Bezos to Fly on Rocket

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Why does Blue Origin try to surpass SpaceX? If Bezos wants to fly to space, let him do it, but his attempts to succeed in the race between SpaceX, BlueOrigin, and other private space endeavors are useless. SpaceX is a leader and nothing can change it.
 
Branson is planning to fly on Virgin Galactic on July 11th beating Bezos to the space-line.
Bragging rights/publicity stunt.
If successful Branson will beat Bezos to near space.
Bezos will be the first to space.
Virgin Galactic's Spaceship Two is not capable of going past the Karman Line (100 km or 62 miles).
That is the internationally accepted boundary where "space" begins, although NASA and the US military define space as 50 miles/80 km above the earth.
Bezos' New Shepard has exceeded the Karman Line numerous times.
And Musk could have easily pulled rank and put himself on Dragon Crew 1 back in April and beat both of them to orbit.
 
cool stuff for the billionaires to do and to show they have big testicles.

Remember that VCR's and CD players were also beyond the reach of the average person when they first came out. I'm confident the price of these New Shepard and SpaceShipTwo-style flights will gradually fall until the point that the average person could spend their vacation money on a space flight.
 
That would be a short vacation. Not for me.

The flight itself would be short, but I know Blue Origin at least has advertised an "experience" with a day or two of training before you actually make your flight. I'm pretty sure VG is doing something similar, possibly with a flight aboard the white knight before you get to make your flight in SS2.
 
So the upcoming options are:

A. Below the Karman line, more 0G time, in a plane that lands on a runway with Branson.
B: Above the Karman line, less 0G time, in a rocket, and landing under a parachute with Bezos.

As for me, I'm not much into flying myself lately and I bet the view is pretty similar, so I guess it depends on the cost. I'll decide after I have enough savings in my piggy bank 🙄.
 
Between the two options, the VG flight seems much more dynamic and 'thrill seeking', and in my mind, a lot more bang for your buck. The BO flight is more classic astronaut stuff, more of a taste of going to space in the classic 'spam in a can' mode. If offered, I'd take either trip, but the VG version sure seems a lot more exciting. Just being suspended from a huge mothership on the way up seems like a pretty cool ride to me.

If SpaceX ever does offer rides in the Starship, I have to believe that the landing will beat either of the above for sheer white-knuckled excitement, with everyone onboard holding their breath until landing. One of the consequences of their very public flight test program and the dramatic endings we've all seen.


Tony
 
If SpaceX ever does offer rides in the Starship, I have to believe that the landing will beat either of the above ...

I think that landing is something no one ever experienced yet except maybe a few Space X astronauts (did they?) And it may well be an exclusive Space X capability for many years to come.
 
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