> Of course, there are many skeptical experts out there that have pointed out the fact that SpaceX has only attempted a rocket launch seven times. Of those seven, three were total failures.
Ouch. I hope that $500,000 is refundable in case of death or accident.
> Any human that makes the trip will be stuck inside the vehicle for the 214 days it would take to actually travel to the Red Planet.
I once made a road trip from Seattle to Tennessee in 3 days. In the middle of a frigid winter. During blizzard conditions. Of course we took breaks to get out of the car, stretch our legs, have a piss and get some fresh air. At the end of the trip I was ready to hang myself. The boredom and rigor of endless driving became unbearable. The prospect of taking a similar trip, over a much longer timespan, in much more hostile conditions and paying for the privilege is not appealing, at all.
To be more specific about their flight record: the first three test flights were failures, back when they were still working out the kinks on the Falcon 1. The flights since then -- including both Falcon 9 launches -- have been successful.
There is huge difference between traveling to places on earth and space and the motivation to do so. On earth you might be traveling for whatever boring reason.
Imagine if some one told you Shangri La actually exists and you have to bear some pain for an year to get there. What would you do? Will you take some pain to get there and live at Shangri La for some days?
Ouch. I hope that $500,000 is refundable in case of death or accident.
> Any human that makes the trip will be stuck inside the vehicle for the 214 days it would take to actually travel to the Red Planet.
I once made a road trip from Seattle to Tennessee in 3 days. In the middle of a frigid winter. During blizzard conditions. Of course we took breaks to get out of the car, stretch our legs, have a piss and get some fresh air. At the end of the trip I was ready to hang myself. The boredom and rigor of endless driving became unbearable. The prospect of taking a similar trip, over a much longer timespan, in much more hostile conditions and paying for the privilege is not appealing, at all.