Plenty Of Interest To Head Into Space For Just A Few Minutes

from the blast-off dept

Looks like Richard Branson might have another hit on his hands. Just weeks after first announcing his plans for Virgin Galactic and (obviously) fueled by the success of SpaceShipOne in winning the X-Prize, it looks like a lot of people are interested in blasting off to space, even if for only five minutes. The expected price tag hovering somewhere near $200,000 isn't scaring off many people. Over 3,000 have said they're interested, according to the company, including a bunch who have showed up at the company's offices with checks in hand. Of course, it's still two and a half to three years away before they plan on actually launching any of these space tourists into space.
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  • identicon
    Mikester, 12 Oct 2004 @ 12:53pm

    Cheaper alternative?

    Wouldn't it be cheaper to just rent a cargo plane and do a few parabolic arcs for your few minutes of weightlessness?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Mike (profile), 12 Oct 2004 @ 1:18pm

      Re: Cheaper alternative?

      Yeah, but that doesn't have the same street space cred as actually going out of the atmosphere

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 14 Oct 2004 @ 8:50am

        Re: Cheaper alternative?

        If money were of no matter to me I would certainly love to be one of the first civilians in space. Money isn't the issue, its the bragging rights and experience that makes it worthwhile.

        link to this | view in chronology ]


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