<story><title>Virgin Galactic goes faster than speed of sound in flight test</title><url>http://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/momentous-day-for-space-travel</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>carbocation</author><text>Maybe the physics or the finances aren&apos;t there, but I would imagine that an excellent use for sub-orbital near-spaceflight would be to get between two distant cities (Tokyo and London) extremely quickly. Virgin Galactic would seem to be poised to execute on this, if there is a market for it.</text></comment>
<story><title>Virgin Galactic goes faster than speed of sound in flight test</title><url>http://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/momentous-day-for-space-travel</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>salimmadjd</author><text>I noticed the youtube video was removed? I wonder if it was a PR decision. Any ideas?&lt;p&gt;Also, I agree hitting speed of sound is not that of an achievement, but it&apos; something given it wasn&apos;t bankrolled by limitless government funding. If they have any mishaps, their program is crashed. Where as government program can have many mishaps and it doesn&apos;t have the same impact as a consumer-oriented business.</text></comment>