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Virgin Galactic's Boss Says Space Travel Will Never Be Cheap

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Kaiser-Machead
05/05/09

In reply to Virgin Galactic's Boss Says Space Travel Will Never Be Cheap
Forget what this guy says. Virgin won't be the only ones trying this in the future. Other more visionary engineers and designers and industrialists will eventually try an approach that works. These assumptions always stem from our limited understanding of technology, and then some ambitious crazy person/people in a laboratory, or a workshop, will come up with something that blows our minds away and we move forward.

I think we'll always need to explore. If not, well we'll need to rely on the mentalists to retain knowledge for us while we fall into a Dark Age.
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frigg
05/05/09

In reply to Virgin Galactic's Boss Says Space Travel Will Never Be Cheap
A catastrophic event in the next few thousand years sounds alarmist. The sun will blow up in 5 billion years, some other life-imperiling natural catastrophe will almost certainly happen before that, and could technically happen at any time. But the chances of it happening in the next few thousand years is as unlikely as our ability to respond to it with this kind of nascent technology.

I wonder how many years it would take to develop space exploration to the point where it could conceivably shuttle our species to another home if the Earth became a big hot mess? Given that space flight is only 50 years old, I wonder what the practical goals could be in 500 years (outposts on all planets?), 5,000 years (travel beyond solar system?) or 50,000 years (wormholes, universal wifi with happy meals, etc.)?
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Geisrud
05/05/09

@frigg: Universal Wi-Fi wil NEVER be a reality.
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fuzz54
05/05/09

@frigg: Within 500 years (probably more like 100) we will have created AI that is smarter than us and getting smarter. At that point I think all bets are off.
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frigg
05/05/09

@fuzz54: I take it you've read "The Singularity."

@radarskiy: you wouldn't necessarily have to transport the whole population to save the species. You're also assuming birth rates will continue to accelerate. It's possible with dramatically longer life spans, birth rates will dramatically decrease.
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Gann
05/05/09

In reply to Virgin Galactic's Boss Says Space Travel Will Never Be Cheap
It'll be expensive until I finish building my space ladder.
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norfizzle
05/05/09

In reply to Virgin Galactic's Boss Says Space Travel Will Never Be Cheap
I think 'never' was the wrong choice of words.
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Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
05/05/09

@norfizzle: At the rate we're going, 10,000 will be "cheap in about 10 years.
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aerospaceman
05/05/09

In reply to Virgin Galactic's Boss Says Space Travel Will Never Be Cheap
what is 'cheap' supposed to mean?
Airline travel isn't cheap and yet many people do it, mainly because they have to.
We will have extensive space travel when we actually need it, when there is a military or economic purpose to it. Governments and corporations lack foresight beyond five years, so by the time we really need to send tons of cargo and hundreds of people up there ASAP we will be completely unprepared for it, in typical human fashion.
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ripfire
05/05/09

@aerospaceman: Cheap is %2 of your annual salary.
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bosskev
05/05/09

In reply to Virgin Galactic's Boss Says Space Travel Will Never Be Cheap
Oh, man! I feel for those poor planes. I'm wondering if a good aeronautical surgeon could separate them, let them lead normal flights?
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frigg
05/05/09

@bosskev: The problem is they share a hydraulic system. If you separate them, one will no longer be operational. Which one flies, and which one hangs lifeless in some Godforsaken museum somewhere... that is a decision no aeronautical engineer should ever have to make.
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Skunky
05/05/09

@frigg: So they can't seperate and send everyone to the emergency bridge in case of a Borg ambush?
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frigg
05/05/09

@Skunky: Sadly, this generation of spaceship cannot separate without grave consequences to the vessel left behind. Not sure we should be talking about it here... the Borg could already be among us, watching, and waiting.
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OMG! Bacon!
05/05/09

In reply to Virgin Galactic's Boss Says Space Travel Will Never Be Cheap
Expensive until they make the magic space elevator?
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aerospaceman
05/05/09

@phoenix27:
technology is the new magic.
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Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
05/05/09

@aerospaceman: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
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