different, here, on earth. and and better for people, not just countries that have a spaceport located in it. [ inaudible ]. more opportunity we have for creative innovation, for success, for problem solving, for things back here on earth. that were very limited when all we had were space-shuttle flights and government-astronaut flights. but then, on the other hand, i want to share, maybe, a more cynical take from one of our writers zachary wolf. he recently wrote this competition doesn t have any of the patriotic energy of the space race that led to the moon landing. he he wrote this this year s race between the billionaires features none of that national pride or opposing ideas. it s tax-averse tycoons who want to sell high-priced tickets to
down, there are no wings on it, and it does have an escape system. so if something happens, that capsule on top can jetjettison y from it. they feel so confident they re putting jeff bezos on top of it in a few days. but they also feel very confident about the safety of this vehicle. this will be their fourth crude test flight up into space, the first time it is fuellylly crew. one other thing, fareed, it was such a treat to see how richard branson decided to get to spaceport america today. one of the reasons he talked so much about going up into space is the positive effect it can have on humanity in terms of making them more environmentally conscious, so richard branson choosing to ride his own bike to spaceport america this morning. quite a sight. there you see the plane
it s now. it s not only for the justin beaners and tom hanks and lady gagas of the world who spent a lot of money buying the tickets at a quarter million dollars, as you suggested, 700 tickets already, but it s going to be assessable to everybody, hopefully. that s their hope to bring down the price. we have seven land rovers out there on the tarmac standing by. we have the fire equipment standing by. that s typical. that s not to suggest there s anything wrong. that s what happens when you have a test vehicle. a test plane or spaceship coming in. the fire department is standing by. by the way, a fire department dedicated only to the space port so they don t get a lot of action. i mean, this is kind of their sole customer right now. but a spectacular view as they come into space port america. remember that name, willie. you ve been seeing it this morning but it s going to be a name and something we ll be hearing about increasingly over the coming years as it becomes more and more of a
occurrence and just hearing the voice here on the ground saying it s right in front of the sun. it s overhead of us. i don t see it but you re getting a better view yourself on the tv with those long range telescopic lenses. yeah. mike, we re down to about 11,000 feet of altitude. 243 miles per hour right now. what does that you see it? you have eyes on it, tom? reporter: i see it. right over the top of us, willie. right over the top. if you didn t know better, you would think you re looking at a typical passenger plane. just flying right over the top of the space port as it comes around and prepares for landing. by the way, we should also make the point they had a spotter plane, if you will, a chase plane take off shortly after they lifted off an hour ago presumably. the same chase plane would be on the ground and, by the way, we see the mothership yeah.
to be involved? or are we just marking this up as a number and we re not looking at how do we use it going forward. so, i m pretty i m very excited. reasons for being excited, it s a different way into space than the regular launch vehicles we re seeing. so that s really exciting. that it s actually launching from a new place, the space port, and they land in the same place on the same day. so all of those things are very exciting. and the up side of that, the reality check is what do we do with it, and who gets to be involved. and, leland, first of all, thank you for being in your complete kit there. it s always good to see you. you re one of the only people who wears an astronaut suit who is an astronaut. i think what may brings up is really, really, really important because space today to young 8-year-olds or 12-year-olds or 15-year-olds does seem like a competition for the rich and the famous.