The race for space used to be between countries. Now it’s among billionaires. By now you probably know that “Virgin Galactic’s” Richard Branson flew to the edge of outer space Sunday in an aircraft that looks like something right off the Northrop Grumman production line and nothing at all like a flying saucer.
In doing this, he beat two other space-hungry billionaires,
Jeff Bezos formerly of Amazon.com and Elon Musk of battery making and the cars
that use them, Teslas.
So there they were, Branson and five crew members 53 miles
and change above the New Mexico desert. They made the trip up and back
down in about 15 minutes. We’re not sure what it cost. Or what it
accomplished.
Leave the sands of nothingness touch the universe of nothingness.
Well, not exactly nothingness. There’s plenty of stuff up there.
Planets. Asteroids (run for your lives.) Alien invaders (run faster.)
Jewish Space Lasers, (You can run but you can’t hide.) Black holes. (Authorized
particles only.)
The flight raised questions, the main one being what’s the
point? But there are others.
Did Branson and the crew have to go through a TSA line
to board the thing? Did they have to go through Customs when they
landed? Did Virgin Galactic manage the greatest trick of an airline,
losing luggage? How much luggage do you need for a 15 minute round trip
to and from nowhere? Especially in First Class.
The thing that looks like an airplane was the mother ship.
The actual touching of space took place in a self-powered capsule. The
capsule was not powered by Elon Musk’s batteries, like the ones that caught
fire on Boing Dreamliners. And there was no incoming internet, so Branson
couldn’t browse Amazon while traveling.
Five hundred spectators watched the event from the
ground. Branson’s family was among them. So may have been a funeral
director who, fortunately, is not paid by the minute.
To his credit, Bezos sent his congratulations and an Amazon
gift card for $23.45 (No free shipping at that rate.) He also tweeted that his
space voyage in a few days will be “better.”
Sounds like bullying, no? Richard, call your lawyer.
The whole voyage was live streamed at Branson’s insistence.
CNN covered it like it was a coronation or the trial of a football star accused
of murder, only shorter. Much shorter.
So get ready for your tour, you who have too much time and
money. This trio of billionaires isn’t doing these stunts for their own
amusement, at least not entirely. They’re going to try to sell you
tickets. And they’re not going to be cheap.
I’m Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you’re welcome
to them. ®
Any Questions? wesrichards@gmail.com
© WR 2021
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