That's the subject of this column by Mark Whittington.

...well if these rich guys didn't STEAL money from me I would be able to save up, for 20 or 30 years, and ride Branson's Virgin Galactic into space.

What a stupid premise, and the bad part is, many fall for it every time. There was a time when autombiles cost 3 or 4 years of the average mans salary. But abundance and mass production brought down the price. When my father went to work for Eastern Airlines in 1957, only people who flew on business or who were at least UPPER middle class flew. But abundance and mass production brought down the price. I remember when exotic fruits and vegetables first started appearing in the grocery stores, like kiwi fruit, mangoes, bok choy etc.
The prices were sky high, But abundance and mass production brought down the price.

I can assume from what I am hearing form the nay sayers, same nay sayers different subject, that space flight will NEVER work this way.

Technology NEVER comes down in price, thats why telephones, and color televisions, and CD players, and PC's, and cell phones exist only in the homes of the rich and famous.

Here's to the class envy morons out there, we will never pay the high price of your argument.

I wonder if those numbskulls stop to think that while prices may indeed be astronomical right now, they almost certainly won't stay that way. What is at first the work of a genius is soon thereafter the work of a tinsmith. I'm probably correct in assuming that there are far more tinsmiths than geniuses, even in the space industry.

The numbskulls are also probably deliberately forgetting the past century's development in aircraft, from the first rickety homebuilts to the somewhat more sturdy 1930's airliners to the airliners we know today. If I were to draw the parallel to the emerging 'alt.space', I would say that it is currently in the same phase of development as the 1920's barnstormers, existing alongside and competing against the great airships.

If the industry isn't strangled by regulations or ambulance chasers (senator Edwards anyone?), its achievements should cause people to see NASA's shuttle 'successes' and the bucks shelled for them, in a somewhat clearer and less positive light. Not too much later the population at large will probably start wondering about just what certain NASA administrators were doing with their manned spaceflight budgets all those years.

Why are people only looking at Virgin Galactic? Space Adventures is offering rides, and much less expensive.

Is there any way we could deny the fruit of progress to those who initially oppose planting the sapling from which it springs?

As I said before, I have a list. "Not at any price."

And again I commend you for it Aleta.

I only hope the alt.space community can present a united front in the future and keep a long memory.

You know, even if only the rich go to space that's better than only government astronauts getting the chance to go. 100-200,000 really isn't a rich man only price, many upper-middle class could afford to do it and also the poor will get a shot to go because of promotions such as the 7-UP contest. That's a vast improvement over the way things have been.

BTW - Mike Melvill was a high-school dropout, do you think NASA would ever send someone with that background in space?

McDonalds and their games - they give a lot more than $200,000 to the main winners. But this ties back into the questions of liability.

Do we have inklings of the cost breakdown for SS1? Starting from nothing so it would seem like the test facilities & initial design would be a huge chunk of the $24 million - which in turn points to a SS2 (on the same design) being not so pricey. Any per-launch cost estimates? They certainly aren't doing the NASA tile-by-tile examination business. $1 million per launch? Even there that's only $500,000 per passenger.

Mike Puckett
"And again I commend you for it Aleta.

I only hope the alt.space community can present a united front in the future and keep a long memory."

It's up to each one of us. A communinity can't remember jack, but it's members can.

You would think Britian would be thrilled at the idea that they finally will be getting into the manned space biz at a paltry $200,000 a passenger.

Oh, well. You always have to have the idiots that complain that any revolutionary development is just a rich man's toy that will never amount to anything.

One more point that the "space travel for only the rich" criers miss .. i for one would probably ditch my current career, if i could become a spaceflight attendant or receptionist in Bigelows orbiting hotel.

Erik --

I wonder if those numbskulls stop to think that while prices may indeed be astronomical right now, they almost certainly won't stay that way.

If you read Mark Whittington's article carefully, you will see that the Times of London understand the prices will come down, and they think is is A BAD THING.

This is more than just class envy. I think there is more than a whiff of "Man Was Not Meant To Fly" attitude. All British publications Whittington quotes seem to subscribe to what Virginia Postrel calls "peasant virtues" -- limited ambition, therefore limited change. This attitude is very common among US populists, and not just on the Left. Liberal environmentalist Jeremy Rifkin and conservative protectionist Pat Buchanan found themselves in complete agreement on "Crossfire" -- much to their own surprise. Both want (somewhat different) minor changes to the status quo, but major changes they can not control terrify them.

There is a reason why Europe is a sick, decaying civilization and will probably be taken over by the Arabs or Chinese.

Call it Eurabia.

I remember ogling those fancy 12" laser disk players and grinding my teeth that the only people who afford one of those was a doctor or trial lawyer. In fact I know a few doctors that have all the latest laser disks like 2001 Space Odyssey. Poor me, I have to settle for DVDs and Dolbt Digital Surround sound. Wait a minute, had those rich farts not bought all those ridiculously overpriced machines I would still be watching Betamax.

Y'know they're gonna need plumbers up there...

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