.@KellyCNBC: Are you trying to beat Jeff Bezos into space?@richardbranson: "Jeff who?"
From the beginning, New Shepard was designed to fly above the Kármán line so none of our astronauts have an asterisk next to their name. For 96% of the world’s population, space begins 100 km up at the internationally recognized Kármán line.
Hey BO, at VG we are truly big supporters of your program too. But this p*ing contest about the Karman line is so childish that is getting really embarrassing to watch. Flying above 100K ft is already so complicated that anyone doing so should deserve a special recognition...
Not at all... if someone believes there’s a sort of race going on in here, a reminder that any perceived form of competition was won in December 2018, when people were flown into space from U.S. on Unity since the last Shuttle flight in 2011. BO has flown only mannequins so far.
Billionaires fight over what is actual outer space as Branson gets set to launch before BezosPUBLISHED FRI, JUL 9 20211:10 PM EDTMichael Sheetz@THESHEETZTWEETZKEY POINTSBillionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos are set to launch themselves just weeks apart, but the exact boundary of space has become a point of contention.Branson’s Virgin Galactic flies above 80 kilometers (or about 262,00 feet), which is the altitude the U.S. recognizes as the boundary of space, while Bezos’ Blue Origin flies above 100 kilometers (or about 328,000 feet), which is commonly known as the Kármán Line.“There’s no sort of real international agreement” on the boundary of space, astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell told CNBC, and his research argues that 80 kilometers is the clearest distinction.
I would think a high altitude airplane can be rocket-powered, but still be a high altitude airplane.Though I'm not really defending Blue. Such sore losers.
[FST Edit: moved from New Shepard updates thread]Bezos is seeming more and more insecure.He's totally all about lying and whitewashing the differences between sounding rockets and orbital. But freaks out and publishes lies when VO gets compared to NS.Hint: things with rocket engines are rockets.
Quote from: LcuBeatsWorkingWhat an awful way to present New Shepard by bashing a competitor. At least Branson presented his launch with some humor and tongue in cheek.Seriously, if I worked at BO I'd be a bit embarrassed.this is exactly the response at Blue today, internally.an edited version of the graphic is being passed around internally, where the rows have been changed to "windows", "does it cost money to fly?", "ozone layer impact", and "flight history". And the columns are all yes'es for both.edit: we don't think this is coming from Jeff.
What an awful way to present New Shepard by bashing a competitor. At least Branson presented his launch with some humor and tongue in cheek.Seriously, if I worked at BO I'd be a bit embarrassed.
We're excited about the race, and value everyone's milestones. The majority of Blue employees are really embarrassed about the petty tweets that "violate our leadership principles". Not to mention we have a lot of VG employees here and this feels like throwing them under the bus. Most people wish that Blue took the high road and are face-palming this completely tone-deaf move. Also, Blue, chill. Something about glass houses...
100%. We have an internal chat room for the whole company that's sort of on fire right now. I think Blue comms team knows they messed up and don't know how to get out of it.
Blue Origin attempting to respond to all the VG publicity around Richard Branson’s flighthttps://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/1413521627116032001QuoteFrom the beginning, New Shepard was designed to fly above the Kármán line so none of our astronauts have an asterisk next to their name. For 96% of the world’s population, space begins 100 km up at the internationally recognized Kármán line.
Shit-talking is the inevitable consequence of commercializing space—no longer a realm of national egos but of individual and corporate ones.Overall a good thing!Though a bit jarring for those of us who are used to the more stately form of space exploration and statecraft...
I am seeing a lot of distress in space twitter about the Blue Origin campaign to minimize Galactic's flight. Immediately I am thinking about all the meetings I had for 10 years as a policy maker where I was fiercely lobbied to treat HSF as a competitive industry.This is exactly what people have been talking about would be the Eden of Commercial Space for decades. Strong and fierce competition between rivals going after every customer anywhere possible, with the government just one of may customers.I don't agree with Blue's campaign talking points, but also, I'm not their market audience, and I'm not their market. I also know that Galactic and Blue are both getting Commercial Space Transportation Launch licenses for their operations.... SPACE TRANSPORTATION...This is what capitalist competition looks like, especially in new industries. Companies fighting for every customer saying "be my customer, I'm better than them." Makes me wonder if people actually wanted capitalistic competition, or if they wanted something else.
2 days until #Unity22! Watch the launch live this Sunday at 6am PT | 9am ET | 2pm BST with @StephenAtHome @thegreatkhalid @Cmdr_Hadfield @KellieGerardi @virgingalactic
Will see you there to wish you the best
Apart from the garbage coming out of @blueorigin today, I've heard that multiple prominent space reporters were denied access to cover their first crewed launch. Blue even told reporters who didn't apply that they weren't invited and favored "trusted" media instead.
We reached out about viewing and were told they were working on media plans and would get back to us. Never got a response and when I followed up they said we won't be able to be accommodated.Yeah... sure. With all that open desert space.
The x-15 did fly over 100km thought*runs away from argument*
