Oooh the “Golgafrinchan Option”
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Given that we are the descendants of the ‘B’ ark passengers is that really a good option?
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Work with what you know is what I always say. 
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Yes, I"m definitely a direct action person. When the pandemic hit and older folks were seen to be vulnerable, so many of them disappeared from the work environment. There has been no unemployment assistance in Mexico up to recently for the elderly, so I’m told by Mexican friends. Obrador supposedly has a long-term plan to get to that point.
In the meantime, I’m helping out the folks I see before me so they don’t fall through the cracks.
ETA: To get back to the main point…4 million dead, many out of work, many sick for the long run. The pandemic should take precedence, I believe.
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That’s a good point! This money could also be spent on exploring other planets, instead of sending billionaires who wouldn’t know a star from a satellite on joyrides. 
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Much of which was originally funded by governments, in both capitalist with high tax bases and socialist economies.
We do love our great man theory here in America though…
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If these arrogant billionaires actually paid their fair share in taxes, we’d have more than enough money to take care of terrestrial matters and explore space.
It wouldn’t bankrupt them; they’d still have plenty of money to channel into their narcissistic, attention-seeking vanity projects. But we’d also have more resources to make sure people are fed, clothed, housed and educated. It doesn’t have to be an either/or question-- it can be “yes, and.”
But that’s less likely to happen when billionaires would rather hoard their wealth, spending it only on self-aggrandizing ventures, designed to make themselves look like heroes (and coincidentally, creating another field to monopolize and profit from, increasing their wealth even more.)
And before anyone says it, I’m in favor of space exploration. The scientific lessons learned benefit all of us. But the purpose behind all this isn’t to learn and improve lives-- it’s to boost egos. So sorry, I won’t be applauding these billionaires and their rocket-measuring contests. They aren’t heroes and they aren’t thinking of anyone else but themselves.
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British billionaire Sir Richard “Beardy” Branson on Sunday made a round trip of just over 170 kilometres in around 90 minutes.
[…]
ETA: Oh, and Jeff had this tweeted before Beardy launched
Well, he’s not wrong… But “Largest windows in space”, seriously?
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Can anyone name some dystopian sci fi films staring rich people going to space?
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Because the edge of space is kind of arbitrary, I would say reaching a stable orbit is a much more interesting accomplishment (you know, back when we first did it many decades ago)
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WTAF are you on about?
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Maybe he’s just lonely. Up there on his pedestal. All by himself.
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True, air-drop systems are out there, but my point was that the vehicle that launched Unity is too small to launch useful payloads, and air-dropping as a system is a tough sell even with a larger launch vehicle.
t’s a pretty bonkers launch system. A rocket that uses RP-1 (kerosene, that’s fine) and liquid oxygen (requires fueling just before launch) that gets dropped, then ignited while in approximate freefall at hopefully the correct orientation. Additionally from a guidance perspective this kind of launch is a nightmare for the onboard INS.
I don’t see this system ever being used for much more than non-critical payloads. That is, we won’t see a NASA deep space probe launched like this. But it has some utility in that it can fly above much of the bad weather that could keep a land-based launch grounded.
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and the BEST part of Guy Laliberte’s story? He was actually HOMELESS at one period in his life, sleeping on park benches. Quite the life trajectory that!
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but…ugh it pains me to type this…he wasn’t launched from a private space port on a privately developed vehicle.
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I did not expect this, but I guess it partially explains why Musk hasn’t been sending out petty tweets directed at Branson like Bezos has.
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