Space Tourist

XCOR Aerospace and United Launch Alliance have demonstrated successful piston pump tests. The piston pumps use cryogenic hydrogen (liquid H2) for high performance long life launch ambitions for their suborbital rocket the XCor Lynx.

The piston pumps being developed by the two companies can operate over a wide range of speeds and conditions. Rapid prototyping techniques have allowed the companies to develop the hydrogen piston pumps in just under four months.

One of the advantages of burning hydrogen is that the only byproduct is heat and water.

Now, I’ve already talked once about sex in space requests pouring into various space tourism companies, but now it is time to expand on the subject a bit. Now, the question is should a spaceplane, rocket ship for space tourists or even the International Space Station have a compartment for copulating couples? Even prisoners get conjugal visits, so why not give those people paying 100,000’s or even 1,000,000’s of dollars the same benefit?

On airplane, people for years have bragged about being in the Mile High Club. With the advent of space tourism, how about the 60 Mile High Club? Yes, people will want to float in space and experience weightlessness. That is a given. But even Homer Simpson knows that the basics of life boil down to eat, sleep, mate, repeat. And, if would behoove the budding space tourism companies to take this into consideration.

What is wrong with expecting a romantic interlude among the stars when in outer space? What could be more romantic than looking outside the rocket ships window and see the Moon 5 times its normal size? Even Jim Carey in the movie “Bruce Almighty” got this right.

So, the only question left to answer is, should the “romance room” be on the Virgin Galactic, the KISS (Kinky International Space Station) or the “Pocket” Rocketplane XP? You make the call.

Well, what would space tourism be without space travel agents? I had previously talked about one of Virgin Galactic’s first space travel agents Carolyn Wincer back in January 2008.

Now, I decided to have a conversation with Beverly Rother an accredited space travel agent also for Virgin Galactic who is based in Miami, Florida for an update on the state of the space travel agents for 2010.

I asked Beverly what it takes to be accredited by Virgin Galactic as a Space Agent? She replied, “I had to submit a written application with Virtuoso and Virgin Galactic, as well as with a phone interview with Virgin Galactic from the UK and I was lucky to be 1 of only 76 hand picked accredited space agents (ASA) who are authorized to sell space travel. I then had to go through 2 days of training & seminars with my fellow ASA’s and we then witnessed the historic world premier of the unveiling of VSS Enterprise in the Mojave Desert, CA on December 7, 2009. We have monthly webinars to be kept updated.”

I also asked Beverly, how she sees the space tourism industry evolving in the years to come? Her reply was, “Space tourism is now a reality. We have over 300 deposited reservations at this time and we expect approximately 500 people to travel the first year she flies. VSS Enterprise is now in full test regime for the next 12-24 months. Once she has safely passed all testing & US Regulations (Headquarters are based near Las Cruces, New Mexico at Spaceport America) we’ll be ready for take off. This is NOT a race, safety of our passengers comes first. This is only the beginning to travel into space.”

Here is some additional information about space travel with Virgin Galactic supplied by Beverly Rother:

“Once you’re confirmed with at least a 10-percent deposit (or higher levels depending when you want to go) you’ll receive a welcome pack and special insider updates, including special invitations to events with your fellow astronauts (such as the unveiling where 170 future astronauts were in attendance).

“Included is a 3-day training program at Spaceport America. There you’ll be issued a Phillippe Starck-designed space suite, undergo G-Force and possibly weightlessness training, full preflight training and learn all about your mission! You can even charger the spacecraft with your family, friends or special coworkers for a discounted rate.

“Each flight holds 6 astronauts who all have a window view, along with the 2 pilots onboard the spaceship. The spaceship is berthed to the Eve Mothership, which is a specially designed twin-fuselage jet airplane –and the world’S first commercial aircraft made out of 100 percent carbon composite material.

“After takeoff you’ll fly to 50,000 feet and hear the countdown. The spaceship releases and with it’s hybrid rocker motor accelerates you into a vertical climb which reaches Mach 1 (the speed of sound). Within 30 seconds you’ll be at Mach 3.4. After 90 seconds, the pilots cut the motors and the spaceship will continue to climb to 68 miles above earth, an altitude of 360,000 feet.

“Six miles above the space border, you’ll experience total silence – and Zero G for the next 4-5 minutes. Release your seatbelts and ENJOY this unique experience. You must then return to your seats and experience a thrilling 90 second reentry, peaking at nearly 6 G’s. The Spaceship’s wings have been ‘feathered up’ and will rotate back to their usual position to glide you safely back to Earth to collect your astronaut wings.”

If you have an inclination for a trip into space via Virgin Galactic then contact Beverly Rother for more info.

The Cecil Field Airport in Jacksonville, Florida will be doing double duty as a spaceport as well. Florida Governor Charlie Crist along with Jacksonville Aviation Authority leaders made the announcement about the licensing of the property to do horizontal launches of spacecraft.

The process of obtaining the proper licensing and permits took 4 yeas. The Cecil Field spaceport will be the first of its kind on the East Coast. The spaceport currently has a 12,500-foot runway which will accommodate spacecraft such as spaceplanes to take off easily.

According to the Daily Record, “Proximity to the ocean is another feature that makes Cecil ideal for the industry. After the spacecraft takes off from the launch site, it must wait until it is over the ocean before it can ignite its rockets to propel it into suborbital outer space.”

No longer does California and New Mexico have a lock on the space tourism industry as Florida has just joined the party as well. And, why not since one of the things the great state of Florida is known for is its Cape Canaveral launches. Houston, we have some competition, over.

Yesterday, the VSS enterprise made its official debut in the Mojave Desert of California. Dignitaries such as California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson were there to christen the aircraft.

Also on hand were Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic and Burt Rutan of Scaled Somposites. Scaled Composites is the company who built the VSS Enterprise for Virgin Galactic. The VSS Enterprise is the new name for the SpaceShipTwo which has been under development for the last couple of years.

Richard Branson’s daughter Holly gave the SpaceShipTwo its new name. The VSS Enterprise rocket plane and the WhiteKnightTwo carrier signal that a new era in space tourism. On the nose cone of the VSS enterprise is emblazoned piece of art called “Galactic Girl” who’s modeled after Branson’s mother as she looked in the 1940s.

The timeframe for the first commercial flights of the VSS Enterprise are in the 2011 or 2012 timeframe. Six passengers and two pilots will enter lower Earth orbit (LEO) and experience weightlessness for about five minutes. This is being called the world’s largest roller coaster ride.

No this isn’t the movie, Total Recall where then actor and not governor Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in a plot where he ended up on the red planet. This is legit- well sort of – chance to go to Mars.

Last month, the U. S. celebrated the 40th anniversary of the moon landing in grand style. National and local TV news station, newspapers, websites and blogs and celebrated what was arguably the greatest technological achievement of this century.

I remember as a kid watching Apollo 11 on a black and white television and seeing Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin making their historic leaps for mankind. Since then many conspiracy theories have been thrown around.

But, most people believe in the reality of the moon walks rather than the sound stage theory, which brings me back to my point that you now have a chance to go to Mars, in a way.

NASA is letting people sign up to put their names on a microchip that will be embedded in the Mars Science Laboratory rover that will be launched in 2011. It may not be a Mars walk, but it’s better than a kick in the pants or a poke in the eye. In fact, way better.

So why not sign up and get your name on Mars? You’ll make history when you do.

Space Tourist Richard Garriott has returned safely from space and the International Space Station (ISS) after a 10 day visit. Gariott is the 6th official space tourist of record.

Richard Gariott is the first 2nd generation astronaut as he is the son of NASA astronaut Owen Gariott. On October 12, 2008 Richard Gariott launched aboard a Soyuz TMA-12 from Kazakhstan and returned on October 13, 2008 along with cosmonauts Sergei Volkov and Oleg Kononenko who had spent six months aboard the ISS.

Gariott is a Silicon Valley multimillionaire who made his money designing fantasy-style computer games. One criticism that Gariott had of the program is that he says NASA needs to be more open to the space tourism industry and encourage visitors in space.

According to Richard Gariott, “This mission to the ISS fulfilled a lifelong dream to experience spaceflight as my father first did 35 years ago. It’s an honor to be the first American to follow a parent into space. This experience made possible by Space Adventures – from my training in Star City, to lift-off, orbit and finally docking with and staying on the ISS – has been more gratifying than anything I could have ever imagined.”

While in space, Gariott did participate in NASA sponsored teleconferencing with HAM radio links, talking to students about his experience and experiments while onboard the ISS.

Chinese astronauts walked in space for the first time this past weekend. But did anyone notice? Noticeably absent was reporting from the mainstream media. There has been no Larry King special, no hoopla, just yawns for only the third nation in history to take a step out of the blue and into the black.

Zhai Zhigang, the commander of China’s Shenzhou VII spacecraft took a short walk in space for less than 15 minutes this past Saturday. The 68-hour voyage saw the spacecraft climb to 215 miles above the Earth’s surface. It was just 5 years earlier when China had its maiden spaceflight.

Taking off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China, the astronauts took the first steps towards building the Chinese space station of the future. Now, normally, I would reserve this blog for information about the space tourism industry.

But, China stepping into space for the first time is a big deal, a really big deal. It complicates the space race by putting another superpower at the table in regard to science, technology and military applications plus the possibility of the Big Red State entering the space tourism industry in a few years as well.

The Russians and Americans may have greatly this event with a big ole yawn. But, who will be yawning a few years from now when China has more people in space than Disney has riders at Space Mountain? Hey, it could happen.

Everyone by now has heard of the hydrogen economy and rocket ships powered by liquid nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen. But, one company is proposing a new next generation method of propulsion called “mirror energy”.

This mirror energy or mirror power as they sometimes call it is based upon anti-matter. Energy USA theorizes that one day spacecraft will not only run on mirror power but travel to the tail end of comets to collect this anti-matter as well.

Mirror energy, then will be a commodity the size of about two nickels that can be sold to companies and universities for millions of dollars. Conceivably, also one day the space tourism industry will also run on mirror energy as well.

Is this a little far-fetched? Perhaps. Or more likely just ahead of its time. Many times science fiction precedes science, so don’t be too surprised if the next generation is vacationing in space with mirror energy to propel them in flybys around the Earth.

Sir Richard Branson, the head of the Virgin Galactic space tourism company has now received many requests from curious couples who want to be the first in history to have sex in space. Virgin expects to put the first tourists into space as early as 2009.

Some couples are wanting to make it into the Guinness Book of World Records as the first couple to have sex in space. Others, apparently, just want to take the “Mile High Club” one step further.

But, according to UPI.com, the couple’s expectations may be too high. The space tourism flight will only offer five minutes of zero gravity. Accompany this with spacesuits to unravel and a general flailing around in the cabin and attempts at intercourse could be an exercise in unmet expectations.

It is conceivable to have sex in space, however. And, should the couple actually conceive a baby while in suborbital space this would be another one for the record books. I can see the headlines now, “Virgin Delivers Space Baby”. It could happen.