Monday, July 28, 2008

You Only Live Twice


We're approaching science fiction reality. Maybe we're already there. Cell phones /mobile phones are pretty close to "communicators," even in style, and the internet is moving us towards a universal knowledge database. If "machine translation" isn't quite up to "universal translator" standards thanks to the oddities of grammar and local customs, we Earthlings seem to be going in that direction.

Latest thing is almost as wild as Moonbase Alpha from the British early 70s show UFO. Who would have thought -- aside from the James Bond franchise (You Only Live Twice is a prime example, from back in 1967) -- that we'd actually see private programs and private space fleets in our lifetimes? Take Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic . . .


Virgin Galactic hopes to have five passenger space ships (presumably their Model 339 SpaceShipTwo or similar eight-seater craft) in service within the next few years, plus cargo ships. People with a lot of disposable income are willing to pay $200,000 for early flights; eventual cost may come down to a mere $20,000 for a ride that would be scarier than a regular passenger jet ride, but about the same duration as a flight from, say, Detroit Metro to Dallas-Fort Worth.

I wonder if there are environmental concerns from all this new private space activity? Why again were Super Sonic Transport / SST flights (The Concorde) stopped? Does anyone remember?

Regardless of good intentions, suddenly those James Bond plots look a lot more plausible . . . . .

Today's Rune: Partnership.

8 comments:

Sidney said...

It is all truly amazing. When I was a kid in school the 21st Century seemed far off, but we're here. You know we even have people with purple hair styles like on UFO.

JR's Thumbprints said...

Technology is rapidly changing our outlook. I think I'll pass on space travel in the near future. I don't even have a cell phone, which may or may not increase my chances of brain cancer.

Charles Gramlich said...

I love the idea and I hope it happens. I just hope they don't start putting billboards in outer space. That I WILL boycott.

the walking man said...

As long as technology continues to grow exponentially there will always be visionaries. It appears that the science fiction of the past is usually what fuels the form, if not the function, of the present. I wonder when we are going to have transporters.

Johnny Yen said...

The SST flights ended because they were incredibly expensive. Also, the airplane's manufactureres had ceased making spare parts.

In the US, they were never allowed to fly over because of the sonic booms. Chicago was a test market for that-- I'll post about it soon.

Erik Donald France said...

Thanks all for the comments!

It is amazing, the changes in technology.

Johnny, wasn't there also some further concern on environmental issues? In any case, I'll never forget seeing so many soaring into flight above London in the early 90s.

Johnny Yen said...

Yes, there was-- they were helping destroy the ozone layer.

When I was at Degaulle Airport in 1994 for a four hour layover to Frankfurt, there were a bunch of Concords. One of them took off while I was there and it was incredibly loud.

Lana Gramlich said...

There was a baaaad accident involving an SST some years ago (on landing in France, I believe,) that put future flights on hold for a while. They did restart briefly, but at that point it just wasn't so financially feasible anymore--better, more efficent aircraft were being produced--so they just kind of retired the SSTs.
As for modern technology, I'm still waiting for my personal jet pack.