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A comment on Boom Announces Successful Flight of XB-1 Demonstrator Aircraft. Parent comment

Re:Boom Announces Successful Flight of XB-1 Demonstrator Air... by rbanffy on Friday March 22, 2024 @02:50PM (#39793589)
I believe the cultural integration aspects of cheap, fast, and effortless passenger transportation cannot be overstated. I'd like to see more and more people traveling to places they wouldn't travel otherwise.

It's easier to dehumanise the people you don't know, and much harder to do that when you have been with them.

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Re:Boom Announces Successful Flight of XB-1 Demonstrator Air... by kibwen on Friday March 22, 2024 @05:23PM (#39795008)
The time spent in flight is not the limiting factor on globe-spanning tourism. Traveling is massively expensive (not just the cost of transportation, but also lodging, food, and itinerary), and if this just makes it more expensive, then it doesn't help in that regard.
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Re:Boom Announces Successful Flight of XB-1 Demonstrator Air... by rbanffy on Monday March 25, 2024 @09:30AM (#39816044)
There is a point a quantitative change becomes qualitative. Shaving 10 hours off a 20 hour flight makes it much more palatable. Shaving 19 hours (suborbital? hypersonic?) makes it a no-brainer.
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