Posted on 07/07/2007 1:38:46 PM PDT by KevinDavis
As an investment opportunity this plan is way out there. It’s questionable, too, in terms of the planet’s future well being.
An Associated Press article this week reported that a Boston-area investment group, Boston Harbor Angels, which consists of fat cats with money to spare, is teaming up with an outfit called XCOR Aerospace of Mojave to launch a space tourism venture.
According to the AP, XCOR is building a “reusable suborbital vehicle named Xerus” and if all goes as planned, travelers aboard the Xerus would “experience up to 3 minutes of weightlessness some 62 miles about Earth.”
The rocket company hopes to make big bucks by charging thousands of dollars per ride and its marketing undoubtedly would be pitched to the wealthy looking for yet another one-of-a-kind experience to relieve the tedium of their daily routine. There would be no group rates: the Xerus would accommodate only one passenger per ride.
Whether there would be enough people in the well-to-do class ready to risk life and limb for a brief space ride so that the bottom line would pay off for XCOR and the Boston Harbor Angels remains unknown. Other entrepreneurs working on their space tourism ventures include Virgin Group tycoon Richard Branson, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos.
There’s even a trade group dedicated to people interested in this type of far-out venture – the International Association of Space Entrepreneurs.
While these ventures have a futuristic outlook, what no one questions is whether the planet, already inundated with harmful emissions, needs yet more of them from space vehicles that serve no other purpose that to give rides for people with money to burn for a brief personal adventure.
Planes provide needed transportation and scientific rockets hopefully will benefit humankind. But do we really need to unload more fuel emissions into the skies with tourist rockets while we haven’t yet brought the Earth’s present overload of toxic gases under control? Just wondering.
Gotta love the so called “progressives” who are all for anything that opposes actual progress.
Nor have I...
That is also how I see this article.. A whine fest..
Is there some fundamental issue that makes it unworkable? If it could be made to work the cost effectiveness would be extraordinary compared to the what we’re lugging up now.
Wow...this article is probably the dumbest thing I’ve seen all week.
And I’ve seen some dumb stuff on the interweb this week, let me tell YOU.
It is called developing new technologies and it is going to take awhile.
It sounds like sour grapes to me. Basically I can’t go into space so others shouldn’t go into space.. It is also dumb also..
To answer the question, yes, the planet really needs this. There.
Aside from whether this is a viable business idea, the amount of exhaust would be insignificant, as would the author of this question.
In order for the human race to survive..
That is true.. Air flight was once only for the rich, cars was once only for the rich.. It takes time for the price to come down.
“...electromagnetic propulsion...”
Electromagnetic propulsion is for real. I know a group of engineers who know how, have done on a small scale, say it will work on a large scale. This can be accomplished w/o requiring any fuel - the energy is available.
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