POMPOUS DISPLAY

About the vanity space flights, yes Micheal Janson is right in the points highlighted in the column (Richly space bound,” July 29, Gulf Today).

The World Food Programme director James Beasley is also right in calling out to the vain billionaires to spare a thought and a few dimes for those citizens on earth who are dying of hunger.

The “achievements” of the billionaires and their journey to the edge of space reeks of emptiness. The US Federal Aviation Administration “did not confer on either Branson or Bezos “Commercial Astronaut Wings” because neither flight “demonstrated activities during flight that were essential to public safety, or contributed to human space flight safety.” and rightly so. It was but a show of power by the respective billionaires to be the first to touch outer space

It’s a good thing (or perhaps not) that they returned safely. Who knows about the success of other trips? And such trips can be afforded by other billionaires only. Just imagine how heart-wrenching it will be to have spent millions on a space flight and somehow not to be returning to enjoy all the accumulated wealth. Safety will obviously be adequately taken care of, but what if?

While adventures like travelling to the edge of space are probably exciting, isn’t ending the miseries of the starving, homeless, and the ailing upliting? Abilasha D

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