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The Almighty Buck Space

More Random Rich People Are Going To Space (techcrunch.com) 91

Posted by BeauHD from the good-for-them dept.
Blue Origin on Thursday announced the crew for its next mission. "The crew most notably includes popstar Katy Perry and broadcast journalist Gayle King. They will be joined by two scientists -- Aisha Bowe and Amanda Nguyen -- as well as Jeff Bezos' fiancee, TV personality Lauren Sanchez and film producer Kerianne Flynn," reports TechCrunch. From the report: Blue Origin says this marks the first all-female space crew since Soviet astronaut Valentina Tereshkova's 1963 solo mission, which made her the first woman ever to go to space. For the company's New Shepard rocket, this is its 31st trip to space, and its 11th with a crew. This journey is expected to last around 10 to 12 minutes; and if you're willing to drop a $150,000 deposit, you too can reserve a future spot on a short space jaunt.

More Random Rich People Are Going To Space More | Reply

More Random Rich People Are Going To Space

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  • Rich people's new toys (Score:5, Insightful)

    by war4peace ( 1628283 ) on Friday February 28, 2025 @02:03AM (#65200421)

    Let's not clutch our peals just yet.
    Rich people always had expensive toys and/or expensive activities. This is no different, just new.

    • *pearls.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by Rei ( 128717 )

        **space

        All they're doing is going high up in the atmosphere and then falling. It's not even remotely close to orbit. They're going to about 1/4th the altitude and 1/8th the peak velocity of orbit, so it's just a joy ride for a couple minute fall. I don't get why we're making news stories about people taking joy rides.

        • You reach space before you reach orbital. Space is generally considered to start at the Karman line, 100 kilometers up. I can't get any of these fluff pieces to tell me how high up they're going, but the use of the phrase "sub-orbital space" indicates to me that they're going at least that high, unless they're lying through their teeth. Which, admittedly, is always a possibility.

          • You reach space before you reach orbital. Space is generally considered to start at the Karman line, 100 kilometers up. I can't get any of these fluff pieces to tell me how high up they're going, but the use of the phrase "sub-orbital space" indicates to me that they're going at least that high, unless they're lying through their teeth. Which, admittedly, is always a possibility.

            The New Shepard tourist flights reach about 500 m above the Karman line, so they're officially in space, very briefly.

      • Damn, I thought you were making a subtle joke about Katy Perry's singing voice.

    • Let's not clutch our peals just yet. Rich people always had expensive toys and/or expensive activities. This is no different, just new.

      And you never know, it might explode.

    • I'm ok with rich people having expensive toys, but this one is extremely bad for the environment. Can't we just send them to check on Titanic instead? Explosive results are roughly equivalent.

      • It's arguably no worse for the environment than 1 million people ordering each a $5 plushie from China.
        It's trendy to yell at the rich for polluting and whatnot, but, well, they do it because they can, just like dogs licking their own balls.

    • The problem is that they keep coming back.

    • At $150k it's not even that expensive. Most Americans could afford that, although it would be a real sacrifice (for twelve minutes not really in space).

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Snard ( 61584 )
        Um, $150K is just the deposit to reserve a spot. I'm pretty sure the full cost for the ride is quite a bit more.
        • I've read it's not even a fixed thing yet. In the handful of flights, one was auctioned, one was for charity... this one, who even knows who's paying who to get Katy Perry showing this off to the world.

      • How much do you think people have laying around?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by DarkOx ( 621550 )

      I don't know I am very concerned if 'Random' rich people are going to space. Class-ism aside I think everyone can acknowledge that having wealthy people randomly put into orbit could get vary disruptive for society even if they do come back.

      Someone really should do something about this!

  • Got to be a cheaper way to get rid of them (Score:3, Insightful)

    by BrendaEM ( 871664 ) on Friday February 28, 2025 @02:16AM (#65200443) Homepage
    I wish Musk was driving that Telsa roadster out in space....

    • Re:Got to be a cheaper way to get rid of them (Score:4, Interesting)

      by OrangeTide ( 124937 ) on Friday February 28, 2025 @02:47AM (#65200469) Homepage Journal

      I hope he starts a submarine company for billionaires.

    • Maybe he could get some ketamine spiked with fent.

  • Headline is on point (Score:5, Insightful)

    by locater16 ( 2326718 ) on Friday February 28, 2025 @02:24AM (#65200445)
    More headlines should just be honest, sarcastic cynicism.

    • More headlines should just be honest, sarcastic cynicism.

      If sarcasm is a useful weapon against narcissistic arrogance, I’d be a fucking trillionaire.

  • With Blue Origin tours I keep thinking about the Titan submersible tours for rich people.,,
  • OceanGate Titan

  • Can we just ... (Score:4, Informative)

    by nosfucious ( 157958 ) on Friday February 28, 2025 @03:21AM (#65200495)

    Can we just ... leave them there?

    I mean, its not like we will be any worse off without these parasites on earth?

  • Good. Let them stay there.

  • until.... (Score:5, Informative)

    by gtall ( 79522 ) on Friday February 28, 2025 @04:36AM (#65200593)

    This will all stop after the first disaster.

    • NASA never sent another civilian into space after Christie McAuliffe was killed in Challenger, did they?

  • Discount (Score:5, Funny)

    by hcs_$reboot ( 1536101 ) on Friday February 28, 2025 @04:49AM (#65200605)
    They should offer a discount to flat earthers.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by ralic ( 1256888 )
      How about starting a fund to send a flat earther representative? Once landed with a photo of a curved horizon of the planet from which they departed, we can put that shyte to rest forevermore. Future generations may well thank us for our efforts.

      • Re:Discount (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Sique ( 173459 ) on Friday February 28, 2025 @05:46AM (#65200641) Homepage
        Flat Earthers are a counter movement. If it's not Flat Earth, they find another cause célèbre. It's like Ancient Aliens, or anti-vaxx or whatever there is: going against "common wisdom" just for the sake of it. People can do those things, because the technicalities are so far removed from their daily life that they don't believe it will affect them if they are wrong. I can be a flat-earther, because my miscalculations will be wrong hundreds of miles away from me. I can speculate about Ancient Aliens, because it does not affect my abillities to buy groceries by being wrong about the pyramids. And modern medicine will save me in most cases, if I am wrong about vaccines.

      • How about starting a fund to send a flat earther representative? Once landed with a photo of a curved horizon of the planet from which they departed, we can put that shyte to rest forevermore. Future generations may well thank us for our efforts.

        They sent one to see the 24 hour sun in the Antarctic which isn't possible with their "model" and the rest still just called it bullshit anyway.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by gtall ( 79522 )

        They'll just claim the Earth is a pancake and that no one knows what's on the other side. Orbits, you say? Nah, they'll explain that all they did was go around in circles around the circumference. And its really, really big because they never found the edge.

  • Alternative title (Score:3)

    by JamesTRexx ( 675890 ) on Friday February 28, 2025 @04:50AM (#65200609) Journal

    Random Rich People Support More Pollution

    No, buying loads of electric vehicles isn't going to mitigate the huge amouunt of unnecessary pollution caused by your ten minute view of Earth.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Sique ( 173459 )
      In general, rich people pollute more than poor ones. This comes with higher consumption. A 10 bedroom mansion takes up more space, costs more in heating and building materials than a flat somewhere. Having a yacht requires a trailer, a marina, lots of travel to get sailing etc.pp..

      But rich person A might have different ideas how to pursuit happiness than rich person B. Rich person A flying to Space does not invalidate rich person B's decision to drive an EV. And if rich person A wants to fly to Space anyw

      • I wouldn't mind seeing them driving there in a Titan submersible if we're putting random options on the table.

    • OR

      Rich women user X number of Libraries of Congress and Football fields worth of pollution to get a short joy ride on a rocket.

      Actually it would be cool to calculate how many cars worth of greenhouse gases the trip produces.

      • Actually it would be cool to calculate how many cars worth of greenhouse gases the trip produces.

        Not sure how you get CO2 out of a hydrogen and oxygen mix, but ok. Calculate away.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by caseih ( 160668 )

          Commercial H2 production involves burning natural gas and releasing it into the atmosphere. That's a lot cheaper than splitting water with electricity. And the latter would not be carbon neutral either with current generation sources. If Bezos had a large solar plant to crank out H2 and O2, they would definitely be spinning that. But they don't so we can assume their H2 and O2 come from the usual sources, and involves CO2 release. Thus each trip absolutely produces net CO2, and probably a lot more than 4

          • What he said.

            And the fact that Ms. Perry and her friends probably did not arrive at the airport in a VW and fly in a hydrogen powered plane to the launch site as well as what I am sure is a multitude of crew/staff from around the country. One thing for the purpose of developing a vaccine or national emergency, quite another for a 15 minute joy ride. Morally at least. Where is Randall Munroe when you need him?

    • The exhaust from New Shepherd is a combination of hydrogen and oxygen in a ratio of two hydrogen atoms to one oxygen atom. Sometimes called H20. Otherwise known as water.

      • And the H2 comes from methane, sometimes referred to as Natural Gas. The process is known as steam methane reforming. Guess what one of the by products is?

  • Running out (Score:5, Informative)

    by stealth_finger ( 1809752 ) on Friday February 28, 2025 @05:49AM (#65200643)
    They are running out of firsts but the first celebrity to die in space slot is still open I think.

  • Can they just stay there? Look, I'm not saying you need to blow their ship up or anything, but how about we just don't program it to come back?

    Call it the B-Ark if you need to.

  • I'm confused. Is the article and/or Slashdot celebrating Women and/or celebrating the Diversity in the crew selection? Or does their wealth undo their genders and skin colors and is being hateful?

    Gotta get those Narratives straight.
    • Nothing says "Women are our equals" like a man giving some women a free trip to space. The pig.

  • Hypocrite (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    As other celebs, it is do as I say not as I do.
    Lets use a stupid amount of resources and generate pollution blasting into space for fun, while advocating everyone else should stop flying. :D
    Lets see what Copilot says:
    Katy Perry has been quite active in advocating for climate change action. Here are some key highlights of her efforts:

    UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador: Katy Perry was appointed as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 2013. In this role, she has focused on engaging young people to improve the lives

  • How to pay for space travel... (Score:3)

    by sinij ( 911942 ) on Friday February 28, 2025 @08:02AM (#65200801)
    There are two ways to pay for development and research of space travel:

    1. With taxes, usually spent inefficiently by the government.
    2. With free markets. This is much, much cheaper but comes with downsides of privileged early access to for the wealthy.

    What we are seeing now is #2, which is least bad alternative.

  • Going to "Space" (Score:5, Informative)

    by Cyberpunk Reality ( 4231325 ) on Friday February 28, 2025 @08:23AM (#65200837)
    While the passengers on New Shepherd flights are, technically, going to space, and I'm confident they get a heck of a ride, it is only technically and barely space. I mentioned this, because every article I've see in the popular press just says, "space" omitting and details of the differences between New Shepherd 'space tourism' flights and flights to orbit. The Kármán line (at 100 kilometres/ 54 nautical miles/ 62 miles above mean sea level) is the conventionally accepted "edge of space" although there is no particular physical boundary at that altitude. (It is higher than planes or balloons can reach and lower than satellites can orbit.) New Shepherd tourist flights coast to just barely above the Kármán line before plummeting back to Earth. So yes, it is technically a trip to space, but is not exactly the popular idea of a "space flight" which involves significant time in orbit beyond the atmosphere, not a handful of minutes. For example, Valentina Tereshkova's 1963 solo spaceflight involved 48 orbits over almost 3 days. (Tereshkova herself is 87 and an active member of the Russian legislature.) I guess the reason I'm writing this post is because the causal reporting of this flight as "going to space" without any qualifications (beyond sometimes listing the flight duration) seems to be lacking relevant information to the point of being misleading. It's like saying "I kicked a field goal at the Superbowl" after visiting the stadium the day before the big game and kicking a ball on an empty field.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by jaa101 ( 627731 )

      The biggest issue is orbital velocity. Going fast enough to stay in orbit needs 40 times more energy than just reaching the altitude of space and then falling back down. These minutes-long tourist flights are not even close to relevance for the practical applications of space.

    • So "technically going to space" is a better headline. Maybe our definition of "space" is just bad? If I'm still falling towards Earth then it doesn't feel right to call it space.

  • Has anyone checked to see if Jeff B and his fiance are getting along? If there's trouble in paradise, do you really want to go on a rocket ride with her - in a rocket that Jeff B built?

  • ...but why talk about them at all?

    I truly believe our lives/media/brains would be better if we spent less time talking about random rich people and celebrities. Katy Perry releases a new album? Sure, talk about it and her (for people who are fans). But I don't care where she vacations, what she had for breakfast, or, in this case, if she goes to space.

    The amount of envy seething through this society is really corrosive (to be clear, fueled by advertising as capitalism thrives on envy).

  • Trump's $4 trillion TAX CUTS, will benefit corporations, the MIC and the rich, and be paid for by cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. Further more it will increase the deficit despite DOGE cuts to government spending. https://www.forbes.com/sites/s... [forbes.com]

  • So in an unexpected reversal of standard procedure, Bezos' fiancee is going to go for ride of her life IN rather than ON a large brohammer symbol?

    Truly, the universe is a strange and wonderful place.

  • How Dare They (Score:3)

    by bill_mcgonigle ( 4333 ) * on Friday February 28, 2025 @10:46AM (#65201171) Homepage Journal

    I am very unhappy about rich people paying to fund space exploration.

    The only moral choice is to raise taxes on the middle class. A midwest plumber's daughter should have to give up ballet classes so we can go to the Moon.

    None of this nonsense of people with disposable income paying the salaries of construction, R&D, and research employees of Blue Origin for a thrill ride.

  • How is a "random" rich person different from a "non-random" rich person?

  • Wait...we're making sure they're not coming back, right?

    • What goes up must come down...
      • Very true. But nothing says that it has to be a controlled landing, or on a surface that the craft is designed for. As an example, a craft intended to come down onto a runway touching down in the middle of the ocean, or one built for a water landing coming down way too fast in the middle of the desert or on a glacier.
  • "Well, whoops, I didn't know her rocket was going to explode. Oh well, I guess I need a new girlfriend."

  • All new technology tends to be too expensive for the masses, then when a large enough pool of wealthy folks can afford it, and it's good enough for them to want it, they pay high prices for it... but if there are enough of them doing it, they provide the incentive and the cash flow that lets the producers of the product or service ramp-up and optimize to produce a better and cheaper one that more people can afford. As the larger pool of less-wealthy start buying the product or service, there's even more ca

  • $150,000 deposit? When I was a kid these flights were free to military pilots

  • When it's other people's own money at their own discretion, it's bad because reasons.

    Gotcha, comrade.

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