Did you ever dream of travelling into outer space? All those hollywood movies that run our imagination wild now finally have a possibility of coming true. Remember the amateurs on board the space aircraft in the movie Armageddon? Ordinary people like you and me could well be one of them now.
Two people on a mission
All the above is accredited to two people- the all so famous British tycoon Sir Richard Branson and the secretive aviation legend Burt Rutan from America. Both these geniuses formed the Spaceship Co. in 2005 to launch ordinary people into space without government help.
On the one hand there is Mr Branson, the adventuring chairman of the multibillion-dollar Virgin Group of companies, who is investing at least $200 million for a fleet of suborbital passenger spaceships being designed by Rutan. Mr Rutan, on the other hand heads the obliquely named Scaled Composites LLC, the kind of techie operation where a new milling machine is announced on its Web site with an exclamation point.
The profiles of the two reflect the unique way they lead their lives and tend to curve their career graphs. This partnership therefore, has been very well received among ordinary space enthusiasts. Peter Diamandis, founder of the nonprofit X Prize Foundation says,
You have a billionaire funding a rebel inventor. Putting those two together makes perfect sense
The duo has certainly been the talk of the town, not because they are the only such duo to exist, but more because of Rutan’s track record and Branson’s aggressive marketing. The fact that one is a space genius and the other a resource of endless funds just holds too many promises.
Other duos in history
Aviation history has other odd couples: The wealthy Harry Guggenheim financed the early rocket work of the loner Robert Goddard; international arms dealer Charles Flint helped the Wright brothers sell their airplanes outside the United States; telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell enlisted Glenn Curtiss, a brash motorcycle manufacturer, to help build a practical plane.
Safety Hazards
However, the new partnership is being closely watched both by space and business experts. Despite the perfect scenario described above, there remain unknowns including long-term business prospects and safety. A single fatal crash, after all, could hobble the infant industry. The risks inherent in such an ambitious dream is one of its major hurdles.
Irrespective of the natural dangers involved, Rutan and Branson have repeatedly said safety is their main focus. While Branson already owns one of the most successful airlines in the world, therefore knowing the risks involved in flying, Rutan too is a sheer genius especially when it comes to space. Described by some as a genius, he has designed some 40 unique aircraft and now has his sights set on space.
With such individual intelligence, passion and dedication, the duo is definitely out to change the world of space around. If the project is successful, it could unleash the wide outer space open for all of mankind, which in itself is bound to be one of the most remarkable achievements of space history.
Via: MSNBC
