Pigs in Space

Is Bill Gates planning a trip to space? – space – 11 April 2007 – New Scientist Space — This is an amusing story but a non-starter from what I can tell. There is no way Gates will do this. First of all his wife won;t let him. The stock would plummet. He’s not into this sort of showy escapade at all. And you can be certain that the negative reaction from the public would never end. The best example of that is the PIGS IN SPACE editorial done in the Nation Magazine linked here. I’m quite amused by all the jerk-off apologists who go on and on about “hey, it’s his money…he can do what he wants with it.” While this is technically true whatever happened to the idea of moral responsibility? Is it completely gone from today’s hyper-rich? And where is the peer pressure from the public to make people to do the right thing? They all want Don Imus to do the right thing, but not anyone with any real money. When I wrote about Paul Allen’s ludicrous ownership of three personal mega-yachts most commenters applauded him and defended the idea. What is wrong with these people?

The world’s richest man, Bill Gates, is considering a possible flight into space, a Russian cosmonaut said from the International Space Station on Wednesday, citing Gate’s colleague, current space tourist Charles Simonyi.

“Charles said that Bill Gates is also preparing to visit space,” cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin told journalists during a video link-up from the space station, which was broadcast on state television Rossiya. “So the next time someone will be with Bill Gates. For me this is the biggest surprise of our flight.”

found by Bubba Martin