Tropophy Winner of the Week: Virgin Galactic

Published by Jarred on January 24, 2008 in Space and Tropophy. View Comments

Before I introduce this week’s winner, let me make two disclosures.

  1. At least two of the writers here at Tropophilia are huge space junkies.  Taylor and I both went to Space Camp, were (and, come Christmas, will be born-again) Trekkies, and still get jazzed over anything that manages to exit the Earth’s atmosphere for destinations both known and unknown, explored and unexplored.  Space is indeed the final frontier and – being both Americans and bros, and thus by nature in love with chasing frontiers – we can’t help but be obsessed with it.
  2. I watched The Astronaut Farmer courtesy of Netflix last night, and while the movie was a little too cheesy and warm-and-fuzzy for me, I still had my heart in my throat and a little water in my eyes when this everyday dude finally gets his homemade rocket off the ground, into orbit, and then back down to Earth.

And so, with those disclosures made, it is my pleasure to announce that the recipient of this week’s Tropophy is Virgin Galactic.  Yesterday, Virgin Chairman Richard Branson unveiled the design of SpaceShipTwo, the improved iteration of the SpaceShipOne model designed by Burt Rutan which won the Ansari X Prize in 2004.  By the end of 2010, this vessel will be taking civilians on trips into space.  Fo’ real, yo.

Test flights on the model are to begin later this year.  On each trip, it will travel almost 70 miles above the surface of the Earth, allowing passengers to experience zero gravity for almost five minutes before returning to land.  Holding six passengers and two pilots, SpaceShipTwo will be launched from White Knight Two, a sort of mothership that will carry the spacecraft to an altitude of 50,000 feet before releasing it to be powered by its own rocket engine.  The whole package will leave the ground from Spaceport America, under construction in New Mexico.

While tickets costs about $200,000 now, almost 85,000 people have expressed interest in purchasing them.  200 lucky first-adopters have already confirmed their flights in two years.  Virgin Galactic hopes the price will drop as the flights become more scalable, but this ain’t ever gonna be cheap.  Still – think about it.  In less than three years, civilians will routinely be taking trips into space.  Wow.  It was also noted that while the idea of experiencing weightlessness and – when SpaceShipThree is eventually developed – orbiting the Earth is game-changing, the technology can also be used to improve and shorten international flights (instead of going supersonic, you’ll be going superaltitude).

Whether you think this is just a space geek’s fantasy or a real breakthrough in human technological advancement, you can’t help but admit that it is a big deal.  A big, delicious, awesome deal.  And thus, worthy of the Tropophy.  Congratulations to Burt Rutan, Richard Branson, and Virgin Galactic for helping humans come closer to living the dream.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

If you enjoyed this post, you might also like:

- "Tropophy Winner of the Week: Google.org", posted by Taylor on January 18, 2008

- "TROPOphy Winner(s) of the Week: the Presidential Candidates", posted by Jarred on January 13, 2008

- "Questioning Things: Vol. II", posted by Taylor on March 26, 2008

- "A Tropophy Update", posted by Jarred on January 31, 2008

- "A Geek Out Moment: Our Tiny Blue Atom Planet", posted by Jarred on September 9, 2009

  • Definitely, Ashish. I think Abrams is taking a big risk by embracing this challenge -- especially by having new actors represent the younger versions of the original characters, characters who to this point have been defined by the great actors that played them. Seriously, who else can have Kirk's ridiculous swagger other than Shatner?

    But if Abrams pulls it off, and manages to please not only closet Trekkies like us, but the Trekkie nation out there that still goes to conventions... then he will have executed a great coup, indeed. I'm pumped to see what he comes up with.
  • James
    Private, civilian run ventures into previously government-only territory make me happy. NASA, to me, was a very necessary part of the government in the 1960s and 1970s. We were in a war, and NASA brought a bloodless victory to a specific battle in that war. Ever since then, NASA has been a waste of tax dollars and resources.

    I hope we see more private groups run by civilians tackling challenges more efficiently, more economically, and with much more style than the government ever could.
  • Ashish
    I think we can both agree the new Star Trek film is something to look forward to. The franchise has really gone downhill since the end of DS9 (my favorite Trek series). Voyager was mediocre, Nemesis was disappointing, and the less said about Enterprise the better. But I was really impressed by Cloverfield, so I think Abrams might be up to the task.
  • Buzzkill! Just kidding. :)

    Thanks for your thoughts, Ashish. I certainly agree that, generally, $200,000 could be spent in much better ways than on a ticket for a few hours in space. But I would be careful before assuming that all two hundred of the confirmed passengers simply "waste" their money on private leisure.

    What if the first in line to get on SpaceShipTwo is Bill Gates, who has not only invested millions of his personal fortune in philanthropy but is also preparing to transition to full-time work with his Foundation? Doesn't he have the right, especially after having given and continuing to give back to the world, to spend some of his money on one of his own dreams? I know, I know, Bill Gates already has everything he could ever want (except a competitive operating system, but I digress)... but I don't think he should be stigmatised for using his own resources to achieve one of his own goals, especially after already haven given so much.

    I do realize and admit that Gates is an exception among the corporate elite to have been so generous with his money. It could very well be that all two hundred of the confirmed space tourists are miserly old million- and billionaires who have never given to charity, never reinvested in their communities, and just want to take their families into space because they spoil them rotten every chance they get. These people, indeed, should be stigmatised. And I also am not saying that there is a threshold of "enough" giving of one's self and assets to others, and after that threshold is surpassed then you can start spending your wealth on your recreation. But I think it is hasty to say that anyone who pays $200,000 to go into space is choosing their recreation over their neighbor's wellbeing. That should be determined on a case-by-case basis.
  • Ashish
    I'm not sure envy is quite what I'd feel toward someone who would spend 200,000 dollars on such a trip. Everyone is entitled to their fun and their mental health, but any form of recreation with such a hefty price tag also carries a hefty opportunity cost. Imagine what a 200,000 dollar contribution to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, for example, could do.

    I understand and appreciate the point that the development of this kind of technology toward more useful ends requires consumers to provide an incentive to entrepreneurs by way of their purchases, but that shouldn't necessarily stop us from stigmatizing people who put their own pleasure ahead of a greater potential gain to those in their community. And if you are a political liberal who thinks the government should expand its welfare provisions at home and international aid abroad, you should play the role of benefactor to the greatest extent possible before asking the state to compel your fellow citizens to do so through tax burdens they may not want to carry.
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