World's First Commercial Spaceport now being built in New Mexico

[rodsky]

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(CNN) -- The era when travelers will be able to catch a flight from New Mexico to outer space moved a step closer this week with the official start of construction of Spaceport America.

At a groundbreaking ceremony Friday, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson talked about the world's first facility for space tourists.

"New Mexicans have stepped up to the plate by making this investment," Richardson said. "This groundbreaking ceremony is an important step toward our goal of being at the forefront of a vibrant, new commercial space industry."

The almost $200 million project is funded by the state. Once completed, British business magnate Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic will begin taking tourists to space from the facility. Flights are expected to start in 2010.

Branson has said that he has a list of 45,000 people from 120 countries who have registered to take the space trips. It will cost $200,000 a ride, according to the Spaceport America Web site.

The spaceship will be connected to a specially designed carrier aircraft that will take it to about 50,000 feet, according to Virgin Galactic. The aircraft will release the spaceship, which will then use rockets to propel itself into space.

Virgin Galactic has envisioned one flight a week, with six tourists aboard.

The tourists will train for at least three days before going.

One giant leap toward space tourism in New Mexico - CNN.com



-RODION

[bluedes]

wow, this for real? space travel will definitely be a reality in my lifetime..

[pirehro]

tinuod ni? kuyawa ah

[ethzneuron]

i thought virgin galactic's technology is the same as the blackbird - the one from nasa, the xmen ship look-alike. murag lahi man gyud..

anyway,

Virgin Galactic is planning to have a fleet of two White Knight Two motherships and five or more SpaceShipTwo tourist suborbital spacecraft.

the two named suborbital spacecrafts are:
VSS Enterprise
VSS Voyager

copy kaayo sa star trek.

[rodsky]

wow, this for real? space travel will definitely be a reality in my lifetime..

Umm, space travel is already a reality in your lifetime, since 1961 What you mean probably is, the possibility of someone like you, getting the chance to ride in a spaceship, will be a reality in our lifetime

But, I know I might cry when I see the ticket prices hehehe, but then, a good reason why I should work harder and earn more money!

If I do get to ride one of these things, Hellblazer will have to eat his words (to those unaware, he once said in these forums that I will never have the chance to catch a ride into space, but this development just made me move one tiny step closer to achieving that goal ) hehehe.

-RODION

[ethzneuron]

$200,000 ra bitaw... kaya ra kaayo ni sa taw nga ganahan gyud. murag daghan gyud magpabook ani kay mga astro-fans. panagsa ra kaayo ni oi!

share lang pod ko ani, nakit-an man.. from Virgin galactic Website.

What is the difference between a Virgin Galactic spaceship and a NASA shuttle?
A lot! To be fair, the Space Shuttle was designed to carry significant payloads and people into orbit rather than people only into sub-orbit. However there are some key design differences which represent important developments in the future of safe and commercially viable space travel. Firstly, SpaceShipTwo is being built from composite materials not metal, creating major benefits in weight, power output requirements and resilience. Secondly, the feathering mechanism (described above) means that these spacecraft do not require specially designed (and historically unreliable) thermal protection systems used by the Space Shuttle. Thirdly, SpaceShipTwo will be air launched not ground launched. This has important benefits for both safety and environmental impact. SpaceShipTwo is being built following a design brief that deliberately seeks to avoid unnecessary complexity and in particular, moving parts. This is a very different concept than that which applied to the Space Shuttle and one which is key to safety and reliability. SpaceShipTwo's rocket propellant system will be a single hybrid rocket motor rather than the separate solid and liquid rocket boosters/engines used by the Space Shuttle. There are great safety advantages to the hybrid system which of course needs to develop far less power than the Space Shuttle due to weight and scope of flight.

[rodsky]

$200,000 ra bitaw... kaya ra kaayo ni sa taw nga ganahan gyud. murag daghan gyud magpabook ani kay mga astro-fans. panagsa ra kaayo ni oi!

When the world's first computers were built, they were the size of buildings, and cost millions of dollars, and they were only as powerful as an ordinary pocket calculator. Now computers fit on the palm of your hand, and you can afford them with your Christmas bonus. I believe that as space tourism expands, the prices will drop to more affordable levels as the years go by.

-RODION

[bluedes]

Umm, space travel is already a reality in your lifetime, since 1961 What you mean probably is, the possibility of someone like you, getting the chance to ride in a spaceship, will be a reality in our lifetime

But, I know I might cry when I see the ticket prices hehehe, but then, a good reason why I should work harder and earn more money!

If I do get to ride one of these things, Hellblazer will have to eat his words (to those unaware, he once said in these forums that I will never have the chance to catch a ride into space, but this development just made me move one tiny step closer to achieving that goal ) hehehe.

-RODION

that's what i meant, kanang ako jud maka-fly ba..

i'm sure with the laws of economics, the prices will go down to an affordable rate.. still expensive perhaps, but not that expensive..

[digitalsuperman]

whoa! ninduta ana woi......

[NapoleonBlownapart]

sugod na ko tigum para ani b.. ahahaha

mao raba ni ako childhood dream ang makaadto sa space.. weeeeeeee