Is sub-orbital tourism really the way toward colonization?

I think widespread public perception of space matters. Governments
may not be the ones doing the actual colonization, but they will be
involved in a lot of ways, so the politics will matter. Even with
corporations, public image matters. So does the receptiveness of
venture capitalists who aren't interested in the projects they fund
for their own sake but are just looking for investments of
particular risk/return profiles. Then there are the parents,
friends, and other mentors of kids who grow up to be involved.

It's not a matter of those who want to go and those who don't count.

--- In spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com, "Xenophile"
wrote:
>
> --- In spacesettlers, Michael Persohn-Costa wrote:
>
> > But do you think this preception will really help, or hurt? I've
> > talked with many people that couldn't care mutch less about
space,
> > and knew about virgin galactic.
>
> The people who couldn't care much less about space cannot be won
over.
> SpaceShipOne, Virgin Galactic, suborbital, full orbital, none of
it
> will help with them. The people who will be effected by this are
> those who always wanted to go into space, but thought that only
highly
> gifted, highly trained astronauts could make the trip. They felt
that
> it was a beautiful party, but that they were forever uninvited. If
> suborbital can change this perception, then yes, it is, in the
words
> of the TV commercial: Priceless.
>
> > What I'm worried about is thies people now think orbital flight
is
> > as easy as it is on startrek with shuttle craft that never seem
to
> > use any fuel.
>
> Those who want to go into space will seek out the real information,
> while those who do not won't be with us whether they know the
details