Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos the Private Space Race and Commercialization of the Stars

John Locke

Bringing Light and Justice to the World
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And the world's first commercial spaceflight is a success.

Congratulations Sir Richard and all the incredible minds and hands that made this epic accomplishment possible.
 
It's cool but...

The whole thing felt like ego stroking for Branson and a giant commercial for Virgin Galactic.
 
Sure.

I just would have preferred a presentation based more on the science and engineering and less on the marketing.
 
Sure.

I just would have preferred a presentation based more on the science and engineering and less on the marketing.

Well, I'd say the marketing is pretty important for a commercial endeavor that opens the door to countless possibilities. I find the profit motive to be most just and most efficient for the flourishing of mankind.
 
Yeah I am not denying any of that, just what I would have preferred to see. There is marketing and there is effective marketing.

But then again, I'm not the target audience with $55 million for a tourist space flight.
 
Was the advent of automobiles commercial or science? I truly don't know, just asking.

Like most innovations, I would say the science preceded the development of the products. Had to know how to refine oil for human use and that came from scientific work, etc, inventors and engineers take the science and put it into a usable form.

I know he was referring to his scientific work but when Isaac Newton said "If I can see great distances it is only because I stand on the shoulders of giants". Same idea although cross-disciplinary.

Knowledge is contextual and we know just what we know at a given moment In time and we build from there.

So, I'd say the science comes first most of the time.

Just my 2 penies. :)
 
What this is to me, is the first step to opening up space to commercialization and that is huge. From mining asteroids to exploration, adventures, entertainment, and all that we can't even envision from the tech that will be developed for all these endeavors and those we can't even envision yet.

Today was a momentous step for the human race.
 
Meh.
I’m with UT on this.

A billionaire having fun with his money. Branson has been doing this for decades; this is just the most impressive of the lot.


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Was the advent of automobiles commercial or science? I truly don't know, just asking.
I'm not sure. But in the movie Seabiscuit, Jeff Bridges, as the Horse's owner Charles Howard, played a great Auto Huckster. :rofl:
 
Branson's flight is the culmination of an incredible free-market/techno story. Peter Diamandis was frustrated with decades of NASA's slow & costly progress in making space part of the human domain. He created the private $10 million X-Prize for the first private party to create a craft capable of putting 3 people into space 2X in a 2 wk period. Funded by Anousheh Ansari, an Iranian American woman entrepreneur, in 2004 Burt Rutan, who also invented the first plane to fly around the world non-stopped, won the prize, with sponsorship from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.

Branson bought Burt's company as Virgin Galactic and worked for more years to refine a system with crafts that could be a viable space tourist business. This flight demonstrates to the world his success! It's like Rearden in Atlas Shrugged going on the first ride of the John Galt Line over a bridge made of his own metal! An inspirational event marking an incredible achievement: creating a private space tourism company. And I'm looking forward to Bezos' flight as well!

The private Space Race is on and much like the auto industry at the turn of the last century, great things are afoot if we just allow it.
 
All these rich kids could do so much more to help the world then pretending to be astronauts.
 
Like most innovations, I would say the science preceded the development of the products. Had to know how to refine oil for human use and that came from scientific work, etc, inventors and engineers take the science and put it into a usable form.

I know he was referring to his scientific work but when Isaac Newton said "If I can see great distances it is only because I stand on the shoulders of giants". Same idea although cross-disciplinary.

Knowledge is contextual and we know just what we know at a given moment In time and we build from there.

So, I'd say the science comes first most of the time.

Just my 2 penies. :)
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NERD!!!
 
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NERD!!!

Yeah, but I'm the coolest nerd you'll ever meet. I run with Hell's Angels to classical musicians to philosophers to computer geeks and I fit in with all of them in some way. :)
 
All these rich kids could do so much more to help the world then pretending to be astronauts.
With JL on this. He does with his life what he wishes to do. I will not criticize.
Yeah, but I'm the coolest nerd you'll ever meet. I run with Hell's Angels to classical musicians to philosophers to computer geeks and I fit in with all of them in some way. :)
Yes you are.
 
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