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And I someone when describing the recent 'celebrity' space rides once said something like this to me.
"Y'know (Rep), I hope these folk realise what they are doing. It isn't like catching a trans-atlantic flight on Concorde to London or something. That's little league to this stuff.
This is really dangerous stuff - you are strapped onto this barely controlled explosion with some of the most volatile chemicals known to man. You start perched on top of a large tank of the stuff next to two rockets that you can't turn off once they start.
The thing goes - once that touch paper is lit - from sitting on the launch pad to like 5 miles a second in like 8 minutes. The acceleration forces are like someone putting 400 pounds of lead weights on your chest and it's not like one of those Sci-Fi movies either - the thing rocks and rumbles and shakes the crap out of you.
And it's not like you can get out and walk if something goes wrong. If something does go wrong it will do it in the worst way.
And the risks... maybe walking down the road you'll be like 1-100 million of getting hurt, then maybe its riskier driving your car, more risk again flying in a commercial jet, possibly riskier again in those little Cessna's your mate trains in... but we are talking about a risk of 1-1000 or even 1-500 here. And that's why I can never see commercial passenger space flight in my lifetime ever being a commercially viable option no matter how fast it is."
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