Google's Brin Books a Space Flight 170
coondoggie writes "Google largely conquered the Earth — now it is taking aim at space. At least co-founder Sergei Brin is. Brin today said he put down $5 million toward a flight to the International Space Station in 2011.
Brin's space travel will be brokered by Space Adventures, the space outfit that sent billionaire software developer Charles Simonyi to the station in 2007. Computer game developer (and son of a former NASA astronaut) Richard Garriott is currently planning a mission to the ISS in October 2008. Garriott is paying at least $30 million to launch toward the space station aboard a Russian Soyuz spaceship according to Space Adventures." Make sure to wave when you are over Michigan, man. I'll be the one on my lawn, green with envy.
Rather too risky for me (Score:3, Interesting)
2nd Generation of the Space Age (Score:1, Interesting)
sergei's house (Score:1, Interesting)
yeah I know it's off-topic- I just hate seeing billionaire hypocrites lauded as heroes.
What a waste. (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Green Space Adventures (Score:4, Interesting)
similar to Everest stats (to year 2000) (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:A lot of energy and CO2 for one guy's amusement (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Risky business. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Risky business. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Rather too risky for me (Score:3, Interesting)
Yes, but if the dead could feel regret they probably would, as in, "Christ, that was stupid. What the hell was I thinking?" That's because most people don't bother to think very hard about their own mortality. If they did, they wouldn't do things like smoke and drive SUVs at a hundred miles an hour with a cell phone jammed in their ear. It's always the other guy that will get smeared. AT least, that's what we all think until the instant we say "Ah, shit!" and it's all over.
Furthermore, you don't necessarily come back dead from such amazing experiences: sometimes you just come back maimed or paralyzed or otherwise permanently fucked up. For myself, my life isn't so boring that I'd risk spaceflight at the current state-of-the-art, as appealing as such a fantasy might be.
On the other hand, human life does become more valuable the further we get from Earth. I mean, how many have died from spaceflight versus the number of people that are cremated each year in aircraft that prematurely hit the ground. Hell, we mow each other down in cars by the hundreds of thousands every year.
I guess maybe Superman was right after all. Flying is still the safest way to travel.