billionaire space boyz....

[lovinthehd]

You always got something to recant to and i enjoy it all.

Recant to? Eh? Don't tell me after that disaster of a presidency you're still a fan?

 

[pewternhrata]

Recant to? Eh? Don't tell me after that disaster of a presidency you're still a fan?

 

[Swerd]

so.. i need somebody to explain to me how a spoiled billionaire going into space is somehow a big deal when Chuck Yeager did it 70 years ago.

This thread quickly descended into the usual Steam Vent mess… So, I hesitate to step into it. As a kid in the 1950s, I was an aviation and airplane junkie. So I can't keep quiet when I see something this wrong.

Chuck Yeager never flew, or rode, into space. He did fly the Bell X-1 rocket-powered airplane faster than sound in Oct 1947, going about 700 mph (Mach 1.06). Later, Dec 1953, in a different airplane, the Bell X-1A, Yeager flew to an altitude of 74,700 feet (14.1 miles) and a new airspeed record of Mach 2.44 (1,620 mph, at that altitude).

The US Air Force awarded astronaut wings to anyone achieving an altitude of 50 miles (264,000 feet, or 80 km), while the governing body of air sports, the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), sets the altitude of space as at least 100 kilometers (62.1 mi or 328,000 feet).

From 1959-68 the three North American X-15 rocket planes flew a series of flights to the edge of space, about 50 miles or higher altitude. It was considered an operating space plane, as opposed to the space capsules that Russians and Americans rode into space in the earlier 60s.

In Aug 1963, Joseph Walker flew an X-15 to an altitude of 67 miles (107.8 km). A month earlier, he had flown nearly as high, to an altitude of 65.8 miles (105.9 km). A few years earlier, Russian cosmonauts and US astronauts rode as payloads in capsules as high or higher. But they were passengers, 'spam in a can', as opposed to pilots of an airplane.

The X-15's highest speed, 4,520 miles per hour (7,274 km/h), was achieved in Oct 1967, when William Knight flew at Mach 6.70 at 102,100 feet (31 km, 19.3 miles). This set the official world record for the highest speed ever recorded by a manned, powered aircraft, which remains unbroken.

In 13 of the 199 total X-15 flights, eight pilots (five Air Force and three NASA civilians) flew above 264,000 feet or 50 miles, thereby qualifying as astronauts according to the US definition of the space border.

To put the billionaire space boyz into context, Richard Branson with his crew & passengers rode to about 53.4 miles (282,000 feet or 86 km). And today, Jeff Bezos and his party rode higher, to about 62 miles or 100 km. It took a little under 60 years to equal what was done by US astronauts and Russian cosmonauts in their space capsules or the flyable space plane, NASA's X-15.

 

[lovinthehd]

 

[Swerd]

He won't meet all the critria as a Genuine Space Douche until he goes shirtless in space.

 

[highfigh]

probably some kind of tax dodge, who can say?

AOC and Warren made comments about Blue Origin being paid for by Amazon workers funding the launch- I think Bezos and Amazon should pay any tax that is due, but they need to look at the big picture and this isn't coming from someone who's in favor of large corporations paying less than their employees- combines, Blue Origin and Amazon employees pay more than $30Billion in Federal payroll tax, using the number of employees and average salaries I found by doing a simple search, showing info from third party sources. I used 35% tax rate for Amazon because they have more low-mid paid workers and 37% for Blue Origin. Blue Origin has about 3000 employees, the number I found for Amazon was 798K, which isn't accurate- it's actually more, now. That also means the Social Security trust receives roughly $4.5B, annually and states receive over $1B, annually, plus the sales tax revenue these people pay. This doesn't include the benefits of construction projects for both companies, additional expenses for supplies and services or anything else that comes from them, like charitable donations and contributions from customers to their smile.amazon fund.

Amazon closing AmazonSmile to focus its philanthropic giving to programs with greater impact

The company, which ranks among the top corporate philanthropists in the U.S., will continue to pursue and invest in other areas where it can make meaningful change—from building affordable housing to providing access to computer science education for students in underserved communities.

www.aboutamazon.com

Personally, I think he's a money-grubbing show-off who looks a bit like an alien (not as much as Zuckerberg, though), but his companies really do contribute to the economy in big ways.

For all of the expense of these explorations, there are some useful technological gains.

 

[highfigh]

Old news

Relative Deprivation, Discontent and Revolutions

Social scientists have for long acknowledged that people evaluate their own wellbeing not only on the basis of what they have but also on the basis of what they have relatively to what other people have. Adam Smith (1776) wrote that "By necessaries I understand not only the commodities which ...

blogs.worldbank.org

Marx (1847) wrote that "A house may be large or small; as long as the neighboring houses are likewise small, it satisfies all social requirement for a residence. But let there arise next to the little house a palace, and the little house shrinks to a hut”

The area where I live is mostly modest-sized homes, but one was built in the middle of a block and it's huge, by comparison. As it happens, the homeowner is an architect and he's also a member of the local architectural review board, so he got his way. Nice house, just a case of showing off, IMO. Seemed like a decent enough guy, when I met him at a meeting. Also has a Corvette and Cadillac Escalade & other cars.

 

[highfigh]

To put the billionaire space boyz into context, Richard Branson with his crew & passengers rode to about 53.4 miles (282,000 feet or 86 km). And today, Jeff Bezos and his party rode higher, to about 62 miles or 100 km. It took a little under 60 years to equal what was done by US astronauts and Russian cosmonauts in their space capsules or the flyable space plane, NASA's X-15.

OK, but none of those accomplishments were made by private companies. That said, they did some absolutely amazing things with the technology that was available at the time.

 

[highfigh]

He won't meet all the critria as a Genuine Space Douche until he goes shirtless in space.
View attachment 49286

Did she make those marks with her lipstick?

 

[lp85253]

This thread quickly descended into the usual Steam Vent mess… So, I hesitate to step into it. As a kid in the 1950s, I was an aviation and airplane junkie. So I can't keep quiet when I see something this wrong.

Chuck Yeager never flew, or rode, into space. He did fly the Bell X-1 rocket-powered airplane faster than sound in Oct 1947, going about 700 mph (Mach 1.06). Later, Dec 1953, in a different airplane, the Bell X-1A, Yeager flew to an altitude of 74,700 feet (14.1 miles) and a new airspeed record of Mach 2.44 (1,620 mph, at that altitude).

The US Air Force awarded astronaut wings to anyone achieving an altitude of 50 miles (264,000 feet, or 80 km), while the governing body of air sports, the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), sets the altitude of space as at least 100 kilometers (62.1 mi or 328,000 feet).

From 1959-68 the three North American X-15 rocket planes flew a series of flights to the edge of space, about 50 miles or higher altitude. It was considered an operating space plane, as opposed to the space capsules that Russians and Americans rode into space in the earlier 60s.

In Aug 1963, Joseph Walker flew an X-15 to an altitude of 67 miles (107.8 km). A month earlier, he had flown nearly as high, to an altitude of 65.8 miles (105.9 km). A few years earlier, Russian cosmonauts and US astronauts rode as payloads in capsules as high or higher. But they were passengers, 'spam in a can', as opposed to pilots of an airplane.

The X-15's highest speed, 4,520 miles per hour (7,274 km/h), was achieved in Oct 1967, when William Knight flew at Mach 6.70 at 102,100 feet (31 km, 19.3 miles). This set the official world record for the highest speed ever recorded by a manned, powered aircraft, which remains unbroken.

In 13 of the 199 total X-15 flights, eight pilots (five Air Force and three NASA civilians) flew above 264,000 feet or 50 miles, thereby qualifying as astronauts according to the US definition of the space border.

To put the billionaire space boyz into context, Richard Branson with his crew & passengers rode to about 53.4 miles (282,000 feet or 86 km). And today, Jeff Bezos and his party rode higher, to about 62 miles or 100 km. It took a little under 60 years to equal what was done by US astronauts and Russian cosmonauts in their space capsules or the flyable space plane, NASA's X-15.

All that being said.. Did either branson or bezos achieve anything of value?..other than having the funds to be able to start projects that allowed them to become space tourists... The obvious answer is no, all political rhetoric aside...i am no longer posting on audioho!ics so i hope you will excuse my assumptions and avoidance of responding to further posts...

 

[Trell]

All that being said.. Did either branson or bezos achieve anything of value?..other than having the funds to be able to start projects that allowed them to become space tourists... The obvious answer is no, all political rhetoric aside...i am no longer posting on audioho!ics so i hope you will excuse my assumptions and avoidance of responding to further posts...

Yet here you are posting

 

[ryanosaur]

The Porsche dynasty is taking on Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk in space | CNN Business

Porsche SE, the family holding company that controls Volkswagen Group, is the latest big investor to bet on space's crucial role in developing future technologies.

www.cnn.com

 

[panteragstk]