Rich boys with their expensive toys…
Bezos, Branson, and, to some extent, Musk, are the three rich boys; and who knows what their expensive toys cost? At least Musk actually did something that blows the other two out of the sky: He put NASA back into space without kissing the butt of that old KGB agent, the evil Vladimir Putin.
With Branson’s flight, the hype was over the top: “Democratization of space” and “opening space to everyone” were examples of CNN’s hyperbole repeated again and again by Rachel Crane, whom CNN might now regret hiring (did she qualify just by being an astronaut’s daughter?). Ms. Crane also seems to think that the Mojave Desert is in New Mexico.
I suppose Bezos’s flight will be equally hyperbolic (and I’m not talking about the orbit—besides, that’s a parabola after the rocket motors shut down). He’s already touting he’ll be going higher. And, who knows, the price of his future tickets will undercut Branson’s, because that’s what Amazon does at the beginning of a retail competition. Or maybe he’ll buy out Branson.
Let’s analyze the Bezos and Branson efforts a bit more. Did they really accomplish anything beyond giving those two billionaires a great rollercoaster ride? Wouldn’t all that money have been better spent on finding solutions for global warming?
The answer to the first question is easy: Elon Musk’s successes with Space-X are an integral part of the space effort now and—let’s admit it—saved NASA’s butt, especially for sending personnel to ISS. NASA’s dependence on the Russian mafia’s capo Putin was at best a risky business.
The second question is a bit more difficult to answer? The short answer: We’ll never know now because that money has already been spent! A longer one: Space exploration can never be more important than combatting climate change! Global warming endangers all life on Earth. CNN stupidly stated during the Branson spectacle that one day we would be the UFOs for ETs on some strange planet. BS! That will never happen if life on Earth is reduced to one-celled microorganisms after the planet becomes too much like Venus. We can’t lose sight of the existential challenge of climate control just so two self-centered billionaires can get an emotional rush.
They say Branson is very much an environmentalist. He has to prove it to me by forgetting about the media’s love affair with him and ending his foolish toy-building. Until then, he’s only a narcissistic showman who enjoys being in the limelight far too much.
What about Bezos? Maybe I should just refer that question to his wife? Although I’m a writer who now boycotts Amazon, I have more reasons beyond that boycott than Amazon’s shoddy treatment of authors. Now with his expensive space toys, I have another.
Branson will charge $250K for a ticket into space. What will Bezos charge? As I stated above, he might undercut Branson at first and then pass him—that’s Bezos’s style. In any case, your average Jill or Joe won’t be doing tourism in space anytime soon. And they definitely won’t be footing the bill for a return to the Moon or a trip to Mars. No, Bezos and Branson are more than rich boys with expensive toys. They’re rich billionaires looking to make even more money off space.
I wrote about those in my Chaos Chronicles Trilogy Collection‘s first novel. The UNSA’s chairwoman outsmarts them, though. Hopefully NASA will do the same for Bezos and Branson. Musk needs some competition. All of space exploration would be less expensive if these three billionaires were actually competing!
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Comments are always welcome.
“Esther Brookstone Art Detective.” Binge-reading plus a treasure hunt: What’s not to like? Esther Brookstone takes you around merry olde England, Europe, the Middle East, and South America in her five-book series that also travels through three publishers. You start with saucy Esther, an ex-MI6 spy and Scotland Yard inspector, and her paramour Bastiann van Coevorden, an Interpol agent; you move on to their exciting honeymoon cruise on the Danube; and you then return to Esther’s home turf where the old married couple’s adventures continue. The two sleuths are 21st-century versions of Christie’s Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. Esther’s novels can be found wherever quality ebooks are sold. (Palettes, Patriots, and Prats and Leonardo and the Quantum Code are recent additions to this series, and these last two are not on Amazon.)
Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!
