They're taking it pretty seriously for a joke.
Virgin Galactic - the most exciting development in the story of modern space history - is planning to make it possible for almost anyone to visit the final frontier at an affordable price.The "affordable price" is $200,000 -- and that is not for "almost anyone". That is a joke. The customer list will eventually include some showbiz types who will fly after a few industrialist millionaires have sought their thrills and returned alive. 99 per cent plus do not have that kind of money to spend on a glorified amusement park ride. Rutan is a genius (and DARPA dollars helped him develop his genius), but he hasn't shown that he can build an orbiter, or even scale up the design to hold a handful of passengers.