of traveling to space down but, if that money were spent on say, cancer research or cancer drugs, it likely could’ve reduced the costs of treatment and those drugs for people who get crippled with debt simply because they want to live.
But, again, that’s just my opinion.
So, it's ok when the government spends their money on space travel, but we expect private citizens to eradicate these social issues? Sorry, private citizens have the right to spend money however they want.
Or they just want to take joy rides.
follow the money.
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In comment 15308632 KDavies said:
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that Bezos, Branson, Musk should be spending the money on curing cancer, hunger, and homelessness rather than spending money on space travel.
One article I have read is that they reduced the cost of space travel by a factor of 44 from what the government was spending.
My opinion is that, it’s money that could be spent to further the research and potentially reducing the effect of, or eradicating things like diseases (cancer, AIDS, Alzheimer’s, etc.) or hunger. Is traveling to space cool? Of course. Is it necessary? Not really. It’s nice that they brought the cost of traveling to space down but, if that money were spent on say, cancer research or cancer drugs, it likely could’ve reduced the costs of treatment and those drugs for people who get crippled with debt simply because they want to live.
But, again, that’s just my opinion.
So, it's ok when the government spends their money on space travel, but we expect private citizens to eradicate these social issues? Sorry, private citizens have the right to spend money however they want.
Nobody is saying he doesn't have the right to spend the money how he wants. But this is what he said
"“I’m pursuing this work, because I believe if we don’t we will eventually end up with a civilization of stasis, which I find very demoralizing,” he said about his goals of space exploration — and eventually colonization. “I am very lucky that I feel like I have a mission-driven purpose with Blue Origin that is, I think, incredibly important for civilization long term. And I am going to use my financial lottery winnings from Amazon to fund that.”"
If you're gonna sit there and say "i'm helping civilization with my space race project" then you open yourself to criticism from folks who feel that it's likely not that helpful at all to the non-billionaires in the world. He opened himself to this.
We both agreed that "orbital joyride" wasn't one of our interests.
We dig amazon and audible and the cool stuff amazon is trying to get into. We love what Elon is doing by creating several game changing technologies/product/companies. So no hate on those two billionaires (though we both agree though that zuckerberg is a huge douche canoe, as are seemingly most public figure billionaires).
No one wants to pay anyone. That's the problem in my eyes. Inflation goes up. Pay stays the same. Housing goes up. Pay stays the same. Want to earn a degree? You're 100K in debt at the very least. Fresh out of college and want to earn a living? Good luck with that. You're going to have to starve for 5-10 years.
It's all rigged. People are seeing that now.
I'm a huge proponent of space exploration and people spending their money however they want, but if Bezos is going to claim that he's doing this for altruistic reasons then he opens himself up to criticism.
You really think this charade of joyrides to the edge of the atmosphere is going to continue?
Yes. We aren't going to colonize Mars or the moon anytime soon, so I think this type of toursim is the only viable option.
SpaceX is sending private citizens around the world in a couple of months. If their starship test is viable that gives a legitiamte path to tourism to the moon and back.
I think you will have many tiers of space tourism: Virgin Galactic as the 'cheapest' and then the Blue Origin/SpaceX model that will let you go higher into space, orbit the earth, or eventually land on the moon and come back.
I think the allure of space is strong since so few people have left the earth that people will pay money to do something that so few have done so far. It will be interesting to watch how the space toursim market matures; which in itself will drive space craft innovation.
Actually, it doesn't seem that you do.
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In comment 15308495 Heisenberg said:
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common folks going to space is pretty laughable.
Really? Think of it this way:
1. 50-60 years ago sending 'regular' people to space was laughable.
2. 5 years ago landing a first stage booster was unheard of, now it happens so much, nobody cares.
3. If we went from landing on the moon to private citizens giving space 'just the tip' in a giant penis rocket in 50 years +/-, what do you think the next 50 years has in store?
Costs will continue to go down as the industry innovates/matures. Everything that is standard now for the common folks started off as a rich person toy. Just look at the evolution of cars, all the stuff that is standard today started off as luxury options in high end cars.
You are greatly underestimating the amount of resources necessary to launch a person into space. SpaceX's rockets take 902,000 pounds of fuel to launch into sub orbital space. At what point is a million pounds of fuel going to become affordable for an average person. This isn't TVs and Phones getting smaller and cheaper and the internet getting faster and faster. There are immutable laws of physics involved in launching a person into space and the resources required will only ever be affordable to wealthy folks.
It's not going to stay that way forever. Every single part of a rocket besides the capsule used to be wasted; now they are innovating to make it all reusable. Imagine how expensive air travel would be if the planes were one use?
Viable electric cars were non-existent 50 years ago; you don't think that the propulsion systems will continue to evolve to get cheaper and more viable? That new technologies will evolve to solve these problems?
Octogenarian Vermont Progressives!!
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In comment 15308632 KDavies said:
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that Bezos, Branson, Musk should be spending the money on curing cancer, hunger, and homelessness rather than spending money on space travel.
One article I have read is that they reduced the cost of space travel by a factor of 44 from what the government was spending.
My opinion is that, it’s money that could be spent to further the research and potentially reducing the effect of, or eradicating things like diseases (cancer, AIDS, Alzheimer’s, etc.) or hunger. Is traveling to space cool? Of course. Is it necessary? Not really. It’s nice that they brought the cost of traveling to space down but, if that money were spent on say, cancer research or cancer drugs, it likely could’ve reduced the costs of treatment and those drugs for people who get crippled with debt simply because they want to live.
But, again, that’s just my opinion.
So, it's ok when the government spends their money on space travel, but we expect private citizens to eradicate these social issues? Sorry, private citizens have the right to spend money however they want.
I don’t expect them to. It’s their money so, of course how they spend it is their prerogative. Just my opinion that it could probably be better spent elsewhere based on Bezos’ comment, that’s all.