Caporegime
- Joined
- 1 Dec 2010
- Posts
- 53,723
- Location
- Welling, London
So many of you will have seen Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket on the news. If you haven’t, here’s a link http://news.sky.com/story/spacex-new-rocket-can-take-you-anywhere-on-earth-in-under-an-hour-11058653
Do you think it’s a pipe dream or just a matter of time? I think it’s possible, but the timeframes being bandied around of 2020-2030 are ludicrous imo. I couldn’t see it carrying passengers for another 40 years, if ever. There’s too many problems and too much cost involved. One of the major problems being that the average person is just physically and mentally unsuitable to be blasted into space, and that’s without the havoc it will cause with normal ATC. There’s the chance of accidents too. It’s one thing a plane going wrong and crashing to the ground, it’s another breaking up in space and leaving hundreds of dead bodies floating through space.
The final obstacle would be cost. I can see a ticket costing no less than 10-20k at launch. I think most people and companies would rather just save thousands and take a bit longer to get somewhere.
Space tourism a possibility, but I can’t ever see this being used as a mass transit system. Maybe I’m just being pessimistic, but I think I’m more realistic. Props to Musk’s vision though. We wouldn’t be where we are today without people like him.
Do you think it’s a pipe dream or just a matter of time? I think it’s possible, but the timeframes being bandied around of 2020-2030 are ludicrous imo. I couldn’t see it carrying passengers for another 40 years, if ever. There’s too many problems and too much cost involved. One of the major problems being that the average person is just physically and mentally unsuitable to be blasted into space, and that’s without the havoc it will cause with normal ATC. There’s the chance of accidents too. It’s one thing a plane going wrong and crashing to the ground, it’s another breaking up in space and leaving hundreds of dead bodies floating through space.
The final obstacle would be cost. I can see a ticket costing no less than 10-20k at launch. I think most people and companies would rather just save thousands and take a bit longer to get somewhere.
Space tourism a possibility, but I can’t ever see this being used as a mass transit system. Maybe I’m just being pessimistic, but I think I’m more realistic. Props to Musk’s vision though. We wouldn’t be where we are today without people like him.