[rbanffy]

Elon Musk is the only human being that can use the Zaphod Beeblebrox pickup line, "Do you wanna see my spaceship?".

That's pretty awesome.

[dragonwriter]

> Elon Musk is the only human being that can use the Zaphod Beeblebrox pickup line, "Do you wanna see my spaceship?".

Is Richard Branson not a human?

[Chronic9q]

Hacker News has a huge boner for Elon Musk. They forget that others beat Musk and are well known for beating Musk (re: spaceships).

[rbanffy]

Only in the most literal sense they could be called spaceships. They are no more spaceships than a swimming suit is a boat.

[dragonwriter]

Those two sentences are contradictory. A swimming suit is not a boat, especially in "the most literal sense."

A suborbital manned spacecraft, OTOH, is a spaceship in every sense. (It's neither an orbital spaceship nor, say, an interplanetary spaceship, but it's definitely a spaceship.)

Saying they aren't is like saying a riverboat isn't a boat because it's not ocean-going.

[rbanffy]

A suborbital spaceship is analogous to a boat that can go into waters, just as long as they are knee-deep.

It can touch space, but a ship is not defined by its ability to touch the water.

[manicdee]

Does Richard Branson have passenger vehicles that can achieve interplanetary flight?

[dragonwriter]

No, but then neither does Musk, or anyone else, individual, corporate, or government.

[rbanffy]

Not even get into orbit.

[ballooney]

No one does.

[rbanffy]

Suborbital flight is a stretch, but I agree Branson seems to be an inspiration for Zaphod's movie depiction.

[cheeze]

Uhh, Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos?

[wtallis]

For the moment, I suppose you can still make a case for casual use of the term "spaceship" to include suborbital flights. I doubt that will continue for very long as private orbital spacecraft and launch vehicles become less novel; the sub-orbital minor leagues probably won't be seen by most as being the "real thing".

[njloof]

Just ask Alan Shepard. You know, the first American in space?

[blacksmith_tb]

Presumably because in this sense, the Mercury wasn't "his spaceship" as he didn't own it or the organization that produced it (like Gagarin and the Vostok, for that matter).

[rbanffy]

Mercury was capable of staying in space. The rocket that put it on a suborbital flight is a different thing.

[ge96]

Havala kavulah!!!!!