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Virgin Galactic begins 'Astronaut Readiness Program' for first paying customers – TechCrunch
Virgin Galactic has begun its “Astronaut Readiness Program” this week, which is being run out of Under Armour Global HQ to start. Under Armour is Virgin Galactic’s partner on its official astronaut uniforms, which its first paying space tourists will don on the company’s initial trips beyond Earth.
The Astronaut Readiness Program is a preparatory course that all of Virgin Galactic’s passengers undertake before they can get their trip aboard the company’s VSS Unity sub-orbital spaceplane. It involves guidance and instruction provided by Virgin Galactic team members, including its Chief Astronaut Instructor Beth Moses and Chief Pilot Dave Mackay. Both Mackay and Moses were on Virgin’s February demonstration flight to space, and so can provide not only guidance based on their considerable expertise, but also share insights from actually having flown aboard the same vessel that will take the company’s paying passengers up. Moses will advise on how to get around on board the spacecraft, too.
[...] To date, Virgin Galactic has 600 customers signed up to fly aboard its SpaceShipTwo spacecraft, which launches from a customized cargo jet aircraft to reach sub-orbital space and provides customers with a 90-minute flight, for $250,000 per ticket. It’s looking to launch its first flights for paying customers in the first half of next year.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 18 2019, @08:20AM (2 children)
Given that astro-nots have their videos recorder here on the planet, under water in large swimming pools, what sci-fi techniques will they use to convince the paying 'astro-nots' that they are in Earth's orbit and not inside some large swimming pool?
Or will the paying passengers be put to sleep using drugs and an artificial reality beamed to their heads convincing them that the space flight is real while in fact they are lying on hospital beds?
And will the paying passengers be exposed to x-rays and other harmful radiations just to prove to them that they flew?
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 18 2019, @08:40AM (1 child)
Pretty sure you're just being silly but in the one in a million chance you half think you're serious, I'd like you to consider something.
You just implied that rewriting somebody's brain, a field we know nothing about on any level of refinement, is easier than launching some meatsacks on top of a missile. I love a good conspiracy as much as the next man, but at the basis of any good conspiracy is an assumption of motivation, and viability in the conspiracy. Here the motivation is unclear at best, requires a world-wide degree of collusion (otherwise radars worldwide would notice nothing going up), somehow has to explain away the fact you can go see the rocket launches in person, and finally also has to assume some sort of super distant future brain writing sci-fi tech is actually present-day tech.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 18 2019, @06:00PM
"rewriting somebody's brain, a field we know nothing about on any level of refinement"
That is what they have been telling you. They are not to be trusted. Why would they tell you about rewriting memories when that can be a very powerful weapon (as long as it stays secret)?
At one time today's technology was considered science fiction. Today you may consider brain memory writing science fiction, but do you trust them to tell you everything there is to know?
By the way, the rockets they send up contain nothing living. It is advanced V-2's.