The Effects of Virgin Galactic On Future Space Travel (Essay Sample)

The Effects of Virgin Galactic On Future Space Travel
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The Effects of Virgin Galactic on Future Space Travel
Virgin Galactic is one of the aviation and spaceflight companies belonging to a group of companies in Britain called the Virgin Group as the parent company. The commercial company is engaged in space activities such as space science mission and satellite launches, space tourism and suborbital space activities and missions. The Company was founded in 2004 by one Richard Branson. Its current Chief Executive Officer is George Whitesides with Steve Isakowitz as the current President. The spaceflight company operates from Spaceport in the United States of America (Whitesides, 2012).
In its space travel and exploration missions, Virgin Galactic uses orbital launch vehicles, space ships, space aircrafts and suborbital satellites. One of the main spaceships and rocket planes used by the Company called the SpaceShip Two was unveiled in 2009. However, it is the tragic space crash accident in October 2014 by one of the company’s spaceships that has sparked debate as to the future of space travel.
According to Chapman (2013), mankind has over the years been innovative and curious enough to venture into space travel for tourism and exploration purposes. Private companies like Virgin Galactic have sprung up in the recent past offering space travel services to thousands of people interested in exploring the outer space. The main question which comes into core is however whether this new travel industry has any future worth mentioning. The impacts that the Virgin Galactic has on the future of space travel can best be analyzed from the social, economic and political perspectives in terms of potential benefits and challenges of space travel. This analysis is with close reference to the British commercial spaceflight company, the Virgin Galactic.
Beneficial Impacts of Space Travel
The Virgin Galactic initial space travel activities and missions have encouraged nations and individuals to travel to and explore the space in spite of the October tragic event.
Economic Advantages
It has been argued by Gibson that "one of the most significant economic contributions of space travel and related space exploration activities is the national economic prestige and benefits that come with them" (2012, p. 34). According these authors, space travel enables countries to acquire technological and scientific knowledge that help spur various sectors of the economy including transport, medicine and agriculture. The economic prestige that comes with space travel also gives a country economic competitive edge over other countries. They further point out that a country’s economic competitiveness is mainly judged based on technological capability and knowledge. This was the case with the United States when it launched its first space exploration machine, The Apollo.
Educational Advancements
The future of space travel, despite the Virgin Galactic disaster, seems bright given the numerous educational benefits that come with it. Space travel and related exploration strengthens the learning imaginations in the youth about human science. Space travel is therefore an important investment in education as it spurs creativity and innovatively that is crucial in a country’s future manpower. It stimulates and promotes the development of creative and critical skills that help in business and research activities.
Environmental Preservation
We are living in a Century with strange and unique environmental challenges. Through space travel, provides humans with the opportunity to gather more information in the outer space that would be useful in solving some of the environmental problems. This data helps enhance our understanding of the environmental from the outer space perspective.
Technological Prospects for Human Safety
Space travel provides us with the ability to identify, understand and manage risks related to navigation, aviation, air propulsion, power generation and environmental control systems. It is only through space travel that humans are able to gain more experience and knowledge on these areas through technological advancements that would eventually improve our safety and security.
Challenges of Space Travel: A Gloom Future?
Following the emergence of Virgin Galactic in the commercial aviation industry, there have been renewed efforts to analyze the impacts that this development would have on the future of air travel industry.
Human Safety and Space Travel
One of the factors identified as a challenge to the future of space travel is the safety of the whole enterprise. Space travel comes with increased physiological and psychological effects on the individuals involved, with radiation being identified as the most imminent challenge to space travel (Seo, 2006). The October 2014 accident involving Virgin Galactic’s space aircraft killing its pilot and resulting in causalities has led aviation space experts and scientists to question the safety of space travel. These aspersions cast on space travel are likely to impact negatively on the future development of space travel
High Costs of Space Travel
The cost of developing ,managing and sustaining space travels is in most cases high and this explain why so far not many private aviation commercial companies have dared venture into this enterprise. The costs to space travelers are also relatively high due...