BY: Nick Bogus
Move over “Meet the
Robinson’s” there’s a new family in town, and they’ve got
billions of dollars behind them. The future is almost here thanks to
Richard Branson the chairman of the Virgin Group. Richard Branson and
his children are venturing into space, and they will be on the first
passenger flight into suborbital space. The Virgin Company will start
commercial flights in 2014.
This
is a huge leap in technology and transportation. This type of travel
could open up colonization of different planets and even cut the
travel time down between various countries on the globe. The
Branson’s will be traveling through suborbital space which is right
outside the atmosphere. The flight, which will be taken on
SpaceShipTwo, will not only include Branson and his children but also
3 other passengers and of course two pilots. The company has already
started selling seats at prices of $200,000 to $250,000. Celebrities
from Lady Gaga to Leonardo DiCaprio have already made their
reservations. This type of travel brings humanity one step closer to
“The Jetson’s”.
This is an amazing
development for the Virgin Group. The Virgin Group has grown business
in fields from mobile telephony, travel, finance, leisure, music and
health & wellness. SpaceShipTwo was developed by The Spaceship
Company (TSC) which, surprisingly, isn’t even in the top ten of
Aerospace companies. The top ten list includes Boeing, Lockheed
Martin, and even Honeywell. This development in aerospace travel is
still in testing but is projected to be active in the middle of 2014.
The Virgin Company plans to have this type of travel more accessible
at a later date but this is one of the random times where it actually
is rocket science.
This is very interesting and I would love to take a trip on SpaceShipTwo. As it progresses I would like to see the price to go down so it is more affordable for the general population. This is exciting to see a possibility in the advancement of civilization.
ReplyDeleteInteresting subject, I heard rumors about this earlier in the year but thought it was just all talk. It would be remarkable if they actually are able to make that trip so soon as next year. But in response to Tariq, I doubt those prices to be apart of the experience would fall being that the expenses made by Virgin Group and others involved are probably tremendous.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very intriguing post. I'm glad to know that our society and continuing to make specific advances and next the world will have another society in space. I do wish that this trip can be more affordable to middle class and the poor an allow other's to have the experience of seeing a different site. Overall, I believe this was a great blog post and I learned some new information.
ReplyDeleteThis for me is were human inquisition and adventurous plights of fun go too far. I am sure I speak for many when I say that from an early age, I have been haunted by the plausible fear of falling from high places. With this being said, I hesitate and cringed to applaud Mr. Richard Branson on such remarkable courage and exploratory desire, only to criticize the sanity of this venture into suborbital space. I fear that most on the passengers engaged in the idea of taking this ride perhaps are a bit suicidal and wish for an explosive and adventurous death wish depicted in the possibility of the plane malfunctioning, falling, and then crashing into the Earth.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing to see how much technology has evolved over the years. I believe that in the next 20 years our generation will have access to a plethora of opportunities similar to this one. The only thing that I am questioning is the safety of the journey. There have been many space ventures that have gone horribly wrong. Nonetheless, I believe that after all of the conflicts, this trip should work out in the participants favor.
ReplyDeleteWow, how cool would it be to travel into space and see how other planets look. However, I dont know how much of a supporter I am for this type of travel. Some questions to consider: Who is going to invest and development these other planets once they have been visited. How do they plan to manage risk? I think more research on space commercial travel before it becomes very popular on Earth. However, I do think that this new way of travel is key to cutting international travel time over time.
ReplyDeleteSpace Travel has been a fantasy for many people. Now that technology had advanced many wealthy people will have the opportunity to travel into space. Richard Branson has always been known as the innovative thinker with The Virgin Group, I believe that this venture will be very successful because it intrigues the curious minds. I would not personally want to travel into space but I do see the value in offering the service.
ReplyDeleteI am an advocate for commercial space travel. The fact that I don't like about the commercial space travel is the high prices that each ticket cost. It has been mainly a fantasy to most people and it will continue to be. Considering the fact that only the top 1% can afford these flights.
ReplyDeleteSpace travel is pretty cool, and it would be an amazing experience, but as a broke college student I am jaded on the idea. To be honest, a quarter of a million dollars to take a space tour isn't a lot considering the kind of money it takes to launch a space shuttle (that's why there weren't many). I would want to, but they have zero gravity rides at amusement parks and virtual reality space rides at amusement parks until then. I'd also hope that commercial launches to space wouldn't ruin our atmosphere or anything.
ReplyDelete