I've spent my life being snarky about manned space flight, but this is genuinely good news. The bearded tycoon is not gonna stop with suborbital flights. And the fact that their are dumb rich folks stupid enough to throw cash at this "experience" means the industry will grow to a point where it is possible to spend a weekend at L1 or L4. (Now I all I gotta do is figure out how to earn enough cash to be able to afford it...)

Hasn't he seen Jurrassic Park, West World etcetera? This is bound to end in tears.

Is that like a road grader? Or more proof of how cheesy it all is?

So, a "roader grater" was at work in a symbolic fashion (great image of someone shaving the top surface off a road) - sounds like someone was listening in a shambolic fashion. I must admit that I don't know roads but I do know graters - those things designed to create little pieces of cheese etc for sprinkling (leads to a great image of someone shaving the top surface off a road) .

I think they may have used a road GRADER but I wasn't there, didn't see any news nor have I seen a press release.

I'm the one in the pedants glasses

I won't hold my breath waiting for Branson to progress to true orbital flight - there's a big difference between the maximum Mach 3 achieved by SpaceShipOne and the Mach 25 needed to achieve orbit - it takes 60 to 70 times as much energy, for one thing.

Like Aliens (ty JC) you be strapped in via full body harness. Some smart alec will say, "Express elevator to hell, going down." Then, wooosh! (sry I just put spittle on my screen). Someone will puke and promptly discover the hazards of puking in zero G. Something akin to the big bang. Nonetheless the twisting descent will probably be the funnest part, much like you would find on a rollercoaster. Oh wait I can have that thrill for $100.

Yeah, but if they build that nanofibre-tetherlift up to space they can counterbalance an artificial L-point and both hoist to, and launch from. Then the rest o' the solsys.

They better build those gianormous, enclosed greenhouses on the moon.

Go for faster.

Try here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24526864@N03/3641271495/