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Noted in Passing: Another day in which the world has to endure Virgin Galactic’s unceasing outgassing.

The Billionaires’ Diet: Weightless for just $80,000 per minute

Richard Branson, on his Virgin Galactic rocket plane, becomes first billionaire to get to space But, sadly, was not left there.

Less than an hour after takeoff, the VSS Eve plane released its rocket at an altitude of 53 miles — further than the 50-mile boundary considered by the US to be the boundary of space.

The crew was then able to unstrap to experience a few [ two or three max at S250,000 a ticket] minutes of weightlessness before gliding back around 9:40 a.m. to the runway.

ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz…..

But not to worry because later this year there will be another chance to send a different and even creepier billionaire into space and leave him there:

Branson wasn’t due to fly until later this summer but moved up his plans after fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos announced that he would be taking his own rocket into space from West Texas on July 20.

As for Elon Musk, there are plans afoot to strap him into his massive Starlink rocket and shoot him directly into the sun. Batteries included.

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • Casey Klahn July 11, 2021, 7:29 PM

    I was trying to form my description of it. Glossy, in a word. At least when they faked the moon landing, they nailed the 1969 production style perfectly.

    Ok, I was kidding. The Muslim astronaut gal gave me the hives, BTW. We could do the whole thing without her, and be just fine. (Recall the meme about why there are no Muslims in Star Trek…answer: because it’s the future!)

  • PA Cat July 11, 2021, 8:00 PM

    Gerard says, “But not to worry because later this year there will be another chance to send a different and even creepier billionaire into space and leave him there.”

    I nominate the Bidens père et fils, plus “Doctor” Jill, for the next one-way trip into space.

  • jwm July 11, 2021, 8:19 PM

    Somewhere, Robert Heinlein is laughing his ass off.

    JWM

  • ghostsniper July 12, 2021, 4:48 AM

    Why am I just not interested?
    Casey: last line: HA HA HA!

  • John Venlet July 12, 2021, 4:55 AM

    The most expensive carnival rides in the world. Where’s the corn dog stand?

  • Annie Rose July 12, 2021, 5:39 AM

    SpaceX has revolutionized space launches and is truly amazing to watch. They have figured out how to re-use booster rockets multiple times by having them return to a landing pad at sea. Our government gutted NASA and changed their mission from space exploration to praising muslim nations for non-achievements. SpaceX grabbed up the best of these former NASA scientists and within a short time has produced a very innovative spacecraft—all with private money. If billionaires want to fly around in space, I’d rather they spend their money on that than trying to depopulate the world with a deadly virus and experimental vaccines. If you don’t like their products and services, then don’t buy or use them. I agree that Richard Branson’s “space” flight was nothing more than a silly publicity stunt.

  • gwbnyc July 12, 2021, 5:44 AM

    had a residence on Perry Street, has a coat of arms on the facade with the motto “Dog of the UK”. same block Thomas Merton lived on.

  • John the River July 12, 2021, 5:55 AM

    Yeah, I hate Billionaires.

    On another matter, I thank everyone for the support and well wishes I have received after my recent heart attack. But is there some way to be notified of new comments made here at AD? I’ve scoured the site for any notification signup and found nothing, am I missing something?

  • Randy July 12, 2021, 7:53 AM

    “Neener, neener, neener! My carbon footprint is bigger than that other billionaire, at least for now.”

  • Andrew R July 12, 2021, 8:01 AM

    I’ve bee a certified space nut since I were a wee lad, but haven’t watched the Virgin Galactic video yet. I’ve heard the nasaspaceflight.com video is better (without all the VG hype and blather), so I’ll probably head over there for a look see.
    Note that Spaceship One won the Ansari X Prize by flying over 100 km (62 mi.) twice within two weeks, but VG’s Spaceship Two just went to 53 mi. There’s a couple of definitions as to where space begins and Branson & Co. picked the lower one. Branson is P.T. Barnum Lite. Very lite. He’s been slowly selling off his stake in VG for a while now. After this stunt he’ll probably get out and let VG flounder and die. Ten years ago this would have been big – before there was serious competition. Oh well.

  • tim July 12, 2021, 8:02 AM

    It’s all fun and games until your spaceship blows up.

    Might not be next month, might not be next year, but…please oh PLEASE let it be Mark Zuckerberg’s.

  • Sven July 12, 2021, 8:12 AM

    I find this all very distracting from the Britney Spears and Meghan Markle/Prince Harry news.

  • James ONeil July 12, 2021, 8:35 AM

    Hey, lighten up on the billionaire bashing, they’re human too!

    OK, at least one or two of them are.

  • leelu July 12, 2021, 9:27 AM

    Pffft. Neither one of them has buried a body.
    https://leelusplace.blogspot.com/2021/07/billionaire-space-race.html

  • Ray Van Dune July 12, 2021, 3:10 PM

    “Less than an hour after takeoff, the VSS Eve plane released its rocket at an altitude of 53 miles — further than the 50-mile boundary considered by the US to be the boundary of space.”

    Nope. The Unity rocket was released at about 45,000 feet and climbed to about 290,000 feet (55 miles) using its own engine.

  • Vanderleun July 12, 2021, 5:19 PM

    Yes, ignorant and incompetent “news” copiers can’t even copy the press releases accurately.

  • Callmelennie July 14, 2021, 7:44 AM

    In 1969, a mere 66 years after the first 150ft heavier than air flight, America sent a man to hit a bucket of golf balls on the moon. And all the hippies said, “Whats the big deal, ma-a-a-an. Talk about a waste of resources, ma-a-a-a-n. Check it out, Hendrix is playing “The Star Spangled Banner” on his guitar MA-A-A-A-AN!”

    Which is why I’m not going to get too excited when a hippie-ish dude crashes the 50 mile altitude barrier 51 years later

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