Space
Grab a Balloon Ride to Earth’s Stratosphere For $75,000
Benita Matilda
First Posted: Oct 24, 2013 10:23 AM EDT
An Arizona based company has devised flying capsules to ferry earthlings to the edge of space.
World View Enterprises plans on sending tourists in to space by 2016 aboard high altitude balloons, all this for $75,000 only. They plan on sending six passengers and two crew members to a height of 18 miles above the Earth's surface from where they can view the magnificent curvature of the Earth against the black sky. The capsule will be suspended by a giant helium balloon. They will get the same view as astronauts but minus the weightlessness.
"Seeing the Earth hanging in the ink-black void of space will help people realize our connection to our home planet and to the universe around us," World View CEO Jane Poynter said in a statement Tuesday. "It is also our goal to open up a whole new realm for exercising human curiosity, scientific research and education."
Travelling at the speed of 300 meters a minute, the flight will take 90 minutes to reach the height and the tourists will stay aloft for almost two hours before they make their way back to Earth in just 40 minutes. After ascending to the required height, the balloon will be released from the capsule allowing the capsule to fall free. Then parasails will inflate and help the capsule glide safely to Earth.
The wild ride will be run by World View Enterprises, which will begin selling tickets within the next few months, NBC News reported.
But before this adventurous journey kicks off, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) asserts that the venture should meet the commercial spaceflight guidelines, despite the fact that technically the capsule doesn't reach the realms of space i.e. 62 miles above.
The company plans on launching the balloon and gondola from various centers in the U.S. and also plans on expanding its operation worldwide.
"I am thrilled about the idea of giving people the experience of seeing Earth from space," Poynter told NBC News. "That's what really drives me."
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First Posted: Oct 24, 2013 10:23 AM EDT
An Arizona based company has devised flying capsules to ferry earthlings to the edge of space.
World View Enterprises plans on sending tourists in to space by 2016 aboard high altitude balloons, all this for $75,000 only. They plan on sending six passengers and two crew members to a height of 18 miles above the Earth's surface from where they can view the magnificent curvature of the Earth against the black sky. The capsule will be suspended by a giant helium balloon. They will get the same view as astronauts but minus the weightlessness.
"Seeing the Earth hanging in the ink-black void of space will help people realize our connection to our home planet and to the universe around us," World View CEO Jane Poynter said in a statement Tuesday. "It is also our goal to open up a whole new realm for exercising human curiosity, scientific research and education."
Travelling at the speed of 300 meters a minute, the flight will take 90 minutes to reach the height and the tourists will stay aloft for almost two hours before they make their way back to Earth in just 40 minutes. After ascending to the required height, the balloon will be released from the capsule allowing the capsule to fall free. Then parasails will inflate and help the capsule glide safely to Earth.
The wild ride will be run by World View Enterprises, which will begin selling tickets within the next few months, NBC News reported.
But before this adventurous journey kicks off, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) asserts that the venture should meet the commercial spaceflight guidelines, despite the fact that technically the capsule doesn't reach the realms of space i.e. 62 miles above.
The company plans on launching the balloon and gondola from various centers in the U.S. and also plans on expanding its operation worldwide.
"I am thrilled about the idea of giving people the experience of seeing Earth from space," Poynter told NBC News. "That's what really drives me."
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone