Virgin Galactic: The Myth of Informed Consent for Space Tourism

With Virgin Galactic recently commencing paid flights to space, there has been much media attention on their 'innovative' launch system. Bar repeated discussions on a crash during a test flight 9 years ago, little discussion seems to be available on the safety of their system as it is today. Much of the details are obscured through company secrecy and government regulations. This is ironic as lack of safety regulation is what allows space tourism to operate as it does in the first place.

So, I would like to discuss that although the experience appears well polished and exciting, no one really knows how safe a flight in SpaceShipTwo is.

3D modelling by Artem Tatarchenko
Instagram: hedgehog.rave

NASA video clips from NASA Image and Video Library

Sources: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/8yte35...

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:32 Limitations for this Video
05:33 Suborbital Flight. In real-time
09:54 Historical Safety Comparison
18:20 Flight Testing (or lack thereof)
22:33 Innovation Hindering Innovation
26:19 (Informed) Consent
35:10 Safety Features #1: Motor
42:40 Safety Features #2: Feather
44:38 A Brief Digression
45:25 Lack of Automation
58:01 Lack of Launch Escape System
01:01:28 A Cautionary Tale to Conclude


Original source for 3D model:
"Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo" (https://skfb.ly/6UVBK) by agreene is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b....