GalacticMu

Say, what is a dumb thing to name a spaceship, you ask? How about The Lynx? But Subspace, you say, what’s so bad about naming a spaceship after the stubbiest of cats? To which I say, reader, why not just name it The Diabetic Tabby and get it over with?

Jeering aside, the facts: last week XCOR Aerospace announced it had a suborbital rocket plane not yet in the testing phase. The Lynx will be designed to carry just one passenger sitting shotgun to the pilot. Several agencies have expressed interest in this idea (not just of XCOR, but the single-passenger concept in general) since it could feasibly be cheap enough for impulse purchases. I am almost certain that a few years after the single- or double-passenger spaceplane becomes reliable in the public’s eye, these things will be sitting in Las Vegas casinos, advertising themselves as the far awesomer alternative to skydiving.

From the fisticuffs standpoint, XCOR Aerospace places their launch date as 2010, aka the same year that Virgin Galactic expects to begin their regular launches. Remember: Virgin Galactic is asking nearly a quarter million dollars per flight - a flight you share with several other people. What if those people are douchebags? What if they “WHOO-HOOOO!” the entire time? Can you imagine? What if they make fun of me for crying? I mean, make fun of another passenger? Flying with XCOR means sitting up front going “What’s that? What’s this button do? Is this normal? You wanna get married?” to the pilot during the entire flight.

XCOR Aerospace Press Release via Popsci