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J.G. Ballard in Space
Author: Simon Sellars • Apr 1st, 2006 •Category: Ballardosphere, space relics
The timing of this piece of news is highly significant…
Richard Branson: Malzberg to Fly Virgin Galactic Free
Reported by Paoli du Flippi, of Locus Magazine.
“London, April 1, 2006—Billionaire Richard Branson, whose space-tourist venture Virgin Galactic is inching closer to takeoff every month, announced today that he would be offering a limited number of free rides to various deserving individuals who might not be able otherwise to take advantage of his sightseeing service into low orbit.
‘We realize,’ said Branson, speaking from his gold-plated yacht anchored in the Thames, ‘that the $250,000 ticket fee is beyond the means of many seminal figures whose far-sighted efforts have helped us reach this point, where private enterprise is finally prepared to accomplish what NASA and other incompetent governmental agencies have long been unable to achieve. We intend to recognize the ground-breaking accomplishments of these pioneers by granting them a celebratory flight into the final frontier.
‘And the first person to whom we owe such a debt is science fiction writer Barry N. Malzberg.’
Branson went on to partially catalogue the work from Malzberg that earned him such an honor.
‘While writers such as Heinlein, Clarke, Asimov, Tsiolkovsky and Bradbury inspired the deadly drones and drudges who went on to create the stifling, cack-handed, short-sighted programs of NASA, the Soviets and the ESA, Malzberg was hewing away with savage glee at the very roots of these agencies. In novels such as Beyond Apollo, Galaxies and The Falling Astronauts, Malzberg revealed the rot and canker and delusions at the roots of governmental space travel.
…
In a very real sense, Barry Malzberg is among the founding fathers of twenty-first-century space travel—such as it is.’
Although Branson was not yet at liberty to confirm further speculations, rumor has it that the second candidate for the program would be British author J. G. Ballard, whose flight would depart from the Martian-sand-swamped ruins of Cape Canaveral.”
There’s more here.
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Isn’t Ballard a little old to sustain the rigors of spaceflight? It’s a nice gesture, though.
Indeed. And the date of this article is…
Libertarian garbage. I hope if Ballard is offered the flight, he’ll turn it down like he did the CBE.
I just got the date thing. I’m slow, but get there eventually. Funny.
April Fools jokes are stupid. And I don’t say that only because I fell for it!
this is a total pisstake!
Paoul di Flippo is a pseudonym for sci-fi writer Paul di Filippo, who surely enjoys a joke. I thought, ‘Hey, this doesn’t sound like Branson.’
ha ha