He said
If you thought there was no such thing as space travel for the common man, you're only partly correct. Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic company will send its clients travelling where now many men have gone before, hovering just above the planet's atmosphere.
It will be available to everyone, though like most things only the very rich and well connected will truly have the opportunity to travel in space. It's no joke that you can go to the Virgin Galactic website and click on a link for "space tickets," which then directs interested people sitting on $200,000 and absolutely no new places to travel to on Earth, to make reservations by contacting an "accredited space agent."
Accredited space agent is what I always hoped my job title would be because I think that's what James Bond will be in the future. But really, they are just regular travel agents who will talk about space with you and jot down your credit card information.
You need to train with the crew for two or three days before your trip into space. That is something the kids of tomorrow won't have to do because they will be receiving all the elementary space-travel training they need by the time they're eight years old. In those days, space-travel training will be considered elementary.
Why wouldn't everyone want the chance to be blasted into space with the opportunity to float around in zero gravity for a little while with five rich friends? We kind of take it for granted that we know what the Earth looks like from space, but we have really only known for the last 50 years. My grandparents couldn't have had any idea growing up except from artist's conceptualized idea. I've seen concept art involving space, and it's not always very accurate.
This is something I would love to do, so starting today I will be accepting donations at the Mercury office, and you can all help me reach zero-gravity. I imagine there's something very serene about looking out at the Earth from the quiet of space and knowing that you just gave $200,000 to Richard Branson.
She said
Why would a civilization that is rapidly burning its way through precious non-renewable resources during a recession start sending the rich and famous into space? Are we really in a position to waste the materials and resources to send billionaires into space for a vacation? Last thing I'd heard, there aren't very many countries that are sitting very financially comfortable right now. Certainly these people with the cash to be building rockets to send people into space for fun have other options to spend their money on, like maybe helping the poor?
I'm not at all against space exploration. I think that learning about our universe is a great thing, and could someday benefit all of human kind. But these commercial travellers will not be helping anyone except for the business people who will be lining their pockets with cash.
Plus, space travel is dangerous. Astronauts have to go through years of intense training, both mental and physical, before they are able to head into outer space. Sending rich, chubby billionaires into space could actually be dangerous. There's the risk of injury, and imagine if one of them gets up there and starts to freak out? I've seen Apollo 15, I know this happens.
We also don't want to trivialize what real astronauts do. For so long, these men and women have been international heroes. Sending some random business person into space is just an insult to the hard work and dedication of the brave men and women who pioneered the technology to even make commercial space travel a possibility.
In summary: just don't do it. Don't send people into space. Let them have their fun at places like Disney World or the Mall of America, and get the economy generating again. Space Mountain is pretty fun too.
