Hooray for Branson!

[Griff]

Branson unveils Virgin spaceship Fly into space for under $200,000. It looks like a step in the right direction.

[sproglet]

More importantly he's throwing 10 years profits at starting up a biofuel company to manufacture jet fuel for his Virgin Atlantic fleet.

Looks like he's taking another (some might argue a more worthwhile) step in the right direction.

clicky-poos

[Happy Monkey]

Biofuel can operate a fly for hours without refueling. We ought to be able to tap into that to some degree.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Sooner or later one of these things has to crash & burn. I wonder if there will be a hue and cry to stop them.... or a, what the hell, it's only rich people, screw 'em, attitude?

[Tonchi]

Originally Posted by Griff

It looks like a step in the right direction.

(Sir) Richard Branson is always just one step above bankruptcy in all of his projects. He has the rich man's attitude that he can indulge himself in any exotic idea that strikes his fancy. As a result, massive amounts of money go down the toilet as he plays on, leaving in his wake the previous darlings struggling to survive and unmanaged. Although he seems like a fascinating person to watch, I doubt he will leave the world anything of lasting value. It is the real geniuses he sponsors while on one of his sprees, like Burt Rutan, who will hopefully use his money as their springboard to greatness.

[JayMcGee]

Originally Posted by Tonchi

(Sir) Richard Branson is always just one step above bankruptcy in all of his projects......Although he seems like a fascinating person to watch, I doubt he will leave the world anything of lasting value. .

mmmmm.....you've not heard 'tubular bells' then?

[xoxoxoBruce]

I'll bite, Jay. Is there a connection?

[elSicomoro]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

I'll bite, Jay. Is there a connection?

Branson founded Virgin Records (now owned by EMI), who released Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells." Early releases from Virgin besides Oldfield include Human League, Culture Club and the Sex Pistols (outside the US).

[NSFW]

Originally Posted by Tonchi

(Sir) Richard Branson is always just one step above bankruptcy in all of his projects.

By whatever measure you are using here, I'd cheerfully trade everything I own to be just a half-step above bankruptcy.

[glatt]

Minor setback here, and a tragedy for the company. One of the engines blew up in a test, killed three and seriously injured three more.

Space Tourism Firm Hit by Blast
Three Killed by Explosion During Rocket Engine Test

Associated Press
Saturday, July 28, 2007; A07

MOJAVE, Calif. -- A fatal explosion at a Mojave Desert airport during testing for a new space tourism vehicle has shaken a small community that prides itself as the home town of the first private space launch.

The blast Thursday at a remote test facility belonging to Scaled Composites killed three workers and critically injured three others.

The company, headed by maverick aerospace designer Burt Rutan, made history in 2004 when its SpaceShipOne became the first private manned rocket to reach space. Since that milestone, Rutan has partnered with British billionaire Richard Branson to build a fleet of commercial vehicles dubbed SpaceShipTwo for Virgin Galactic.

The accident occurred during a test of the flow of nitrous oxide through an injector in the course of testing propellant system components for a new rocket motor for SpaceShipTwo. The chemical was at room temperature and under pressure, Rutan said.

Stuart Witt, general manager of the Mojave Air and Space Port, was in his office when the explosion happened. He said the airport is home to several commercial space startups and is constantly buzzing with rocket and engine testing.

"What we do is inherently risky," Witt said. "These are not the days we look forward to, but we deal with it."

The airport is the country's first inland spaceport certified by the Federal Aviation Administration.

A Kern County Medical Center official said two people died at the scene and one later died at the hospital after surgery. The three who were injured suffered numerous shrapnel wounds. Two were in critical condition, and one was in serious condition early Friday, the official said.

Rutan, who arrived at Mojave after the accident, gave little information about the test. But he said it had been done safely many times during the SpaceShipOne program and had been done once before for the SpaceShipTwo program.

Rutan has been developing SpaceShipTwo in a hangar closed to the public. He has not released a schedule for completion of the design or testing, or for the first launch.

Rutan said the accident would not change that.

Branson has invested at least $200 million for a fleet of Rutan's spaceships to send tourists 62 miles above Earth for $200,000 to experience the view from space and five minutes of weightlessness.

[Shawnee123]

I have a friend who works for that company, though is not currently in the Mojave. Because I don't think it's betraying any confidences I will share the email he sent over the weekend:

Originally Posted by Shawnee's friend

xxxx xxxxx was a very good friend of mine. He is the one who took me hiking in Death Valley in the rain and taught me how to get the charcoal going with a vacuum cleaner.

He was truley a good person and will be missed.

Thank you all that sent me info on this news.

[Griff]

Originally Posted by Shawnee123

I have a friend who works for that company, though is not currently in the Mojave. Because I don't think it's betraying any confidences I will share the email he sent over the weekend:

Thanks for personalizing this for us.