What Branson & his team did today was incredible and will pay off in spades for the future of humanity.
I'd rather live in a world with folks like Branson instead of a world made up of the astonishingly short-sighted naysayers here.
Top speed: ~4000 kph
Orbital Speed: ~28,000 kph, which is 7 times the speed, 49 times the kinetic energy.
Meanwhile, Elon's old car is in space, moving away from earth at about 60,000 kph
Source: https://www.whereisroadster.com/
Especially if we compare today to what we should get from JWST.
Today basically seems like the ultimate roller coaster/amusement park ride.
It just makes me long for the JWST launch all the more.
Terrestrial tourism has already pretty much destroyed this planet, what long-term good can you foresee here, seriously?