A billionaire funds a vanity project

[Aviation Pro]

To get to near space and everyone hails it as a history-making milestone?

Yeah, ole Rich, Alan Shephard did that 60 years ago.

Call me when you have something of scientific value to add to your little ego trip.

[underpants]

1. I'm posting this everywhere.

[Sherman A1]

2. Agreed

I fall to see any reason to be excited about this .

[PortTack]

3. Good one!

The human race is never going to mars or colonizing the moon

The money they are spending could save entire populations, help stop drought, educate the next generation of REAL scientists and astrophysicists..and on and on

[sanatanadharma]

4. Episode #1 of the new "Life Styles of the Rich and Famous"

'Bouncing Boobs in Space' might be a suitable title. The Kardashian trip epidode will have a large audience.

[scarletlib]

5. I respectfully disagree.

NASA has been hampered for years with cutbacks in funding and political meddling.

The space program resulted in numerous technological and scientific developments that we use today.

If billionaires are willing to spend their money to advance science and exploration, I will not complain.

Yes, at first it may just be rich people only but to be “profitable “ the programs will grow. I look forward to a moon base, etc.

We are after all a capitalist society.

Finally today was a real achievement in space history. This flight was the first to be achieved with a horizontal takeoff and landing.

Flame away.

[Aviation Pro]

10. Check the history of the X-15.

Been bouncing off the top of the atmosphere since 1963 at Mach 6.

[scarletlib]

12. I am aware.

However, the Virgin plane carried the a middle section specifically designed to breech the atmosphere. Both parts then return and land horizontally. Somewhat different functions between the X-15 and the Virgin plane.

[Quixote1818]

6. Why isn't there a billionaire race to solve world hunger instead of playing with rockets? nt

[PortTack]

7. This!!

[ProfessorGAC]

8. Well, That's Easy

Going to space is something we've known how to do for 60+ years. Now, its strictly a matter of money.
Solving hunger has unknown solutions. Much, much harder.
And, it's not glamorous.
That is why there's no race to do it.

[Retrograde]

9. What do you expect the ultra rich to do these days?

How are they supposed to show that they're superior to the rest of us? Used to be they could go to Antarctica or the top of Mt. Everest* to show they had more money than they knew what to do with, but nowadays just about anyone can do that. So how can they conspicuously spend money in new ways? At least some of the robber barons from the late 1800s put some of their ill-gotten gains into founding museums, libraries, and universities to benefit at least some of the unwashed masses.

*fun fact: I recently finished reading "Himalaya: a Human History": George Everest, the head of the British agency charged with mapping northern India and for whom the mountain was named, thought that geographic features in the maps his agency produced should keep their local names, and objected to having that tall mountain named for him

[oasis]

11. Future "passengers" traveling to empty spaces off this planet will

do so by the burning of a ridiculous amount of rocket fuel.