Wednesday, July 21, 2021

I remain unimpressed

I like most space things, and think a permanent lunar base would be a worthwhile endeavour.

But these suborbital flights taken by billionaires are just joy rides for the rich.   Last night, I started watching live the preparation for Bezos's flight, and thought the countdown was paused at 15 mins.  I went and had a shower and by the time I got to bed, the capsule was back on the ground.   

The brief bit of freefall at the top of these rides seems hardly worth it - going for a ride on a "vomit comet" plane could achieve that, and give a much longer overall time to bounce off walls.

If the point is to see the curvature of the Earth and a black, space-like sky, I still think a high altitude balloon ride may be better value.  A much, much longer viewing time, too.

I also think that one of these suborbital flights will crash soon enough, and the market for them will dwindle pretty quickly. 

I don't like being cynical of high tech, rocket related stuff; but on this, I am.

1 comment:

GMB said...

Yes all complete bullshit. A waste of resources.