The Overview Effect and the Destiny of Humanity

Now that the experience of spaceflight is merely $200,000 and a waiting list away, what kind of transformation will be sparked by the successive crops of space-travellers returning to Earth?

On October 17th, a dedication ceremony was held for the ‘Virgin Galactic Gateway to Space’, the first terminal of Spaceport America. Situated in the Jornada del Muerto desert basin in New Mexico is a piece of science fiction made real. The simple terminology of ‘spaceport’ being applied to a real place that you could go to, a place where people will be working at and eventually travelling from as a matter of routine should be enough to send the nerds of the world into delirious joy. However, I doubt we are prepared for the real implications of, on a weekly basis, sending wealthy people into orbit, 6 at a time, for 6 minutes of spaceflight.

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