“Plunging into the ocean is awful. Landing on a runway is really nice."

After decades of dreams, a commercial spaceplane is almost ready to fly::“Plunging into the ocean is awful. Landing on a runway is really nice."

  • Number1SummerJam@lemmy.worldEnglish
    611·
    1 year ago

    Why? There’s so many other things we could put money towards that would help people like climate change research.

    • mriguy@lemmy.worldEnglish
      32·
      1 year ago

      It’s hard to imagine that a spaceplane would have a larger environmental impact than a rocket. Since we are going to continue sending things to space, a spaceplane would have a positive impact on climate change.

      • CookieOfFortune@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        1 year ago

        It’s still launched by a rocket. The plane part is only for landing. Whether this will actually work or be more efficient than ablative re entry remains to be seen.

        Cheaper satellites are a good thing environmentally though, as it will be how any emission controls will be monitored.