Sometime soon, thrill-seekers with the funds and the desire to plunk down $200K to experience four minutes of weightlessness more than 60 miles above the Earth will have the chance, thanks to Virgin CEO and astro-preneur Richard Branson.
The Washington Post:
“Obviously, we’d like to get the price down,” Branson said. Then again, the first customers are being assured that by buying early, they are claiming a place in history.
The first customers are largely aviation enthusiasts, said Matthew D. Upchurch, who owns a luxury travel agency in Fort Worth called Virtuoso.
“There’s this whole other wave of people who view travel as sort of a life-experience sort of thing,” said Upchurch, who paid in full. “Because you think of how whoever’s been into space says their life has been changed.”
The experience of seeing the Earth, and the fabled visible thinness of its atmosphere, also plays into eco-tourism, a current passion of wealthy travelers, he said.
Virgin Galactic flew more than 100 of its customers to the Mojave hangar from Los Angeles International on a spanking-new Virgin America Airbus, which was identified on its nose cone as: “My Other Ride Is A Spaceship.”
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Jump to Comments
By bat guano, July 29 at 1:47 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
A new amusement for the rich. How nice.
Report thisBy Kashilinus, July 29 at 7:34 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
This endeavor takes the frivolous side of humanity to “new heights,” and there is little to be admired about a rearrangement of technology that has now been around for fifty years to fashion a plaything for the rich.
Report thisIn this writer’s opinion, the original X-Prize that Burt Rutan vied for and won should have ended that exercise, which is akin to fish leaping out of the sea to experience the air above. The next step which could have paved the way to ballistic rocket transport of passengers and freight, might have been contests to achieve further and further ballistic rocket flights from city to city.
Think about it. Does it make sense to run engines for eighteen to twenty four hours to travel to Australia from the US when the same can be accomplished by running engines for just a few minutes?
The world is designed for ballistic transportation. When it comes about, and surely it will, then all passengers will experience space flight, and they won’t have to be multi-millionaires.
By Reubenesque, July 29 at 7:27 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
The uber-rich need these “high-in-the-sky” opportunities to rid themselves of some of that pesky cash the’ve found themselves possessing in our present day “Capilocracy”. Kudos to Mr. Branson on seizing this opportunity.
Report thisBy Matt, July 29 at 4:55 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
Theres this whole other wave of people who view travel as sort of a life-experience sort of thing, said Upchurch, who paid in full.Because you think of how whoevers been into space says their life has been changed.
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