NukeML
July 11, 2021, 4:00pm
12
The von Kármán limit.
The Kármán line is an attempt to define a boundary between Earth's atmosphere and outer space, which is important for legal and regulatory purposes: aircraft and spacecraft fall under different jurisdictions and are subject to different treaties.
The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), an international standard-setting and record-keeping body for aeronautics and astronautics, defines the Kármán line as the altitude of 100 kilometres (54 nautical miles; 62 miles; 330,000 feet) above Ear...
100km, or 328kft. But Nasa and the US Air Force use 50 miles instead which is what Branson hit.
So that will be the next line in the billionaire pissing contest. “First Billionaire to reach the real edge of space”
ETA: spelling
16 Likes
It does have the advantage of not looking like a penis.
7 Likes
NukeML
July 11, 2021, 4:09pm
15
Well, it’s not for me to say whether that’s an advantage or not. To each their own!
8 Likes
Jeff Bezos watching Branson: “Yeah, but my spaceship looks more virile and girthy.”
5 Likes
So now do I get to use my headline from the other thread ?
Billionaire Bezos Berates Begrudges Being Beaten By Billionaire Branson’s Better Booster Boondoggle
24 Likes
If Spectre scoops up all the billionaire astronauts,
…how do we convince Spectre to keep them?
18 Likes
Bernel
July 11, 2021, 4:30pm
21
Being SPECTRE they naturally hold an auction. Highest bidder get to decide.
4 Likes
Except that they’re all Bond villains. How does that work?
10 Likes
Virgin Orbit (a different company owned by Branson) has already begun commercial satellite launches. It’s fairly boring though, launching small rockets dropped from a modified 747 rather that a weird custom launch vehicle.
Virgin Orbit was a company within the Virgin Group that provided launch services for small satellites. The company was formed in 2017 as a spin-off of Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic space tourism venture to develop and market the LauncherOne rocket, which had previously been a project under Virgin Galactic. LauncherOne was an air-launched two-stage launch vehicle designed to deliver 300 kg of payload to low Earth orbit.
On December 30, 2021, Virgin Orbit underwent a SPAC merger with NextGen...
5 Likes
I have a feeling we’ll be OK
14 Likes
Wake me when they award “first billionaire to reach escape velocity”.
9 Likes
Remember, Earth had to go through WWIII to get to first contact. So the billionaires are helping in their own way.
6 Likes
I’d prefer terminal velocity , as long as it actually is.
6 Likes
atl
July 11, 2021, 5:05pm
29
The media is so freaking lazy on this point. There already was a billionaire in space, Guy Laliberté, in 2009.
Guy Laliberté, OC CQ (born 2 September 1959) is a Canadian billionaire businessman, and poker player. Along with Gilles Ste-Croix, he is the co-founder of Cirque du Soleil. In January 2018, Laliberté was ranked by Forbes as the 11th wealthiest Canadian.
In 1984, Laliberté founded Cirque du Soleil. The Canadian circus company's shows have since been seen by more than 90 million people worldwide. Prior, he busked, performing as an accordion player, stiltwalker and fire-eater. In 2006, Laliberté wa...
10 Likes
Remember that next time you buy a game or stream movie instead of washing the feet of the poor.
2 Likes
Shuck
July 11, 2021, 5:31pm
31
“capture his magical words and share them with the world later.”
Oh no, insane billionaires are now doing spells in space!
6 Likes