The future is...what the heck is that?

[MindDetective]

Branson unveils the VSS Enterprise, the flagship of the Virgin Galactic.

I can see why they made the design like that but it is not even close to what I imagined a launch delivering system would look like.

 

[Shegokigo]

I can tell you RIGHT now, the flight will not end well.

 

[North_Ranger]

I'll wait until after the equivalent of a Titanic accident IN SPACE. After hearing how well NASA does ship safety, I think it will take a metaphorical iceberg-in-the-dark to get these people to iron out the safety issues.

 

[Espy]

Well that looks dumb. Spaceship FAIL.

 

[MindDetective]

Note that the spaceship itself is the thing in the middle. It disconnects and then boosts into suborbital space where people can throw up for two hours before coming back to Earth (the wings unfold for the trip). The rest of it is just the delivery system to take the ship high enough for the launch. All in all, pretty wacky.

 

[Bonhomme Richard]

What a heap...it doesn't even have proper spaceflight nacelles.

 

[Hansagan]

Geez, what a bunch of grumpy gusses......come on guys, This is the future beginning right here. If space tourism becomes a commercial viability and the price keeps dropping....well, who knows...the sky is literally the limit.

I like the ship....its like a high tech version of the Wright Brothers plane, its new frontiers, its pushing the envelope.

 

[@Li3n]

I for one approve of this future death trap for people with too much money...

 

[North_Ranger]

I'm still gonna wait until they give us escape pods...

 

[Null]

It's like taking a U-2 flight except that it uses a 'parasite' launch system.

The vehicle itself /is/ the escape pod. Anything else, at that atmosphere, and you aren't going to have to worry about it. Unless they decide to revamp the MOOSE system, and that would increase the payload too much.

 

[Shakey]

:humph:
I want my space ships to look like this.

That's not even close.

 

[Shegokigo]

I will enjoy video of the landings.

 

[Bowielee]

I'll wait until after the equivalent of a Titanic accident IN SPACE. After hearing how well NASA does ship safety, I think it will take a metaphorical iceberg-in-the-dark to get these people to iron out the safety issues.

FYI, this wasn't developed by NASA, it was privately developed. Generally, technologies get safer when they're out of the hands of government agencies specifically because of the liability factors for private corporations.

 

[Frank]

I'll wait until after the equivalent of a Titanic accident IN SPACE. After hearing how well NASA does ship safety, I think it will take a metaphorical iceberg-in-the-dark to get these people to iron out the safety issues.

Pfff, NASA is a government agency that's hideously underfunded for what they're expected to do. Branson intends to make fat, awesome monies off of this venture, I'm guessing the safety measures put into this thing will dwarf NASA.

 

[Dusty668]

I'll wait until after the equivalent of a Titanic accident IN SPACE. After hearing how well NASA does ship safety, I think it will take a metaphorical iceberg-in-the-dark to get these people to iron out the safety issues.

Yah after all their first test pilot was a 50 year old geezer.

 

[North_Ranger]

You know what else was made by the private sector? The Titanic.

I stand behind my statement.

 

[LordRavage]

I am still waiting for my Veritech fighters.

 

[Null]

Well, if the SDF-1 hasn't crashed into a small atoll in the Pacific yet, we're not going to have the protoculture to make them, now are we?

 

[LordRavage]

Well, if the SDF-1 hasn't crashed into a small atoll in the Pacific yet, we're not going to have the protoculture to make them, now are we?

The government is hoarding all the protoculture. I know it.

Sounds like they got to you.

 

[phil]

Where are the phaser banks? I don't know what they plan on doing when the Romulans attack.

 

[Iaculus]

Hey, I get a VF-25 Messiah for my next birthday, I'm happy. Not to say that something as basic as an EX-Gear wouldn't be fun.

The Enterprise? I don't see what everyone's getting so worked up about. The bit going into space just looks like a downsized shuttle.

 

[Chazwozel]

You know what else was made by the private sector? The Titanic.

I stand behind my statement.

The Titanic was one ship out of how many that White Star Line (now Carnival Corp.) has made?

You're pretty much saying that Boeing is a failure because out of the hundreds of planes they made like 20 crashed over the last 70 years.


Lord help the car companies with this logic.

 

[Kitty Sinatra]

Exactly when has the private sector had a polished safety record?

There's been a hell of a lot of poorly built cars get recalled, for example. And liability issues have never stopped the tobacco industry from killing their customers.

Also, I think Chaz's argument would also be an argument for NASA's safety record, too, especially as all their flights should be included, whether by shuttle, rocket, plane or saucer.

 

[Chazwozel]

Exactly when has the private sector had a polished safety record?

There's been a hell of a lot of poorly built cars get recalled, for example. And liability issues have never stopped the tobacco industry from killing their customers.

No one builds anything with 100% security for your safety. I think it's funny when people don't realize the impossibility of it. If it's your time to die, it's your time. No reason to sit in a bubble dome all your life.

 

[Kitty Sinatra]

You haven't seen this knife I built for you. It's 100% nerf foam for your safety. Sure it doesn't cut anything, but that just means you'll leave it in the drawer, thus eliminating the risk of poking your eye with it.

 

[Chazwozel]

You haven't seen this knife I built for you. It's 100% nerf foam for your safety. Sure it doesn't cut anything, but that just means you'll leave it in the drawer, thus eliminating the risk of poking your eye with it.

Exactly.

 

[Kitty Sinatra]

Indubitably.

 

[Chazwozel]

Quite, yes.

 

[Kitty Sinatra]

Ayup.

 

[North_Ranger]

You know what else was made by the private sector? The Titanic.

I stand behind my statement.

The Titanic was one ship out of how many that White Star Line (now Carnival Corp.) has made?

You're pretty much saying that Boeing is a failure because out of the hundreds of planes they made like 20 crashed over the last 70 years.


Lord help the car companies with this logic.[/QUOTE]

Chaz, your Serious is now at 8. I need you to be around... 3, 4. Definitely not 5 or over.

 

[Armadillo]

I had no idea the White Star Line became Carnival. Who knew?

 

[Dusty668]

Speaking of White Star Line:

The Britannic, which was originally to be called Gigantic, was renamed before her launch on 26 February, 1914. She was slightly larger than the other two ships (Titanic and Olympic) due to additional safety features which were incorporated after Titanic sank.

Before she could even enter service, she was requisitioned as a hospital ship and sent to Turkey to serve in World War One. On her fifth voyage, she struck a mine off the coast of Greece and sank in under an hour.

Violet Jessop, a White Star Line stewardess, survived the sinking of the Titanic and Britannic and was also aboard the Olympic when she collided with the Hawke.

The moral, if someone named Violet is on your craft, GET THE F^%$# OFF NOW NOW NOW!!!

Source: http://www.lategreatliners.com/uk_whitestar.htm

 

[Shegokigo]

Ranger's point stands pretty firm still.

The "maiden" voyage ship died horribly and much later they got better at the safety features.

 

[SpecialKO]

Is it going to be actual Zero-G, or simulated weightlessness like the Vomit Comet?

 

[Bowielee]

Is it going to be actual Zero-G, or simulated weightlessness like the Vomit Comet?

The actual craft will be going into space. The carrier planes bring the craft into the lower atmosphere and then the spacecraft launches off of the carrier craft. Seems to me that it's much more efficient than NASA's current use of solid fuel boosters to get off the ground.

It's still sub orbital though.