I am of course talking about Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. These three billionaires have been acting like children and wasting millions of dollars on their flights of fancy, and what have they actually achieved? There isn't even a small advancement in space exploration just as there is no scientific merit to what these billionaires are doing. It is an utter waste of resources, resources that could be better utilised elsewhere in the world.
Yesterday, CNN reported:
Richard Branson's disappointing space jaunt
First, there's the environmental cost of space travel. Virgin Galactic claims that the carbon footprint for passengers of its suborbital space flight is comparable to that of a business class ticket on a transatlantic flight (which is about 0.2 kilograms per kilometer or 0.44 pounds per .62 miles -- amounting to a massive 2,220 kilo output per passenger over a typical 11,100-kilometer flight or 2.45 tons over a 6,897-mile flight).
But space flights are longer than transatlantic ones, and carry far fewer passengers. Per passenger, per kilometer, Branson's 11,260-kilometer (6,996-mile) journey to the edge of space cost 12 kilograms (26 pounds) of CO2. The company says that emissions will be offset -- but it's still an enormous price to pay for the sake of a few minutes in zero gravity.
Despite the world being in the grips of one of the worst pandemics ever, and the effects of climate change running rampant in numerous countries, these idiots are busy stroking their egos in lower orbit, and for what? So Branson can take some weightless selfies at 60 kilometres above the Earth in vainglorious self-promotion! No wonder there are petitions for these guys to not come back home.
For all Branson's enthusing over imagination, his trip into space was effectively a much-diluted, far posher version of a feat already achieved more than 60 years ago by Yuri Gagarin's groundbreaking flight in Vostok 1. Gagarin, a Soviet carpenter's son who survived the Nazi occupation of Russia, actually accomplished something far greater, by orbiting for 108 minutes before returning to Earth. With reserved tickets for future Virgin Galactic flights priced between $200,000 and $250,000, the only barrier Branson has broken is that between the super-rich and their ability to spend a few minutes floating just within the sub-orbital zone which allows passengers to experience weightlessness.
Instead of realising that they’re making complete dicks of themselves by going where a Russian astronaut already went six decades ago, these billionaires are busy trying to sell a dream to the common man, a dream no common man can actually afford.
Branson in particular is terribly deluded about what he’s realistically achieved. Not only did he only manage to get up in low orbit for four short minutes, he arguably hasn’t furthered real space travel in the slightest by blowing a load of rocket fuel all over the Stratosphere and Mesosphere.
It would therefore be good if the mainstream media weren’t falling over themselves to promote Branson's rampant immodesty. Clearly such a bad use of the world’s resources shouldn't be reported as some sort of worthwhile endeavour. In fact the only thing these billionaires have thus far proven is that a persons wealth doesn’t really equate to their intelligence in the slightest.
