The space tourism firm Virgin Galactic announced that it has opened to the general public the possibility of buying a ticket for 450,000 dollars to spend a few minutes in space while Space X confirmed its first mission in which civilians will be able to take a “walk” outside the ship.
Virgin Galactic’s first flights would take place at end of 2022 had previously announced the company funded by billionaire Richard Branson.
Tickets have been on sale since August, but are reserved for registered travelers on a waiting list. In November, Virgin Galactic announced that it had sold 100 tickets for that price of $450,000.
These are added to the 600 already sold between 2005 and 2014 for a lower price (between $200,000 and $250,000).
The possibility of registering for the trip is open to everyone from Wednesday, with a $150,000 deposit Virgin Galactic reported in a statement.
The journey of some 90 minutes in total counting the duration of the ascent would be carried out from the Spaceport America space base in the New Mexico desert, after “several days” of training.
The company uses a large cargo plane that takes off from a conventional runway, and then release a ship that resembles a large private jet. It fires its engine until it exceeds 80 kilometers of altitude and then returns gliding.
Once on top, passengers can unzip to experience a few minutes of weightlessness and admire the earth’s curvature through the windows.
Virgin Galactic is currently making modifications to the mother plane and the ship, aimed at improving the behavior of the engines and its ability to fly more frequently. This period, which began in October, should last 9 to 10 months.
The proper start of commercial activities is planned for the fourth quarter of 2022the company reported in November.
Space X spacewalks
On the other hand, SpaceXElon Musk’s aerospace company, announced the first spacewalk carried out by civilians and in which it will reach the highest Earth orbit in history in a mission of this type.
It is the first objective of the program Polaris led by the billionaire Jared Isaacmanwho was already seen arriving in space with the mission Inspiration4. Polaris brings together three new missions, including the first manned voyage of Starship the largest SpaceX ship.
During the mission, Isaacman and the rest of the members will carry out their first spacewalk and they will assess the impact of space radiation on health.
Two other missions will follow this historical journey and the most impressive will be the one carried out by the Starship rocket. His first manned trip would be the final shot to start the path of the human being to Mars for which this gigantic rocket has been built.
We won’t have to wait long to see the first of the Polaris missions in action. Dawn is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2022 and will mark a new page in the history of space travel after the Apollo missions of the 1970s.
The crew will reach the furthest orbit yet, known as the Van Allen radiation belt. On Inspiration 4’s journey, these same occupants reached as far as 575 kilometers from Earth (357 miles), further than the International Space Station (ISS) and Hubble Space Telescope missions.