Paul Allen's SpaceShip!

[transio]

Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft�, has recently announced that his new company, Vulcan, Inc., will be launching the first COMMERCIAL spaceship ever!

Let's all hope the damn thing doesn't crash as badly as his former products!

[t2p]

...... or crash more than his later business ventures .............
.

[t2p]

affordable space travel .........
.
just what I need .........

[Navigator]

...I can remember when the thought of space travel was exciting, now I can barely stand being couped up on a plane for more than a few hours

[tomcat837]

I travel through space every day, on my way to work and back to the house!

[transio]

Originally posted by tomcat837
I travel through space every day, on my way to work and back to the house!

It's not considered space if it's occupied by something. In the case of your trip to and from work, it's occupied by the Earth's atmosphere. Would you call swimming space travel? How about tunneling through the Earth?

[Mr. I-MAN]

THEN SPACE ISN'T REALLY CONSIDERED SPACE BECAUSE IT IS MADE UP OF MATTER AND ENERGY. AND EVEN IF YOU DON'T SEE IT IT IS STILL THERE (DARK ENERGY).

[Mr. I-MAN]

GOD IM A FREAKIN NERD

[Grimm]

DARK ENERGY ??? WOAH, doo hoo hewd! You're blowin' my mind!!

[transio]

Originally posted by Mr. I-MAN
THEN SPACE ISN'T REALLY CONSIDERED SPACE BECAUSE IT IS MADE UP OF MATTER AND ENERGY. AND EVEN IF YOU DON'T SEE IT IT IS STILL THERE (DARK ENERGY).

It's not made of matter. It is devoid of matter... thus the term "space". There is some scattered matter within the void... space dust, meteorites, etc., but nothing consistent.

Incidentally, what of the space beyond the span of the Universe (or Multiverse, or whatever you believe in)? There's no matter or energy there... what would you call it?

[tomcat837]

Man... stop trying to spoil the FUN!!!

When I get in my VX(VEHICULUS EXTREEMUS), I shut off everything around me. I become one with my VX, sort of like a biomechanical suit, and I am traveling through space to reach new uncharted planets.

Let me dream without someone getting all scientific and philosofical on me. Who cares about all that stuff anyway, I know Carl Sagan is not a member of this forum.

[WyrreJ]

99+ percent of all matter is just empty space between atoms anyway.

Remember the bit about bouncing a tennis ball on the wall of china? In high school physics we learned that if you bounced it enough times (billions and billions, thanks Carl) eventually it would go right through, when all the atoms in the ball lined up with all the atoms in the wall so as that they each passed through the space in the other.

[Dallas4u]

Don't forget that scientist have also managed to force an atom to be in two places at once.

[mrtew]

Originally posted by WyrreJ
99+ percent of all matter is just empty space between atoms anyway. Remember the bit about bouncing a tennis ball on the wall of china? In high school physics we learned that if you bounced it enough times (billions and billions, thanks Carl) eventually it would go right through, when all the atoms in the ball lined up with all the atoms in the wall so as that they each passed through the space in the other.

I think your high school really messed you up man. There's no space between atoms... the space is within the atoms, between the center and the electrons. They spin so fast that they basically create a force field that links them to the next atom... there's no free space for another atom to pass between them, not to mention that neither tennis balls nor china walls are made of free atoms, but rather long long chains of molecules that would all have to pass thru together. A tennis ball atom going between even two china atoms would be like a slow growing vine trying to cross interstate 405 in LA without getting run over by a car. It would be easier to launch a VehiCROSS into space, that's for sure!

[Maverick]

Well, if they can teleport an atom (or part of one, i forget) its "just" a matter of multiplying the process by a hundred trillion or so..then we can just "beam " anyplace we want.. fiberoptic tubes become the transportation system of the future..details at 11....

As for commercial space flight..im glad to see it.. i think thats the only we well truly become "space faring" ... we wont travel "routinely" in space until some one can make some money on it, in a big way... once that happens, lookout.. well be vacationing on mars... dont pack yet though, itll be awhile...