# Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo Unity 22 launch with Richard Branson: **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 11, 2021, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity-22-launch-with-richard-branson/946212 "2021-07-11T15:24:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2021, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity-22-launch-with-richard-branson/946212/21 "2021-07-12T20:06:37Z")
I think one reason for resentment is because astronauts used to earn their “I went to space” laurels the hard way. Now you can get to space just by being rich, but your name goes down into history on the “list of humans who have been to space” all the same. It’s like rich people who brag about “I went to the top of Everest” when in fact they merely just paid $50,000 to have a team of Sherpas almost all but carry them on piggyback to the summit. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2021, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity-22-launch-with-richard-branson/946212/22 "2021-07-12T21:45:17Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I was surprised to see the passengers turning somersaults and having a great time instead of puking their guts out. I was a bit surprised at that, too. On the other hand, as passengers they could have taken something for motion sickness before going up. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2021, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity-22-launch-with-richard-branson/946212/23 "2021-07-12T21:50:28Z")
Two much hype for too little. Shepard’s suborbital flight was an accomplishment for NASA and paved the way for bigger things later. Virgin’s flight has no scientific value and paved no new ground. But the networks all fawned over him like he was Ferdinand Fucking Magellan. Yawn yawn yawn. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2021, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity-22-launch-with-richard-branson/946212/24 "2021-07-12T22:28:55Z")
Yes, the Karman Line is the internationally-recognized standard for “space”, but it’s still just an arbitrary standard. If aliens from Harxabln were to hear of this flight, they might very well say “Impressive, but it still fell short of the 216 snekt altitude that constitutes the Flargn line, the boundary of space” (where a snekt is, of course, a Harxablnic unit equal to approximately 0.6 km). Orbit, though, is orbit: There’s nothing arbitrary about that. And I, for one, am all in favor of billionaires buying seats on dick-measuring flights, precisely because I have an idealistic hope for space travel. I want to see the future where a trip to the Moon costs five hundred dollars, economy class. And the path to that future passes through the future where rich bastards pay 500 thousand dollars for a suborbital hop. I just wish that Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin were further along. SpaceX making orbital rockets is great, but it’d be even better if there were multiple companies competing for orbital spaceflight. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity-22-launch-with-richard-branson/946212/25 "2021-07-13T00:27:13Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > Mods, I’m not trying to threadshit; I’m really not. I’m just answering the previous poster’s question, quite honestly. I have no problem with your answer. That’s why I asked. But all that money spent on Apollo could have been spent at home, too. Or so they told us at the time: Was all that money I made las’ year (for Whitey on the moon?) How come there ain’t no money here? (Hm! Whitey’s on the moon) Y’know I jus’ ‘bout had my fill (of Whitey on the moon) I think I’ll sen’ these doctor bills, Airmail special (to Whitey on the moon) ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity-22-launch-with-richard-branson/946212/26 "2021-07-13T19:28:00Z")
This pretty much sums up my irritation with the Billionaire Race to Space: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Ni609yqZd9s/maxresdefault.jpg "If I Had the Money That Bezos Had") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ni609yqZd9s) ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity-22-launch-with-richard-branson/946212/27 "2021-07-13T21:50:43Z")
The fucking guy didn’t even pay for the spaceport (actually, just a runway), instead letting the local fools foot that bill. > **[How much has Spaceport America cost taxpayers? - KVIA](https://kvia.com/news/new-mexico/2021/07/09/how-much-has-spaceport-building-cost-dona-ana-county-taxpayers/)** > > TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, New Mexico - While international excitement builds for Sunday's historic Virgin Galactic launch, taxpayers in Doña Ana and Sierra counties continue to pay off the multimillion-dollar Spaceport America complex. “It’s like... ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity-22-launch-with-richard-branson/946212/28 "2021-07-13T22:14:12Z")
What is it with these guys having to lie about things that they really don’t need to lie about? > **[Virgin Galactic acknowledges Branson's pre-launch bike ride never happened](https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/virgin-galactic-acknowledges-bransons-pre-launch-bike-ride-never-happened-2021-07-13/)** > > Virgin Galactic Holding Inc (SPCE.N) acknowledged on Tuesday that billionaire founder Richard Branson never rode a bicycle to the launch site of his space flight on Sunday, as depicted in a highly publicized video included in the company's webcast of... ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity-22-launch-with-richard-branson/946212/29 "2021-07-13T22:30:15Z")
They may not have been up there long enough for motion sickness to set in, either. Speaking of which, I’m actually surprised they didn’t invite Valentina Tereshkova, one of my childhood heroes (“Yes, girls CAN be astronauts!”) but maybe they did and she declined, because she had horrible spacesickness and several times begged to be brought back ahead of schedule. She was selected for the astronaut corps because she was an expert parachutist, and there were rumors that she was actually pregnant when she went into space. If she was, she had a miscarriage shortly afterwards; she married another astronaut a few weeks later, and had her only child about a year after that. > **[Valentina Tereshkova](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentina_Tereshkova)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova (Russian: Валентина Владимировна Терешкова, IPA: \[vɐlʲɪnʲˈtʲinə vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvnə tʲɪrʲɪʂˈkovə\] (listen); born 6 March 1937) is an engineer, member of the Russian State Duma, and former Soviet cosmonaut. She is known for being the first and youngest woman in space, having flown a solo mission on the Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963. She orbited the Earth 48 times, spent almost three days in space, and remains the only wo... ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2021, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity-22-launch-with-richard-branson/946212/30 "2021-07-14T04:59:58Z")
From the article about the fake bike ride: > It was unclear whether the disclosure that the Sunday cycling ride was fictional would complicate **Virgin Galactic’s cross-promotional deal with Wisconsin-based Trek Bicycle Corp**. Trek had claimed that Branson rode one of its custom-made bikes to the spaceport on launch day. > > Representatives of Trek were not immediately available to comment on the matter. Geez, the pathetic guy even has to monetize his f-ing bike ride to the launch site!  🙄 What is it with these penny-pinching billionaires? It’s like a disease. That’s no doubt the reason the bike ride was faked. He needed to shoot the perfect ad video for his deal with the cycle company. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2021, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity-22-launch-with-richard-branson/946212/31 "2021-07-14T06:08:51Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Bezos’ launch is named after Shepard because it resembles more that flight profile (rocket up, trajectory to peak above 100 miles, well past the 62-mile “Kárman height” I think you mean 100 km. New Shepard goes up to somewhere around 65-67 miles, which is in the neighborhood of 105 km. > [@ekedolphin](#): > > Hell, they’re not even staying in space long enough to conduct any experiments! They’ve sent up some experiments on a number of New Shepard test flights. The time of zero g on them is three or four minutes, which is much longer than the 30 seconds or so the Vomit Comet gets. (I don’t know if they’re going to put any on the upcoming flight or not.) They also have a contract with NASA to send up new astronauts for the same reason. And there was something about testing centrifugal gravity for NASA on New Shepard. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2021, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity-22-launch-with-richard-branson/946212/32 "2021-07-14T10:59:44Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > They may not have been up there long enough for motion sickness to set in, either. I’ve never been to space or ridden the vomit comet, but back when I was actively flying we sometimes played around with making things float in the airplane, basically a few seconds of zero g, sort of what you might get on a roller coaster. Based on that experience, the motion sickness can kick in amazingly fast in some individuals. But you’re right, most people don’t puke immediately. Some people don’t feel bad at all. It’s quite variable and how you react to other forms of motion, like riding in a car or a boat, are apparently not predictive of how you will react to zero g. For reference, a vomit comet is about 25 seconds of zero g. Branson supposedly has ridden in a vomit comet some years ago and probably knew if he’d get sick from this or not - I’m sure he wanted to be photogenic enough for a soundbite and not get filmed puking into barf bag. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2021, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity-22-launch-with-richard-branson/946212/33 "2021-07-14T13:44:04Z")
> **[What if the worst people in the world said they all wanted to go into space |...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jul/14/what-if-the-worst-people-in-the-world-said-they-all-wanted-to-go-into-space)** > > They are flying with money from taxpayers and/or money that should have been paid as tax! Billionaires should not exist ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2021, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity-22-launch-with-richard-branson/946212/34 "2021-07-14T19:30:46Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > Space travel _used_ to be conducted for the benefit of humankind. Now we’ve got billionaires who pay almost no tax, getting their kicks by trying to beat each other into space, while they could be doing a lot more good with their money… Could not have said it better and could not agree more. Fuck these guys. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2021, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity-22-launch-with-richard-branson/946212/35 "2021-07-14T19:39:19Z")
I was under the impression that Branson was going to make some big announcement from the ship during the weightless phase of the flight. But all I saw was a few seconds of grainy video of from within the ship, without any audio. Was I mistaken, or did something not go to plan? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity-22-launch-with-richard-branson/946212/36 "2021-07-15T03:14:47Z")
I haven’t seen the real-time footage, but one of my Facebook friends noticed a sudden cutaway during the ascent and wondered if this was why. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity-22-launch-with-richard-branson/946212/37 "2021-07-15T03:17:44Z")
The back cover of the Doobie Brothers’ album “Minute By Minute” shows the band in zero g’s. I don’t remember the whole story behind it, but they did more than one parabolic loop, and managed to get pictures before anyone went beyond just turning green. > **[Pops Record Collection: The Doobie Brothers – Minute by Minute](https://stevenlikesnothing.wordpress.com/2019/03/12/pops-record-collection-the-doobie-brothers-minute-by-minute/)** > > I just showed my dad (who was a fighter pilot in the 70s and 80s) the front of the record insert and he had no idea what it was until he was practically right on top of it examining the image. I gu… ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity-22-launch-with-richard-branson/946212/38 "2021-07-15T08:08:42Z")
Then there is this music video from a few years ago In a “making of” video for this they mention the use of anti-nausea drugs, and also something numerous instances of puking in the crew which did not make it into the final footage. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/LWGJA9i18Co/maxresdefault.jpg "OK Go - Upside Down & Inside Out") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWGJA9i18Co) ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity-22-launch-with-richard-branson/946212/39 "2021-07-17T12:39:23Z")
Another cartoon: > **[Stephen Collins on the billionaire space force – cartoon](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/ng-interactive/2021/jul/17/stephen-collins-on-the-billionaire-space-force-cartoon)** > > High above the world… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity-22-launch-with-richard-branson/946212/40 "2021-07-17T13:18:35Z")
Just a nitpick: Dropsickness is not the same thing as motion sickness. Motion sickness comes when your inner ear is giving you one perfectly sensible set of acceleration cues, and your eyes are giving you some other perfectly sensible set of cues, and there’s a mismatch between the two (most often because you’re looking at the inside of a vehicle that’s moving with you). You can prevent motion sickness just by keeping your eyes closed. Dropsickness comes when your inner ear is giving you acceleration cues that aren’t sensible: It feels like you’re in free-fall. Because, of course, you are. What you see is irrelevant; free-fall is bad no matter what you’re seeing (or not seeing). One can be susceptible to one but not the other. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity-22-launch-with-richard-branson/946212.md?page=1)