WEBVTT - Virgin Galactic: $200,000 Ticket to Ride 0:00:03.800 --> 0:00:06.680 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind from how Stuff 0:00:06.680 --> 0:00:13.920 Works dot com. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:16.520 My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Julie Douglas. And 0:00:16.600 --> 0:00:18.400 the first things first, let's we need to go ahead 0:00:18.400 --> 0:00:20.720 mention that we do have a new email address. If 0:00:20.720 --> 0:00:23.759 you're looking to send us good old fashioned email with 0:00:24.000 --> 0:00:26.920 or without the photo attachments and all all that fun stuff, 0:00:26.920 --> 0:00:29.440 you will want to contact us at blow the Mind 0:00:30.240 --> 0:00:33.280 at Discovery dot com. Previous one was at how stuff 0:00:33.280 --> 0:00:35.960 works dot com, So it's the same email address, just 0:00:36.040 --> 0:00:41.400 at a different domain, Discovery. That's right, you go. The mothership. Yeah, 0:00:41.880 --> 0:00:45.479 speaking of motherships. Um, we are of course talking about 0:00:45.880 --> 0:00:49.080 Virgin Galactic in this particular episode. Uh, And I guess 0:00:49.080 --> 0:00:52.440 we were kind of uh excited to discuss this again 0:00:52.479 --> 0:00:55.440 because just last week and there was a story that 0:00:55.520 --> 0:00:57.760 was suddenly everywhere and I think it like it originated 0:00:57.840 --> 0:00:59.440 like the Sun or something like if you track it 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:01.800 down to a tour it was. It was a British tabloid, 0:01:02.120 --> 0:01:04.319 but but still the idea got people talking because the 0:01:04.360 --> 0:01:09.160 idea was that record executives were interested in sending jay 0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:13.679 Z and Beyonce um up into a sub orbit aboard 0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:17.200 spaceship to the Virgin Galactic Space Tourism vessel so they 0:01:17.240 --> 0:01:21.280 could shoot a video. It's a wonderfully Um, It's just 0:01:21.360 --> 0:01:23.880 it's such a fun idea because I mean there's so 0:01:23.880 --> 0:01:25.480 many different angles. I don't know, there's sort of the 0:01:25.480 --> 0:01:28.639 one percent angle of just jay Z and Beyonce dropping 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:31.800 four thousand dollars just to go into space and not 0:01:32.120 --> 0:01:35.080 look out the window. Like, I find that amazing. Uh. 0:01:35.120 --> 0:01:37.640 The idea also of them going into orbit and and 0:01:37.680 --> 0:01:40.560 maybe being a little stick al right, having their little 0:01:40.640 --> 0:01:43.600 vomit bags. Yeah, yeah, you know, and then and then 0:01:43.600 --> 0:01:45.360 trying to shoot a video around that I find kind 0:01:45.400 --> 0:01:49.160 of amusing. And I just the idea of jay Z 0:01:49.240 --> 0:01:51.720 and space is of course fantastic, especially if Beyonce it 0:01:51.760 --> 0:01:53.640 feels a little ill and Kanye ends up going up 0:01:53.640 --> 0:01:55.640 with him instead. You know, that's the one time that 0:01:55.680 --> 0:01:57.960 I would really want to be an extra. Yeah. Yeah, 0:01:58.040 --> 0:02:00.600 I'd totally be an extra on that video. Are you kidding? 0:02:01.080 --> 0:02:03.360 I mean, not only are you uh, you know, going 0:02:03.400 --> 0:02:07.200 into space, but that you're you're getting to watch, you know, 0:02:07.640 --> 0:02:11.360 celebrities vomit on themselves. Yeah, and don't normally have to 0:02:11.400 --> 0:02:14.079 pay pay quite a premium for that. What you'd be 0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:16.520 paying for quite a premium for that. I would be 0:02:16.639 --> 0:02:19.280 wiping vomit off my face. I just realized, So maybe 0:02:19.280 --> 0:02:22.160 I need to rethink that. But here's the deal. I mean, 0:02:22.160 --> 0:02:25.400 this is a possibility. It's it's right around the corner. 0:02:26.080 --> 0:02:29.519 Virgin Galactic has been saying that they're in the final 0:02:29.639 --> 0:02:35.040 phase of creating this great vessel and their spaceport, and 0:02:35.120 --> 0:02:38.160 some people are saying, well, maybe it'll happen in although 0:02:38.480 --> 0:02:42.799 more most likely will be but you know, with the U. S. 0:02:42.840 --> 0:02:45.679 Bace Shuttle program being put this is something to look 0:02:45.720 --> 0:02:48.200 forward to. Yeah, I mean, and I've I've spoken with 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:52.840 interviewed Stephen Attenborough, the commercial director for Virgin Galactica back 0:02:52.960 --> 0:02:56.799 and I also talked to Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides, 0:02:57.120 --> 0:02:59.160 and uh, and they were both, you know, they were 0:02:59.200 --> 0:03:01.440 they were to get asked all the time and when's 0:03:01.480 --> 0:03:03.480 it going up? What's the date, and they're they're very 0:03:03.520 --> 0:03:05.639 hesitant to to throw it out any kind of date 0:03:05.680 --> 0:03:07.400 because then, you know, they if they say it's going 0:03:07.440 --> 0:03:10.000 to go up fourth quarter of then they're going to 0:03:10.080 --> 0:03:12.760 suddenly be sort of feel kind of beholden to that date, 0:03:13.200 --> 0:03:14.880 and this is not something they want to rush. They 0:03:14.919 --> 0:03:18.520 want to get this right because I mean, you were 0:03:18.560 --> 0:03:22.239 talking about, uh, traveling into SubOrbit. We're talking about traveling 0:03:22.280 --> 0:03:27.240 into space. Uh monumental you know first when we actually 0:03:27.240 --> 0:03:31.800 have the first commercial virgin plactic flight take off. So 0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:34.960 you know, they wanted to to look to work perfectly 0:03:35.400 --> 0:03:37.640 just if nothing else from a from a pr standpoint, 0:03:37.680 --> 0:03:40.560 well in a business model too, right yeah. Um, So, 0:03:40.680 --> 0:03:42.360 like I mean, let's talk a little bit about what 0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:46.440 suborbital flight is, which is what the vessel the craft 0:03:46.480 --> 0:03:50.360 will be going into. Right, We're talking about reaching an 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:53.440 altitude of approximately sixty eight miles above the surface of 0:03:53.440 --> 0:03:57.360 the Earth um, and that is six point two miles 0:03:57.400 --> 0:04:01.080 above a boundary line, uh that we call the Carmen line, 0:04:01.080 --> 0:04:04.440 which by most definitions is where the atmosphere ends in 0:04:04.480 --> 0:04:07.520 outer space begins. Now it's important to stress here that 0:04:07.440 --> 0:04:10.800 there's there's no just like the Earth's atmosphere kind of 0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:14.160 just dies off gradually, and it varies exactly when the 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:17.279 atmosphere would be ending and when space would be begin 0:04:17.400 --> 0:04:20.800 based on on on where you're looking in the various 0:04:20.800 --> 0:04:23.640 atmospheric conditions. But but also but basically it's just kind 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:26.880 of dies off. It's like, imagine there's a bad smell 0:04:26.920 --> 0:04:29.159 in our room. There's not a point where the bad 0:04:29.200 --> 0:04:32.919 smell begins it ends, as much as where it fades away. Okay, 0:04:33.160 --> 0:04:35.599 this is also what we're talking about here, is sending 0:04:35.600 --> 0:04:37.680 a craft into space and bringing it back down without 0:04:37.720 --> 0:04:41.040 circling the Earth. And just so you guys know, now 0:04:41.120 --> 0:04:45.080 says X fifteen has ascended beyond the Carmon line only twice. 0:04:45.800 --> 0:04:48.120 And the higher you go, the higher the G forces 0:04:48.200 --> 0:04:49.880 are going to be on the way up and the 0:04:49.920 --> 0:04:53.919 way down. So um, this is mainly why this height 0:04:54.000 --> 0:04:56.680 is achievable to us right now, because it works within 0:04:56.720 --> 0:04:59.680 the confines of our own humanness, right in our ability 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:02.320 to with stand G forces. Um. And also just that 0:05:02.360 --> 0:05:05.720 reentry it's really important on um, well, we know it's 0:05:05.760 --> 0:05:09.520 one of the biggest problems of engineering right right. And 0:05:09.680 --> 0:05:14.040 uh yeah, the ship that itself spaceship too is actually 0:05:14.440 --> 0:05:17.719 designed to go even higher than sixty eight miles. But 0:05:18.040 --> 0:05:19.960 you have to keep in mind again business model, this 0:05:20.000 --> 0:05:22.640 is about tourism. This is about reaching as many people 0:05:22.680 --> 0:05:24.160 as possible because you want to be able to sell 0:05:24.240 --> 0:05:27.800 them that pricey ticket. Uh so they The goal for 0:05:27.880 --> 0:05:31.440 Virgin Galactic has been to make it to wear. Human 0:05:31.480 --> 0:05:33.720 beings between the ages of twenty two and eighty eight 0:05:33.760 --> 0:05:35.880 would be fit enough to take the ride, so it 0:05:35.920 --> 0:05:38.320 wouldn't be one of these things where only people in 0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:40.760 their twenties and thirties, you know, in good hell, you know. 0:05:40.800 --> 0:05:43.320 This is not the astronaut program. This is space tourism, 0:05:43.400 --> 0:05:45.840 so the goals are a little different. So it's like 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:50.720 the ultimate roller coaster for for a variety of ages. Right, Yeah, 0:05:50.720 --> 0:05:53.440 if Granny wants to go into the SubOrbit, Granny gets 0:05:53.440 --> 0:05:55.440 to go into SubOrbit. She's just gotta be able to 0:05:55.440 --> 0:05:58.039 PLoP down the cash. My favorite part of this is 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:00.960 the way that Branson describes it, which is the sexiest 0:06:00.960 --> 0:06:06.960 spaceship ever. That's it's such a ridiculous concept because most 0:06:07.120 --> 0:06:10.960 spaceships are kind of phallic anyway. So I mean, it's like, 0:06:11.000 --> 0:06:12.400 I can't help but think of that. So he's like, 0:06:12.760 --> 0:06:14.760 you imagine saying, I'm going to create the most phallic 0:06:15.040 --> 0:06:18.760 spaceship imaginable. But I mean it's really it is a 0:06:18.839 --> 0:06:21.240 very attractive looking plane. And then they have the there's 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:23.560 the White Knight that takes it up to uh yeah, yeah, 0:06:23.600 --> 0:06:26.680 let's talk about what this looks like, because it is 0:06:26.720 --> 0:06:30.520 sexy looking. Actually. Um, it is a vehicle that's designed 0:06:30.520 --> 0:06:33.719 to carry six passengers and two pilots. And if you're 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:36.159 looking at it, it looks like it almost looks like 0:06:36.240 --> 0:06:40.520 three planes lined up together, right, yeah, Because the White 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:45.320 Knight has two cabins yes to two fuselage bodies. It 0:06:45.360 --> 0:06:49.160 looks like like like two dragonflies holding hands. Oh that's pretty, 0:06:49.400 --> 0:06:51.800 that's beautiful. Um. And the White Knight, just you everybody 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:53.720 knows it's not part of the actual craft that that 0:06:54.400 --> 0:06:58.920 shot into the ether there. It is actually the part 0:06:58.960 --> 0:07:03.000 that boost the craft up to fifty feet right right, 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:05.440 in the same way as a space shuttle. Uh, you know, 0:07:05.440 --> 0:07:07.520 it uses the booster. It would use the boosters to 0:07:07.560 --> 0:07:09.600 reach a certain altitude and then it would jetison the 0:07:09.600 --> 0:07:11.760 boosters and fly the rest of the way up. This 0:07:11.800 --> 0:07:13.600 is kind of like that, except the boosters. Instead of 0:07:13.640 --> 0:07:16.800 plumbing back to Earth, they go and land at an airport. 0:07:17.040 --> 0:07:19.600 Which I mean, that's that's pretty smart, right yeah, yeah, 0:07:20.000 --> 0:07:23.360 far less waste, a lot more economically feasible. Um. And 0:07:23.400 --> 0:07:25.120 another way to look at it is and I think 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:27.040 this is the way that Virgin galact tends to frame 0:07:27.040 --> 0:07:30.600 it is that the White Night is the launching platform 0:07:30.680 --> 0:07:34.240 for Spaceship two, but instead of the launching platform being 0:07:34.240 --> 0:07:36.640 on the ground, they fly the launching platform up to 0:07:37.040 --> 0:07:39.840 a high altitude itself, so it's you know, it's it's 0:07:39.840 --> 0:07:41.480 given in a ride and then it can walk the 0:07:41.480 --> 0:07:43.680 rest of the way and as a result that they 0:07:43.840 --> 0:07:48.280 use less fuel and their carbon footprint is far less. Um. So, 0:07:48.320 --> 0:07:51.600 the cabin measures an ample seven point five feet in 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:54.960 diameter by twelve ft in length, and that seems to 0:07:54.960 --> 0:07:58.240 be enough room to float around, right. Yeah. And there 0:07:58.280 --> 0:08:01.680 are a lot of little porthole like windows just sort 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:04.680 of scattered throughout, and those are measuring up to seventeen 0:08:04.720 --> 0:08:09.600 inches in diameter, about twice what your commercial aircraft window 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:11.440 would be. Yeah, and not everybody's gonna get a lot 0:08:11.480 --> 0:08:13.640 of personal space, but like you said, you know, you're 0:08:13.640 --> 0:08:16.600 gonna be thrown up on each other potentially, so so 0:08:16.880 --> 0:08:19.480 you know, you might as well get a little cozy yeah. Yeah, um, 0:08:19.520 --> 0:08:20.960 you know, and this again, this is going to be 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:24.560 a pretty big bonding experience for these six people anyway, 0:08:23.960 --> 0:08:27.640 yea um. And then the company has actually managed to 0:08:27.680 --> 0:08:30.360 sell more than four hundred and seventy tickets so far, 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:35.280 each with a twenty thousand dollar minimum deposit. Uh. And 0:08:35.320 --> 0:08:37.480 of course this is without setting any sort of definitive 0:08:37.559 --> 0:08:41.559 launch date. Um. And some of the luminaries that will 0:08:41.600 --> 0:08:45.440 be on this space craft besides possibly jay Z and 0:08:45.480 --> 0:08:49.079 Biance of course, uh, Angelina and Julie and Brad Pitt 0:08:49.559 --> 0:08:53.439 on board. UM. Brian Singer, director of the first two 0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:58.079 X Men movies, Paris Hilton. Who, Um, well everyone knows 0:08:58.080 --> 0:09:01.240 Paris Hilton. Uh. We got royalty covered in the form 0:09:01.280 --> 0:09:04.600 of Prince Beatrice. We have science covered in the forum 0:09:04.640 --> 0:09:09.800 of Stephen Hawking. Uh we have and then another Hollywood legend, 0:09:09.840 --> 0:09:12.760 we have Tom Hanks on board and to a lesser extent, 0:09:13.080 --> 0:09:17.240 Victoria Principle spice girl. Oh yes, no, she's not a 0:09:17.240 --> 0:09:20.000 spice girl. I think she's from like the nineteen she's 0:09:20.360 --> 0:09:22.599 Dynasty or something like that. Yeah, I think she's just 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:25.440 the one who who wanted to have a special space suit, 0:09:25.520 --> 0:09:27.480 like she wanted like a pink space suit or something 0:09:27.520 --> 0:09:29.360 like that. Was that was in the news at one point. 0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:32.880 Because for the most part, if it's virgin galactic related, um, 0:09:32.920 --> 0:09:35.000 you know, like space and science journalism, they're going to 0:09:35.080 --> 0:09:38.760 cover it um and and with good reason, because Virgin Galactic, 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:41.439 I mean, Branson really throws his money and stuff, and 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:44.040 they have great pr they have great images that they 0:09:44.080 --> 0:09:45.800 put out there for you well. And I have heard 0:09:45.840 --> 0:09:48.800 that their their commercial air flights are quite cushy in nice, 0:09:48.840 --> 0:09:51.280 so I can imagine that they would design a pink 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:54.800 space suit for Victoria principle. Now, now you mentioned that 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:58.160 it's twenty dollars reserved the ticket two hundred thousand, as 0:09:58.240 --> 0:10:01.040 the title of the podcast suggests at that to actually 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:04.000 board the flight, like that's the full price, And you 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:07.240 had an interesting tidbit about Salmahyak. Yeah, yeah, she actually 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:10.280 reserved a ticket and presumably she lost her deposit later 0:10:10.320 --> 0:10:12.400 when she became a mother and decided that that was 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:15.480 a really bad idea, which was kind of like, okay, 0:10:15.600 --> 0:10:17.920 I get it. You know, I'm a mother and I 0:10:17.960 --> 0:10:20.440 can understand like, oh, okay, if if something happens, that 0:10:20.440 --> 0:10:24.080 would be a travesty. But then we were discussing about 0:10:24.200 --> 0:10:28.600 how this is on par with irrational fears, and in 0:10:28.679 --> 0:10:32.280 particular flight right because we all know that it's far 0:10:32.320 --> 0:10:34.520 safer to fly than it is to get in your 0:10:34.559 --> 0:10:36.840 car and drive. Yeah, I mean not to discount the 0:10:36.840 --> 0:10:39.160 fact that, yes, this would be the suborbital flight, this 0:10:39.160 --> 0:10:42.960 would be pretty groundbreaking. But Richard Branson has I mean, 0:10:43.000 --> 0:10:45.839 here's the personal steak in this going well, I mean 0:10:45.920 --> 0:10:47.960 he's gonna be on that flight. But right, yeah, so, 0:10:48.000 --> 0:10:50.720 I mean that's the flight you would be on, Like 0:10:50.760 --> 0:10:53.079 you can safe on that flight, but on any terrestrial 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:56.560 virgin light you know, or or or any random you know, 0:10:56.679 --> 0:11:00.400 drive across town like there is a huge engine figured 0:11:00.720 --> 0:11:03.040 though there's you know, a huge engine involved here too, 0:11:03.080 --> 0:11:06.400 but but just from a business standpoint, like well, like 0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:09.160 the version galactic engine is behind this thing taking off, 0:11:09.400 --> 0:11:11.319 I think you're gonna be okay. And if you're not, 0:11:11.920 --> 0:11:13.959 I mean you're gonna go out and the blaze of 0:11:14.000 --> 0:11:17.679 glory next to uh you know, Angelina Jolie and Brad 0:11:17.679 --> 0:11:21.520 Pitt m H. I don't know about that, um. And 0:11:21.600 --> 0:11:23.280 I think that the end result is that you're still 0:11:23.280 --> 0:11:25.880 going to be a flaming meat bag, and that that's 0:11:25.880 --> 0:11:27.480 where people have the problem with that, Like still in 0:11:27.520 --> 0:11:29.280 the hiyak, right, I don't want to become a flaming 0:11:29.320 --> 0:11:31.679 meat bag. Well, we're all gonna become meat bags. So 0:11:31.840 --> 0:11:34.200 I'm I'm like, let's do it in SubOrbit, let's let's 0:11:34.200 --> 0:11:36.600 do it above the common line. Well, and as we'll 0:11:36.600 --> 0:11:39.199 discuss later on, it's probably not you know, that's probably 0:11:39.280 --> 0:11:41.600 again in a rational fear that you could apply to 0:11:42.000 --> 0:11:45.400 trestual flight to you know, right, there's probably not even 0:11:45.400 --> 0:11:48.960 gonna be mass celebrity vomiting. Like I'm probably I'm overstating 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:54.120 bat much less flaming celebrities. I'm just I'm just thinking 0:11:54.160 --> 0:11:57.080 about the image. Um, all right, in a moment here 0:11:57.080 --> 0:11:59.760 after there our break, we are going to talk about 0:11:59.760 --> 0:12:06.760 what you get for two hundred thousand dollars. All right, 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:09.280 we're back. I should also point out, if we're talking 0:12:09.280 --> 0:12:12.079 about the famous individuals and tickets, it should be noted 0:12:12.160 --> 0:12:15.920 that that Shatner captain kirk fame of course, Uh, he 0:12:16.040 --> 0:12:18.000 was offered a free ticket by Branson but turned it 0:12:18.040 --> 0:12:20.600 down because he's too cool for school. I mean, what's 0:12:20.640 --> 0:12:22.360 up with that. I don't think he's too cool, but 0:12:22.920 --> 0:12:25.560 I don't know, he's just too old and curmaginally too. 0:12:26.080 --> 0:12:28.360 It's like I've got my gig, I've got my con gig. 0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:31.720 I don't I can't do it. Um, maybe you just 0:12:31.760 --> 0:12:34.040 hates flying, I mean because Ultimately it's a flight. Somebody 0:12:34.040 --> 0:12:36.640 he's just like, fly enough, okay, But it's a hundred 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:39.000 and fifty minute flight. That's what we're talking about here. 0:12:39.040 --> 0:12:40.640 I mean, we're not talking about like going to the 0:12:40.640 --> 0:12:44.000 West coast. We're not talking about four hours here. Um. 0:12:44.040 --> 0:12:45.959 But do you know, just just to break it down, 0:12:46.360 --> 0:12:48.959 a hundred and fifty minute journey would be one thousand, 0:12:49.000 --> 0:12:51.720 three hundred thirty three dollars a minute. Are you guys 0:12:52.040 --> 0:12:55.720 tagging that? And um, what you also get in your 0:12:55.720 --> 0:12:58.360 two hundred thousand dollars. It's a three day training course 0:12:58.360 --> 0:13:01.480 in g force and afety training at the company's training 0:13:01.520 --> 0:13:05.760 facility in New Mexico. And as you said, the training 0:13:05.800 --> 0:13:10.280 exercises do indicate that of humans can can do this 0:13:10.520 --> 0:13:16.200 right between the ages of eight and Passengers after completing 0:13:16.280 --> 0:13:19.640 training will load onto a rocket ship attached to a 0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:21.680 carrier plane. That's the White Night that we've been talking to, 0:13:22.320 --> 0:13:25.760 the mother ship that will fly fifty feet into the 0:13:25.800 --> 0:13:28.360 air and then at that point, at about an hour 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:31.640 in the rockets will detach and store more than three 0:13:31.760 --> 0:13:34.000 hundred thousand feet into the air. And this is when 0:13:34.040 --> 0:13:37.240 things get really serious because the environment inside the craft 0:13:37.320 --> 0:13:40.800 is changing really rapidly, because now you're hurtling through space 0:13:41.280 --> 0:13:44.480 close to four times the speed of sound and about 0:13:45.040 --> 0:13:48.559 thirty seconds okay, with five g s coming at you 0:13:50.160 --> 0:13:52.160 at this point. And I'm sorry, but I'm kind of 0:13:52.200 --> 0:13:54.320 this is I'm getting excited by this, right, this is 0:13:54.360 --> 0:13:56.920 really cool. And then and then when you begin to 0:13:56.960 --> 0:14:00.680 see earth of the window, right, Um, that's when the 0:14:00.679 --> 0:14:06.559 engine cuts off and it's complete silence and weightlessness is achieved. 0:14:06.720 --> 0:14:09.120 And that's when presumably like the little lights come on 0:14:09.160 --> 0:14:12.760 and say that you can take your seatbelt off. Uh, 0:14:12.880 --> 0:14:16.280 that's when you'll take off your seatbelt and experience zero 0:14:16.360 --> 0:14:21.240 gravity for a full five minutes. Yeah, and and and 0:14:21.320 --> 0:14:23.000 it's easy to sort of look at this and say, 0:14:23.040 --> 0:14:24.520 like five minutes. All right, you so you're gonna float 0:14:24.520 --> 0:14:26.480 around for five minutes? Big woop? Is that really worth 0:14:26.480 --> 0:14:31.800 two dollars? Surprise? Not not or unsurprisingly? Uh, the virgin 0:14:31.880 --> 0:14:33.760 lack of people I talked to said, yes, it will 0:14:33.800 --> 0:14:37.160 totally be worth that money. And uh, and certainly when 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:39.160 you when you look at and then they make a 0:14:39.160 --> 0:14:41.040 strong case because they point out that that everyone who 0:14:41.080 --> 0:14:44.200 has gone into space, uh, and who has looked out 0:14:44.200 --> 0:14:48.560 of a portal and seen the Earth from above. It's 0:14:48.600 --> 0:14:51.320 changed their lives forever. Like it's not something where people 0:14:51.320 --> 0:14:53.000 are like, yeah, I went into space once, and you 0:14:53.040 --> 0:14:54.680 know it's like, really, you went too space. We've known 0:14:54.720 --> 0:14:56.320 each other ten years and you never mentioned that. No, 0:14:56.640 --> 0:14:58.880 this is the kind of thing that they mentioned all 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:01.320 the time. Like you, if anything, you're sick of hearing 0:15:01.360 --> 0:15:04.360 about your friend Charlie going into space. You're like, go, really, 0:15:04.400 --> 0:15:06.280 you're gonna talk about how you get to see the 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:09.560 Earth from above and you realize we're all, uh, you know, 0:15:09.600 --> 0:15:12.120 a brotherhood of man blah blah blah. We've heard it before. 0:15:12.240 --> 0:15:15.920 You know, it changes people. It's it is. I don't 0:15:15.920 --> 0:15:18.720 think there's any It may not be for everyone in 0:15:18.760 --> 0:15:20.400 the sense that not everyone is going to be willing 0:15:20.440 --> 0:15:23.880 to invest the money in it, but I I can't 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:26.280 imagine anybody when we would go up there and see 0:15:26.280 --> 0:15:28.120 it so look out the windows, see the Earth, would 0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:32.840 experience microgravity and would regret the trip. I know. I'm 0:15:32.840 --> 0:15:37.240 just thinking that this is total billionaire cocktail uh fodder, 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:40.080 like cocktail party, Like, oh well, I went Hella skiing 0:15:40.280 --> 0:15:43.240 last weekend and I's been a really because I just 0:15:43.280 --> 0:15:47.160 saw the Earth like you know from space. Yeah, it's definitely. 0:15:47.200 --> 0:15:48.560 I guess it's you know, it's pretty much aimed at 0:15:48.560 --> 0:15:51.560 the one percent, you know. But yeah, yeah, I'm gonna 0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:53.640 say that. I'm gonna go with that. Except I mean 0:15:54.280 --> 0:15:56.200 I will say though, if they want somebody from the 0:15:56.200 --> 0:15:59.880 lower to actually you have a seat, I'm happy to 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:02.720 it to be that person. Oh yeah, yeah, along, I 0:16:02.760 --> 0:16:06.120 absolutely agree. Um, you know, in the name of science 0:16:06.160 --> 0:16:09.600 research podcasting, Um I could. I could do that. Yeah, 0:16:09.600 --> 0:16:11.280 I would do it in a heartbeat. I mean especially 0:16:11.320 --> 0:16:13.920 if and if I had two dollars just sitting around 0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:17.880 and absolutely nothing else to do with that money. Like 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:20.480 if two thousand dollars was nothing to me, then I 0:16:20.480 --> 0:16:23.800 could see myself buying a ticket. Yeah yeah, like ten 0:16:24.200 --> 0:16:26.280 ton of them, prer entire family. I do think it's 0:16:26.320 --> 0:16:29.320 a really incredible part of the whole flight. Yeah, yeah, 0:16:29.520 --> 0:16:32.880 which some well not really people, but say some space 0:16:32.960 --> 0:16:35.200 organizations are doing well. I was just thinking that if 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:37.000 you were super crazy rich, you could have some sort 0:16:37.000 --> 0:16:40.360 of event up like they're like get married or somebody 0:16:40.400 --> 0:16:42.360 will get married on vertictal actic. I know it will 0:16:42.360 --> 0:16:47.600 happen with the with the chair and everything. I don't 0:16:47.600 --> 0:16:49.200 think the light you bring it cool? Would that be 0:16:49.280 --> 0:16:54.080 in zero gravity? Based on this? But let's let's talk 0:16:54.120 --> 0:16:56.800 about a little bit more about the company UM and 0:16:56.840 --> 0:17:01.360 how this came to fruition the the spaceship to vehicle. 0:17:01.520 --> 0:17:06.560 Its predecessor had actually already explored suborbital space UM and 0:17:06.600 --> 0:17:09.399 claimed the ten million and a sorry X prize on 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:11.719 October four in two thousand and four. This is actually 0:17:11.760 --> 0:17:15.560 what caught Sir Richard Branson's eye, m because you know, 0:17:15.560 --> 0:17:17.800 obviously this is something that he wanted to do and UM, 0:17:17.840 --> 0:17:20.600 this is a design that he has been working on 0:17:20.760 --> 0:17:24.000 with the people who are behind the engineering of that. 0:17:24.600 --> 0:17:26.760 So the thing that that is most critical though to 0:17:26.840 --> 0:17:29.480 the design is re entry because we talked about that 0:17:29.480 --> 0:17:31.439 a little bit before, right, Like, re entry is the 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:34.160 hardest part of this because again the higher you go, um, 0:17:34.240 --> 0:17:37.200 I guess you could say, the harder you're gonna fall. Yes, yeah, 0:17:37.520 --> 0:17:40.840 you definitely you have to deal with the the intense 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:44.360 physical challenges of re entry, the wear and tear that's 0:17:44.359 --> 0:17:47.680 going to inflict on the ship itself. Fiery re entry 0:17:47.760 --> 0:17:51.040 is is a phrase for a reason, right right, It 0:17:51.160 --> 0:17:55.879 just doesn't sound very pleasant, the air hitting the ship. No, 0:17:56.119 --> 0:17:59.440 but feathered re entry. Doesn't that sound wonderful? That sounds great. 0:17:59.520 --> 0:18:01.359 That sounds like something that would be offered in a hotel, 0:18:01.400 --> 0:18:04.159 you know, yeah, feathery bed like they don't have a shower, 0:18:04.200 --> 0:18:06.439 it's like a heavenly shower in bath or whatever. You know. 0:18:06.440 --> 0:18:08.879 They have all these these cushy terminologies for things that 0:18:09.520 --> 0:18:12.240 aren't really that fantastic. But feathered landing that sounds great. 0:18:12.240 --> 0:18:14.680 I wouldn't be concerned about a feathered landing. It sounds 0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:19.280 so much better than violent reentry and fiery entry. UM. 0:18:19.320 --> 0:18:21.800 It's been compared to the flight of a shuttlecock in 0:18:22.040 --> 0:18:25.560 Badminton and UM. It allows spaceship to to rely on 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:29.520 aerodynamics and the laws of physics to control speed and altitude. 0:18:29.560 --> 0:18:33.040 And Spaceship two's ability to feather its tail section is 0:18:33.200 --> 0:18:36.880 the main safety feature here UM again one that allows 0:18:36.880 --> 0:18:39.800 a craft to return into this thick atmosphere from the 0:18:39.840 --> 0:18:43.919 edge of space. UM and the entire tail structure of 0:18:43.920 --> 0:18:46.800 the spaceship can actually be rotated upward to about sixty 0:18:46.840 --> 0:18:50.879 five degrees and then in this feathered configuration, automatic control 0:18:50.880 --> 0:18:56.000 of altitude with the fuselage parallel to the horizon is achieved. 0:18:56.480 --> 0:18:59.920 So this creates a really high drag as a space 0:19:00.000 --> 0:19:03.399 it descends through the upper regions of the atmosphere, so again, 0:19:03.440 --> 0:19:06.320 you know, going into and out of makes it a 0:19:06.359 --> 0:19:09.120 little bit more I guess you could say elegant, right 0:19:09.280 --> 0:19:12.080 and safe. That that's the main part of this. Branson 0:19:12.119 --> 0:19:17.040 says that the company spacecraft were built to exacting specifications 0:19:17.080 --> 0:19:18.840 and that they were able to mitigate a lot of 0:19:18.840 --> 0:19:23.840 the deletarious environmental effects of NASA's spaceship Shuttle program. And 0:19:23.960 --> 0:19:26.280 um he says that their technology, because it's brand new 0:19:26.320 --> 0:19:28.960 and not forty years old, we'll be able to put 0:19:29.000 --> 0:19:32.399 someone into space for less than their environmental price in 0:19:32.440 --> 0:19:35.600 an economy class ticket from London to New York and back. 0:19:35.960 --> 0:19:37.920 And they said, quote on top of that, we can 0:19:37.920 --> 0:19:41.119 put satellites into space for almost no carbon output because 0:19:41.160 --> 0:19:43.960 we're launching them from sixt rather than the land based 0:19:43.960 --> 0:19:49.080 satellite launches. So okay, this is where the possibilities start 0:19:49.160 --> 0:19:51.600 to grow a little bit more beyond just space tourism, 0:19:51.720 --> 0:19:54.000 right right, and and it really begins to look like 0:19:54.040 --> 0:19:55.880 the like the space tourism is kind of the leg 0:19:55.960 --> 0:20:00.000 up on not just the future of sending ultrawealthy celebrit 0:20:00.119 --> 0:20:04.080 these on a you know, their dream trip, but more on, 0:20:04.200 --> 0:20:05.760 you know, I'm getting a leg up on the next 0:20:06.040 --> 0:20:08.719 phase in the evolution of human space flight and space 0:20:08.760 --> 0:20:12.280 exploration itself. And that is why I mentioned earlier that 0:20:12.280 --> 0:20:14.639 that there was was somebody that was interested in booking 0:20:14.640 --> 0:20:17.520 an entire flight for kind of a party. But it's 0:20:17.560 --> 0:20:20.840 not it's an it's it's not about Mitzvah. That's uh, 0:20:20.920 --> 0:20:23.560 that's planned, but it's rather NASA. For a four point 0:20:23.640 --> 0:20:26.680 five million dollar deal, they've managed to charter a full 0:20:26.680 --> 0:20:29.880 flight from Virgin Galactic, which includes an option of two 0:20:29.920 --> 0:20:33.280 additional flights, and on each of those pounds of scientific 0:20:33.320 --> 0:20:35.520 experiments which in and out of it. So when I 0:20:35.600 --> 0:20:37.280 first read that, I was like, well that that doesn't 0:20:37.280 --> 0:20:39.560