Space tourism is a huge waste of resources
Reference “After the Branson flight, Virgin Galactic collapses on the sale of shares“(July 13th): The handover is under-taxed and can therefore consume conspicuously. The latest fad for billionaires rubbing our collective noses on it is space travel.
How much carbon does blasting into space add to the upper atmosphere? We should put a huge luxury tax on space tourism.
Bob Schmidt
La Jolla
The millions that billionaires Branson, Bezos and Musk spend on space exploration are, to them, simply ego flattery. The money could be better spent here on earth to better serve humanity.
Fred J. Heske
alpine
Opinion Resources
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Impressive! Two self-centered billionaires have created a new distraction for the rich and thrill seekers … that is, people like themselves. While another billionaire, Bill Gates, is helping boost COVID-19 vaccinations in disease-stricken third world countries .
Let us condemn space tourism and encourage billionaires to use their extreme fortune to save people, animals, plants and the oceans and atmosphere, all of which are at risk.
Yale Kadesky
Escondido
Reference “Don’t call Richard Branson a billionaire. Name him an entrepreneur and pioneer after his space flight.“(July 12): You say don’t call them billionaires first, call them pioneers. Well, they are not pioneers. The test pilot X-2, which covered more than 100,000 feet in 1956, was a pioneer and was called America’s first spaceman. The guy who broke the sound barrier in 1946, Chuck Yaeger or Yuri Gagarin, who made the first earth orbit 60 years ago in 1961, was a pioneer. The first man, Lance Armstrong, on the moon was a pioneer. Father Joe, who housed all the homeless facilities in one place, was a pioneer.
These new suborbital, hardly space-saving space passengers are only owners of big money with a certain vision – but not pilots or builders who do something that has never been done before. If they land on Mars first, they will be pioneers. Otherwise just let them play around and do something new, so far they haven’t broken any barriers, no recognizable boundaries, except maybe from other residents of The Hamptons.
Joe Abbinanti
Cardiff
