Space tourists splash down in Atlantic Ocean after three days in orbit The space tourist crew who spent three days orbiting Earth in a SpaceX Dragon capsule has returned to our planet in one piece. The gang, dubbed Inspiration4, splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast just after 1900 EST (2300 UTC) on Saturday. They were checked over by doctors and flown by helicopter to land. …
Laika, the first mammal in orbit, was just an ordinary straydog picked from the streets of Moscow. Luckily for her she was euthanised is space. Sooner or later a space tourism 'mission' will fail and the tourists can collect their posthumous Darwin Awards (*).
BTW IMHO Posts on ElReg on manned spaceflight should not be categorised as SCIENCE.
(*) See this followup video.
"Luckily for her she was euthanised is space."
Sadly Laika was not euthanised. She died in distress and probably pain when the heat shield failed.
'Unfortunately, loss of the heat shield made the temperature in the capsule rise unexpectedly, taking its toll on Laika. She died “soon after launch,” Russian medical doctor and space dog trainer Oleg Gazenko revealed in 1993. “The temperature inside the spacecraft after the fourth orbit registered over 90 degrees,” Lewis says. “There’s really no expectation that she made it beyond an orbit or two after that.”
'
Talking about Raining on the Parade. OK, the crew was really cargo or maybe the first cruise spaceship passengers. But then, like with aircraft, things have developed somewhat in the 60 years since the first manned flight, people went from "intrepid explorers going up in string and canvas contraptions, taking their lives in their hands" to "yet another plane load of tourists bound for Costa Whatever".
What SpaceX has really done is show both Virgin and Blue Origin just how much work they've got to do to be a credible space company. Especially as the booster and capsule used in this flight were used. That's quite an achievement -- and the 'crew' had in-flight entertainment as well. (Not to overlook the ukulele -- three days in a tin can with a ukulele...)
Sting - He has prior form when it comes to space...
"and possibly a movie deal,"
Netflix already have the rights to the documentary tracing them through training, lift off, orbit and landing. That's why there was so little video broadcast from orbit.
...and, FWIW, I just watched the first episode. that Jared Isaacman guy comes across as a really nice and down to earth guy (pun intended :-))
He appears to be self-made and is a self-confessed flight and space nut who put his dreams into action.
From the Wikipedia page "In 2004, Isaacman began taking flying lessons. In 2009, he set a world record for circumnavigating the globe.[7][9] He received a bachelor's degree in professional aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2011. He is flight qualified in multiple military jet aircraft.[4] In his 20s, he flew in many airshows, but by his 30s, he had stopped flying as such.[8]
"Where did you come up with the $200 million cost for the flight?
I haven't seen the actual cost anywhere. This article says tens of millions, others have guessed at different amounts.
But what do you care? A worthy charity got a great deal of money."
Well, I read other news sites, I didn't just pluck the figure of of my ass. It would make sense to cost that amount given how much the Russians were charging for seats to space.
Also, I don't care. I was just pointing out the irony. As for more money being raised for the Hospital from publicity and book deals etc. Well now that just is speculation. Although I'm sure they'll definitely get some side benefits.
The trip was intended to raise $200m for Memphis-based St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which specializes in tackling cancer among other things. Inspiration4 said it raised nearly $154m, and SpaceX supremo Elon Musk added he would donate $50m, taking them over their target.
When I see millions of charity and investment, I can't help but think that this is a tax fiddle.
Wouldn't they just pay the ticket price and donated separately? Why corporation should involve charity in the transaction?
Because the publicity is worth something to all the parties involved. The more entities involved in the process the more cost effective the donation is in terms of promoting positive public images.
And I am sure the tax benefits get divided among the parties so as to maximize those savings.
"How exactly did they raise the money?"
Generally the rich ask those poorer to put their hands in their pockets.
Don't get me wrong, I give to charity and I earn an average amount. What I don't do is give to charity based on appeals from these people. The rich should fund raise amongst their friends and leave it at that. I'd feel so bloody hypocritical asking ordinary people for money for a good cause of I could donate more than most of the people I was asking.
Boris is going to have a word with Jeff...
who is most probably quaking in his space boots right now a the prospect of Boris demanding he pay more tax.
Maybe Boris does not know our own laws and it's kind of confirming my first comment that Chancellor is not going to lift a finger to tax a family friend. Going to beg foreign company to pay tax, when he could just nudge HMRC to get to work, is a great display of weakness.
All Bezos has to do is to suggest that he'll commission an Amazon Prime TV programme - "The Greatest British Prime Minister since Churchill" with a nod and a wink, and Boris will think it's him and forget all about what he came to talk about and give Bezos some honorary title in next Birthday/New Year honours list.
There is an interesting take on this story in the Grauniad. It seems some the actual cost of the flight probably came from Netflix funding the documentary about the flight and all the prep.
Much is made of the $200 but basically it is an irrelevant figure since it has nothing to do with the flight at all other than this is the sponsorship funds given to the charity. As other stories have suggested, the actual cost was probably in the 10s of millions. However much it actually cost, it was probably good value at 3days and 45ish orbits when you compare it to almost $0.5M for a Virgin Galactic 30minute flight to the edge of space and straight back down or Blue Origin's 10minutes just out of measurable atmosphere.
Billionaires are careful to add 'ordinary people' to these flights for the PR value but the reality is that in our lifetime space tourism will always be the province of the mega wealthy.
The only good thing to come out of this is the further verification that a far broader swath of humanity can be flown with minimal training which could have implications for scientists.
+1 for that and +1 for SpaceX but -1,000,000,000 for the billionaires.
I don't ever expect it to cost a few hundreds , or even thousands, given basic costs of fuel and equipment.
But if capsules and rockets can start to be made in hundreds rather than single units, and if they can be reused hundreds of times (more like a modern airliner than a traditional rocket), and if capacity could be increased to say 20-50 people per flight, then costs could probably fall into tens of thousands per person.
Still prohibitive for most people but something that the middle class can aspire to as a one-off after a lot of saving, just as now happens for a Maldives honeymoon or round-the-world cruise
Elon said that fuel costs for Starship will be on the order of $2M per flight. The crew version will be able to carry 100 people to orbit, which gives a per-passenger fuel cost of $20,000.
It's obviously going to be more than $2M per launch, but it is starting to look like saving for "the journey of a lifetime" is becoming more achievable for "normal" people.
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