Space tourism – The final frontier?
Virgin Galactic’s recent fatal event is emotive for a number of reasons. Specifically:
- It highlights that space is a risky business regardless of the fun / lifestyle associated branding.
- It reminds us that our inevitable path to colonise other planets will not be without issues and those of us at the front of the queue are literally paying for the opportunity to be ‘crash test dummies’.
- It causes us to question whether ‘space’ regulators should simply caveat their governance by saying that certain activities carry more risk.
Death by aviation feels much worse than death by road transportation. Yet the latter is statistically much higher. Death from space travel commanded seven Oscars when depicted by the film Gravity. So our primal reflexes are thus programmed to override any logic that might be applied to ameliorate the notion of space travel.
There should of course be an enquiry into the cause, why it happened and how it and other surprise events can be detected without the loss of human life. Mankind doesn’t have a choice but to explore space. Space tourism is a key part of the cultural conditioning necessary to ensure the public recognise the importance of space exploration.
The profit imperative is a concern, but in the case of Virgin it is more than covered by the group’s brand imperative. Accidents happen but it is how you respond to them that determines your brand. I am sure Richard Branson’s next move will be brand enhancing.
And the journey into space will continue.
