So Richard Branson has done it again – high flying with Virgin Atlantic has now become space gazing with Virgin Galactica.
From later on this year, normal every day folk, well; let’s rather say normal every-day very very rich folk will be able to take a commercial flight to space for the bargain price of only R2.588097.50.
Mere petty cash to the average South African hey? The world’s first purpose-built commercial space base will be near the city of Truth or Consequences in New Mexico.
Yip, that is the city’s name. It used to be called Hot Springs, now shortened to T or C, it is definitely going to make its way to everybody’s lips when the first flight into suborbital space happens.
The city changed its name to Truth or Consequences, which is the title of a popular NBC radio programme.
This came to be in 1950 when Ralph Edwards, the host of the radio quiz show Truth or Consequences, said that he would air the programme from the first city that renamed itself after the show. Well, needless to say Hot Springs got that honour. Only in America hey? (Info from wikipedia.org)
(And for those of you who have a couple of million in spare change, the city’s coordinates are 33°8′1″N 107°15′10″W33.13361°N 107.25278°W)
Brings to mind Buzz Lightyear’s words, “To infinity and beyond!” To get a glance at the earth from space, albeit at an astronomical price, must be mind blowing. I wonder what it would do to one’s thought process? Our life is on earth, all we know is on earth – and yet to look down at our world, from outer space; incomprehensible!
But for us womenfolk it could become two dreams come true in one – one is weightless in space! Ah hah – “So, what do you weigh?” 0 kilograms!
I love the way Sridaya Srivatsan explains it on buccaneer.worldcon.org “Weightlessness is experienced when there is no gravity or minimum gravity.
Gravity is the pull that does not let anyone float around. Astronauts that go into space visiting the outer space and live-in space stations, experience being weightless.
They feel like they are falling, but never reaching the ground. Scientists call that “free fall”. Why do they feel like they are falling? Well, here on earth when we stand on the scale, it gives us a reading.
Your weight on earth is actually read by how much you squeeze the scale between you and the earth. If you take away the earth your feet have nothing to squeeze the scale against. But if there were there nothing below the scale you would fall. Hence the term “free fall”.
So there we have it, not only would you not get any reading from a scale, it wouldn’t work there anyway, hence 0 kilograms! Lol.
So now I know what I would do with any lotto winnings.
When someone asks me what I would do if I won lots of money I always say that I don’t want to win lots of money. I have everything I need and I really don’t like what too much money does to some people. But after reading the Richard Branson article, I really think that I would like to go into space!
Not only will it be an unfathomably exhilarating adventure like nothing on earth – I will get to weigh nothing for a couple of hours – How could that not be a dream come true for any woman?
Love live and shine!
