The race for private space has been going on for well over a decade, but yesterday was the first time one of those billionaire space preneurs put his money where his mouth is and actually took the trip into space.
- Sir Richard Branson took a trip aboard his company’s VSS Unity rocket plane and reached an altitude of 85 km, or about 53 miles.
- That’s technically just the very edge of space and only by US standards. The true international standard for space (called the Kármán Line) starts at 100 km.
- But that’s just splitting hairs.
- The event was broadcast live, although there were some technical problems getting live signals from the spaceship. You can check out the full video here.
- He was accompanied by Beth Moses, Colin Bennett and Sirisha Bandla, all high-ranking members of the company, to conduct tests and experiments there. You join a list of fewer than 600 people to reach these heights.
Branson, on the other hand, was only there as a tourist.
- This makes him the Billionaire Space Race winner, ousting Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk to take the crown.
- While he’s floating in sub-orbit had to say that:
- “To all the kids out there – I was a kid with a dream once and looked up at the stars. Now I’m an adult in a spaceship…. If we can do that, just imagine what you can do. “
- (Side note: you need roughly $ 5 billion.)
- Many people condemn these ventures as vanity projects for the ultra-rich, with more pressing issues like world hunger and rampant inequality deserving their attention and funding.
- And they are not wrong.
That said, the goal is to get this out to the public (and make a ton of money in the process).
- Branson first founded Virgin Galactic 17 years ago. way back in 2004. He initially thought he could bring space tourism to commercial markets by 2007.
- Although the company missed this target by a long way, plans to start commercial flights in early 2022.
- The company has already more than sold 600 tickets at $ 250,000 each for future flights. Customers include Tom Hanks, Justin Bieber and Leonardo DiCaprio.
- The other space tourism company, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, will also offer commercial suborbital flights that reach altitudes above 100 km (60 miles).
- Elon Musk’s SpaceX aims even higher by enabling rockets to reach orbital speeds. This makes the journey in hours or days in space instead of minutes.
- Admittedly, that costs significantly more. Last travelers to the International Space Station Paid $ 55 million for the 10 day trip.
- We all barely justify our daily coffee expenses now.
🥇 Take a journey through cellular history with the most influential phones of all time, from the pre-smartphone era to the present day. (Android authority)
📱 The Sony Xperia 1 III is coming soon, but how is last year’s Xperia 1 II holding up today? Here is the good and the bad. (Android authority)
📝 The 12.6-inch Huawei MatePad Pro has some really impressive hardware for the price. The software and app ecosystem is a different matter. Here is the full review. (Android authority)
Speaking of which, Google has announced that it will switch from APK app formats in favor of Android app bundles, the could be bad news for Huawei’s HarmonyOS. (Android authority)
👂 Good news for readers in India: the Nothing Ear 1 is coming Market launch at a special price for the Indian market. It’s almost 20% cheaper compared to western markets. (Android authority)
⚡ Since Google is entering the custom silicon market with the Pixel 6, it is worth taking a look back at the History of Samsung’s flagship Exynos chipsets over the past decade. (Android authority)
🔋 Apple AirPod batteries are almost impossible to replacewhich highlights the need to reform the right to repair. (CNBC)
🎮 A sealed copy of The Legend of Zelda for NES last Friday sold for $ 870,000to set a new record. This record was on Sunday almost doubled to over USD 1.5 million for a copy of Super Mario 64. (The edge)
🕷 $ 30 felt like blackmail renting Marvel’s Black Widow to stream on Disney Plus, but apparently it brought in that $ 60 million worldwide, in addition to $ 80 million in theaters. (diversity)
Yesterday was the exciting end of the 2020 European Championship when Italy took the trophy home with them. The meme above (via Reddit user u / Dresik74) sums up what most of Europe thinks about the finals.
(Sorry British)
See you tomorrow (hopefully)
Nick Fernandez, editor