space tourism

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Space Tourism Ship Crashes in Test Flight; 1 Pilot Dead

Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo goes down

(Newser) - A spacecraft intended to carry tourists into space someday crashed this afternoon in California's Mojave desert, with one pilot dead and another injured, reports AP . "Our first concern is the status of the pilots," says a Virgin Galactic statement following the loss of its SpaceShipTwo craft. NBC...

New Space Tourism Idea: Balloon Ride, No Rocket

Company plans trips 18 miles up in 2016

(Newser) - Companies like Virgin Galactic are working on rockets to blast adventurous tourists 60 miles into outer space. Now the Wall Street Journal notes another venture in the works that intends to send people up to lesser heights using a massive (think football-field-sized) helium-filled balloon instead. For $75,000 apiece, eight...

Virgin Galactic Gets Another Step Closer to Space Tourism

SpaceShipTwo makes first rocket-powered test flight

(Newser) - We're one step closer to space tourism, as Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo made history today: The private spaceship, designed for future commercial flights, successfully completed its first rocket-powered test flight, Space.com reports. The WhiteKnightTwo mothership carried the spaceship into the air, released it at 46,000 feet, and...

Soprano to Become First Singer in Space

Sarah Brightman plans Soyuz trip

(Newser) - The world's best-selling soprano has booked her ticket to space. British singer Sarah Brightman, who rose to fame as the heroine in The Phantom of the Opera, plans to head to the International Space Station on a Russian Soyuz in 2015, reports the Guardian . Brightman, who plans to spend...

For Rent: Slightly Used Space Shuttle Launchpad

Kennedy Space Center is looking for tenants

(Newser) - Wondering where to park your space shuttle? Consider Cape Canaveral's Kennedy Space Center. "We’re putting out the word officially and unofficially that Kennedy Space Center is open for business," says a chief architect at the facility. "I have a lot of facilities that we, NASA,...

Space Tourism Blasts Off
 Space Tourism Blasts Off
Here Comes 2012
Jan 4, 2012 12:30 PM CST

Space Tourism Blasts Off

Virgin Galactic to start the business up in earnest

(Newser) - The year is still nascent, but 2012 may go down in history as the year space tourism finally took flight. This year Virgin Galactic will finally begin launching its much-ballyhooed jaunts into space, the New York Times reports, opening up the heavens to the non-billionaire set. Granted, you’ll still...

First 'Spaceport' Coming to New Mexico

But project is late and getting expensive

(Newser) - Now that the shuttle's blasted off for the last time, attention is turning to the private space industry, and NPR has found an interesting piece of that puzzle: America’s first spaceport. The structure, under construction in a New Mexico desert, aims to be something like an airport for...

Space Tourism May Warm Planet

Rockets send soot into stratosphere

(Newser) - Space tourism may sound, well, out-of-this-world, but there is a good chance it will pollute this world, possibly contributing to global warming. As firms like Boeing prepare to launch space tourism businesses , a new study warns that the soot emitted by commercial rockets may get stuck in the stratosphere, notes...

Virgin Galactic Spacecraft Makes First Solo Flight

Private spacecraft on course to take paying passengers to space

(Newser) - The world's first manned commercial spacecraft has reached a major milestone. Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo was released from the mothership and completed its first solo glide flight over the Mojave Desert yesterday, Wired reports. The craft, which is undergoing rigorous testing ahead of plans to carry paying customers to space and...

Russians Plan to Launch Space Hotel

Firm says 'comfortable' space station will be up by 2016

(Newser) - A Russian firm has good news for would-be space tourists worried about lousy food or getting cramped by astronauts performing experiments. Orbital Technologies says it aims to have a "comfortable" space hotel circling the Earth by 2016, the BBC reports. Chief exec Sergei Kostenko says the hotel will have...

Boeing to Launch Space Tourism Business

Looks to have capsule up and running by 2015

(Newser) - Boeing would like to fly you to your next vacation destination—in space. The aerospace giant is developing a space capsule that it thinks will be ready to launch tourists by 2015, the company has announced. The capsule will have seven seats, enough to carry a few spectators alongside a...

Space Plane Takes First Test Flight

Mothership and spaceship flew for 3 hours in 'captive carry' test

(Newser) - Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo took to the skies for the first time yesterday over the Mojave Desert, an important step toward passenger flights in space in 2011. “This is a momentous day,” says Burt Rutan, who built the craft and its mothership for Richard Branson’s company. The...

Moon Trash Declared National Treasure

Calif. aims to preserve Apollo urine containers, space boots

(Newser) - California has named the remains of the Apollo 11 mission—including urine containers and space boots—a state historical resource. Experts in the nascent field of space archeology worry that, without preservation, what they call a "sacred site of world history" might be looted by future missions or space...

On the Horizon: Space Flights for $475

Cheap, sub-orbital trips could be reality in a decade

(Newser) - Need a vacation? Aerospace engineer Burt Rutan says in the next 10 years a flight to space may be as cheap as $475. In an interview with BigThink , the space pioneer who famously designed the first plane to fly around the world without stopping explains how he, under the auspices...

Branson Unveils SpaceShipTwo
 Branson Unveils SpaceShipTwo 
Dec 8, 2009 1:21 AM CST

Branson Unveils SpaceShipTwo

Billionaire unveils first tourist spacecraft

(Newser) - Virgin Galactic chief Richard Branson yesterday rolled out the vessel he hopes will soon take thousands of people into space. Some 300 clients who already paid a deposit on the entrepreneur's $200,000 space travel tickets were on hand as SpaceShipTwo was unveiled at a hangar in Mojave, Calif., CNN...

1st Clown in Space Blasts Off

Billionaire Cirque founder will 'tickle astros' feet,' highlight water crisis

(Newser) - Canadian billionaire Guy LaLiberte became the 7th paying tourist—and the first clown—in space when he blasted off early today to the International Space Station on a Soyuz spacecraft. LaLiberte, founder of Cirque de Soliel, says he plans to crack jokes and tickle the other astronauts' feet as well...

First Repeat Space Tourist Arrives at ISS

(Newser) - A Russian spacecraft carrying a cosmonaut, an astronaut, and the first two-time space tourist has docked with the International Space Station, the CBC reports. The Soyuz capsule will soon offload the two crew members and US billionaire Charles Simonyi. Simonyi will return to Earth in the same capsule on April...

Space Tourism Blasting Off in 2011

Trips will cost $200k

(Newser) - For those bored with mere earthly trips, help is on the way. The first space tourist flights will take off in 2011 from New Mexico, reports AFP. For $200,000, an outfit run by British tycoon Richard Branson will fly tourists 70 miles above earth and then, presumably, back. Flights...

Tourist, Crew Dock at Space Station

Garriott will perform experiments, take photos from space

(Newser) - American space tourist Richard Garriott arrived safely at the International Space Station today for a 10-day visit, Space.com reports. “I can fly!” Garriott told Russia’s command center, where former NASA astronaut and dad Owen watched his son become the first second-generation space-traveler. Also aboard the Soyuz...

Space Tourist Video Gamer Blasts Off

Son of NASA astronaut hitches ride on Russian rocket for $35M

(Newser) - US video game magnate Richard Garriott blasted off into space today aboard a Russian rocket—and all it cost him was $35 million. The "space tourist" was cheered on by his father, a one-time NASA astronaut, Reuters reports. "I can see he is really enjoying it like a...

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