Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Ticket to ride - The Washington Times


Richard Garriott always knew he would fly into space. But unlike his astronaut father, his less-than-perfect eyesight dashed any hope of a government mission.


So Mr. Garriott turned to the private sector, where $30 million bought him a ticket aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station in the coming October.


As the sixth amateur to make the trek, he hopes to prove that 10 days orbiting the Earth is worth such a considerable price tag.


"I'm personally a big believer [that] if there is justification for people being in space, then it sure ought to pay dividends commensurate with the investment put into it," said Mr. Garriott, 36, a Texas-based multimillionaire who founded and sold several computer game companies.


His father, astronaut-scientist Owen Garriott, spent more than 20 years at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, completing two spaceflights in his career. Now, decades later, Richard Garriott's mission is being booked by Space Adventures Ltd., a Vienna, Va., company that buys extra seats on Russian spacecraft headed to the International Space Station.


Space Adventures has sent five private citizens into space. American businessman Dennis Tito in 2001 was the first. Software pioneer Charles Simonyi was the most recent one, lifting off this spring.


Mr. Garriott has the unmistakable credentials of an adrenaline junkie. He participates in sky diving, hang gliding, caving and rock climbing. His thirst for terrestrial exploration has taken him to the depths of the ocean to study bacteria on hydrothermal vents, and to Antarctica to search for meteorites.


But Mr. Garriott said he is more than a space tourist. He has long been an investor in space privatization and sits on the board of Space Adventures. To demonstrate the commercial value of private spaceflight, he plans to conduct several scientific experiments in space that, unlike NASA-sponsored research, are focused on making a profit.

source: http://washingtontimes.com
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Green tea

Recipes: Chocolate Raspberry Torte

Carsplace: Auto news, autoshow, concept cars.

Monday, December 24, 2007

From CEO to Space Tourist

The software guru decided to see if he had the 'right stuff.'

Touchdown: Simonyi after his space-station visit


By Charles Simonyi

How does one decide to visit space? Until recently, no one had faced such a decision. Rare people with the "right stuff" could dedicate their lives to becoming astronauts and cosmonauts and compete for the crew assignments, but the decision of who would fly always rested, rightfully, with the respective space organizations. Then along came Eric Anderson, a young, visionary aerospace engineer who cofounded Space Adventures, making it possible for nonastronauts to buy "taxi" seats aboard Russian spacecraft and travel to the International Space Station. Three cheers for Eric—and hats off to Dennis Tito, the California businessman who in 2001 became Space Adventures' first Spaceflight Participant—or, as most people call it, "space tourist."

I was just an earthbound tourist, visiting Baikonur, the Russian spaceport, when I met Eric in 2004. I was amazed by the openness of the Russian space program—we could practically touch the fully fueled rocket on the launchpad as we saw the cosmonauts off to space. I was even more amazed when Eric, ever so gently, suggested that one day I might want to be on the departure platform where the cosmonauts were standing.

The trip would cost $25 million, which I considered money well spent for the cash-strapped Russian space program. I was intrigued enough to make the first exploratory steps and deal with the uncertainties: What about my health? (I'm 59.) Was I strong enough, physically and mentally, for spaceflight? The good news is that for Spaceflight Participants, the standards aren't as strict as they are for the professionals. But even those minimum standards are too high for most of us. And, frankly, the space doctors have not had much experience working with people without the "right stuff" to know what the real minimums are. I had to visit more than 50 doctors, including psychiatrists, some American and some Russian.


One of the strangest tests was the "vestibular chair," where I had to sit with eyes closed in a rotating seat and bob my head in a steady rhythm. This creates some unusual sensations in the inner ear that are thought by the Russians to be similar to the "space sickness" many spacefarers experience during their first days in orbit. I did not like the chair at all at the time, and although I smiled broadly, inside I was unsure if I could take much more.

To my surprise I kept passing the tests, even the unpleasant ones, and one day in Moscow I was declared fit for "special training." Eric was the first to congratulate me. He also said that, as opposed to what we had planned, the Russians wanted me to enter training as soon as possible and fly on the next spacecraft. I had to decide then and there. It actually wasn't as hard as it seems in the abstract. I felt incredibly lucky and privileged just to have been asked. The answer had to be yes, come what may.

Canceling all appointments for the next 10 months and moving into a dorm room on the Russian military base where cosmonauts are trained was quite a change for me. (After spending two decades at Microsoft, where I oversaw the creation of Word and Excel, I cofounded Intentional Software Corp. in 2002.) I had tutors in many interesting subjects, including the wonderful Russian language. I ate at the officers' mess, where one of the regular dishes was called, simply, myaso—that is, meat. I had a regular exercise program and swam more than I ever have before. I made lots of new friends, including many American astronauts who also train there.

There were many tests, each one harder and harder. I learned how to don and doff my spacesuit even while wearing a gas mask against fire. I spent two hours motionless in the suit in a vacuum chamber. I was spun around in a giant centrifuge to experience the G-loads of the rocket. I was flown in a transport plane to exercise in a state of weightlessness.

Finally, launch day arrived: April 7, 2007. My Russian crewmates and I met with our families—speaking through glass, since we were in quarantine (lest we carry some bugs to the space station). The launch preparation itself is full of traditions: for example, before we climbed the stairs to the elevator, the chief designer himself kicked us firmly in the behind to get us going. Once ensconced in the capsule, we could feel a powerful quiet and peace, which ended with the rumble of the launch. In just eight minutes we were in orbit, weightless.

The window blinds remained drawn for the first few hours: just seeing the Earth go by below could make us sick. But my training worked well. I did not get spacesick at all: any unease I felt reminded me of the chair and how I could tolerate it.


The arrival to the space station at sunset, when the most incredible colors appear, was the high point of my trip. Framed by the empty blackness of the sky and the brilliant blue of Earth, the first permanently settled outpost of humanity in space is an incredible view—at once unexpected and inviting.

Working in space for the next two weeks and watching the Earth from that vantage point filled me with a new sense of hope and pride. From our low orbit, the Earth looked like the most beautiful blue sky I have ever seen—it is big, it is peaceful and it is adorned with white clouds. Traveling around the globe over the years, I have seen many beautiful places. But only as a space tourist did I discover just how beautiful the world truly is.

© 2007 Newsweek, Inc.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Professional Artist to Draw in Space



New Zealander Makoure Scott, one of the first 100 Founder Astronauts for Virgin Galactic, plans to spend his space flight drawing. It's no surprise given that he is a professional artist who has already included space themes in his art (along with Maori and other indigenous influences).

I had the pleasure of meeting Makoure at his centrifuge training which was recently covered by New Zealand's One News. Scott is no small man, so I wondered how he was going to be able to take being six times his normal weight. I think he was wondering too. However, when the time came, he was smiling and even able to touch his nose at 6 Gs- something I don't think I even attempted.

Although I don't have the image of Scott at 6 Gs available at the time of posting, I do have one image I can share with you...

And that is of me at 6 Gs! As you can see, I weigh well over 750 lbs in this picture and the experience is a lot like melting off the seat. (It's actually easier than it sounds).

Makoure marks the start of a new era of space. An era where we will see a much broader range of humanity touch t
he stars. I am incredibly excited to see it myself and will be writing about other space "firsts" that the suborbital flights will bring in future posts.


For now though, I am just happy to see the first New Zealanders getting in the game (Makoure is not the only one!) and artists.

If there is one thing that Virgin knows how to do well, it is to craft their offerings as full sensory experiences. I think that many artists (and non artists) will be able to bring that other-worldly experience back to Earth. My commitment is that we inspire a generation of dreamers, builders, and explorers that expand not just the length of our life- but also the depth.

By Loretta Hidalgo Whitesides

Friday, December 14, 2007

Astronaut's Son Ready To Fulfill Lifelong Dream

WASHINGTON -- When he was growing up in Houston, the son of an astronaut who lived in a neighborhood filled with astronauts and aerospace engineers, Richard Garriott always assumed that he would fly in space. After all, it was an experience his father described in very fact-of-the matter terms as a "nominal" experience.

Garriott, now a multimillionaire video game developer, will achieve his life-long goal of traveling into space in October 2008, but it was not an easy road -- or inexpensive.

Garriott, 46, is the son of NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, who participated in two space missions including the 1973 Skylab 3 mission that orbited the Earth for 59 days and smashed the previous record for manned spaceflight duration. The younger Garriott is scheduled to become the sixth paying space tourist and the first offspring of an American astronaut to visit space.

Growing up near the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Nassau Bay, Texas, Garriott's neighbors on three sides were all astronauts. Everyone he knew was a NASA engineer in one way or another, so it seemed inevitable to him that he would grow up and go to space.

"It was a shock to me that as I got older, there were lots of reasons why going into space was such a rare commodity," Garriott said Tuesday in a media roundtable event in Washington sponsored by the Space Foundation.

His poor eyesight alone was enough to disqualify him from a NASA space mission. So he understood early in life that if he were to go into space, it would not be as a government astronaut, it would be through a private enterprise.

Passion for World Building

Garriott's passion for computers and building worlds to explore within them made him wealthy from a young age. He developed his first video game when he was in high school, one that generated $150,000 in personal revenue. He is also the creator of the popular Ultima series of online games and has started and sold two video game companies.

Garriott paid $30 million for his trip to space tourism firm Space Adventures of Vienna, Va., a company for which he sits on the board of directors. A Russian Soyuz rocket will launch him up to the International Space Station where he will spend several weeks. Garriott is contemplating paying another $15 million to take a spacewalk.

In January Garriott will leave for Star City, Russia, where his mission training will begin. He will learn spacecraft operation, survival and experimental training there as well as undergo medical testing to ensure he is ready for space.

The hardest part of his training will not be the physical rigors, he said. As a high-school computer prodigy, Garriott was permitted to develop his own self-taught computer curriculum in lieu of the two-year foreign language requirement. So learning his first foreign language, the Russian he will need to operate his space capsule, will be his greatest challenge.

Bonding with Dad

The thrill of being one of the first 500 humans to leave the planet is not Garriott's only goal. He is a true believer in the commercial value of manned spaceflight and will be taking with him a series of experiments he hopes will generate profit. In one experiment his father helped design, protein crystals will be made in the zero-gravity environment. The crystals form perfectly under these conditions, and accurate images of their structures are extremely valuable to pharmaceutical companies, he said.

"We're in the search for more and more of these activities that are not just research," Garriott said. "We're trying to find something that has resale value."

Owen Garriott is now serving as his son's chief scientist for the mission, helping his son find and verify the best commercial and scientific research activities for the mission.

"It's a great father-son bonding time," the younger Garriott said. "We haven't had the chance to really work closely together like this. So it's very cool from my perspective that I've got one of the world's leading experts close at hand who also happens to have such a deep personal relationship [with me]."

Expert Advice

Several weeks ago Garriott had a conversation with astronaut Alan Bean, who flew with Garriott's father on Skylab 3. Bean emphasized how important he thinks it is for people who are not military pilots to go up and experience space travel, as they will be well-suited when they return to talk about space travel and how it can be expanded in an entrepreneurial way.

Bean also told Garriott he does not expect him to experience the emotional letdown some astronauts have felt after achieving their long-time goal of getting to space. Garriott has had similar conversations with all five previous space tourists who told him the same thing.

"The feedback I'm getting from those I consider close to me imply this is going to do nothing but add to my life experience," Garriott said.

Garriot said his father is separated enough from his time in NASA's space program that he now regards the experience as more than just a nominal.

"He clearly gets a much bigger gleam in his eye when he reflects on some of the early pioneering work he had the chance to do."

Source: Space.com

Monday, December 10, 2007

Spaceflights now for sale; scary part is price

Considering space travel on one of Virgin Galactic's new ships?

The sales pitch goes like this: The first hour will be relatively painless, a graceful ascent in a spaceship attached to a mother ship. Once the vessels reach 50,000 feet, the ship containing you, five more tourists and two pilots will detach and fall for a moment.

Then, the thrusters will propel it up for 90 seconds, traveling three times the speed of sound. All of the spacecraft's fuel will burn away, leaving its tanks empty.

The G-forces on your body will push your blood toward your feet. It is hoped that you won't black out, but if you do, you'll come to when you're at zero gravity.

Once above the undefined line that delineates Earth from space, your craft will arch to a height of 360,000 feet for about four minutes. You will be weightless and have stunning views of Earth's curvature, 1,000 miles in any direction.

And then gravity will beckon the vessel down to Earth, the human bodies within it feeling pressure six times their weight, sort of like a "big, hairy, fat cat sitting on your chest."

Total approximate time: two hours and nine minutes. All this for only $200,000 -- a lot of money to most folks, but a mere fraction of the millions spent by previous space tourists.

Bothell travel agent Angie Lepley is getting quite good at making the pitch: Earlier this year, she was chosen as one of 45 agents countrywide who are permitted to sell Virgin Galactic tours. She is the only agent in Washington, Idaho and Oregon who sells the trips.

"People do yachts and private villas and first-class airfare," Lepley said. "In the scheme of how people travel nowadays, I don't think (the price) is a lot."

Being chosen is a boon for Tangerine Travel, which Lepley founded in 1988. Her company, originally named ETI Travel, is one of 907 licensed travel agencies in Washington.

Last Thursday, Tangerine held a stylish client-appreciation event at a still-under-construction, 12,000-square-foot office in Bothell. Her business, with 57 employees, has outgrown its Kirkland location.

Guests were told that a Virgin Galactic representative would be on hand to answer questions. The representative turned out to be President Will Whitehorn. The Londoner said he was in town to visit Paul Allen, the Microsoft co-founder who kick-started funding for Virgin Galactic's ship with 25 million British pounds, which converts to about $52 million at present exchange rates.



Space tourism is real

Ten years ago, space tourism was considered far-fetched and sensational. But as the noise from screaming headlines died away, the entrepreneurs determined to make it reality have been quietly perfecting their spaceports and crafts. Among them is Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos, who operates Blue Origin, a secretive company with operations in Kent and in Culberson County, Texas.

Around the U.S., 16 commercial spaceports -- sort of like airports for spaceships -- are finished or planned. They will operate outside the bounds of both the Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Space tourism could generate more than $1 billion in annual revenue by 2021, the FAA says. The largest share of that revenue will come from suborbital flights, such as the ones proposed by Virgin Galactic.

So far, Vienna, Va.-based Space Adventures Ltd. is the only company that has put private citizens in space. It works with the Russian Space Agency, NASA and the International Space Station partners

"We are the only company that takes people up right now and will be, probably, I'd say, for the next four years," Chief Executive Eric Anderson said.

The most recent tourist was Charles Simonyi, who formerly led Microsoft Corp.'s Word and Excel teams. He reportedly paid about $25 million for the trip.

Other space tourism companies aren't competition for Space Adventures, Anderson said.

"I kind of consider them potential providers and partners in the future," he said. "We're not building rockets. We are an experience provider."

The FAA governs space tourism by licensing commercial rockets and issuing experimental launch permits. But it cannot guarantee that the programs being offered are safe -- people who sign up are giving informed consent, which means they are aware of the dangers, said FAA spokesman Hank Price.

Billionaire Richard Branson, chairman of Virgin Group, expects his company to be the next to put citizens in space. Up to five new tourists sign up per month, said Whitehorn, the Virgin Galactic president. Virgin already has sold nearly 200 seats, and holds $26 million in customer deposits. The first flight is planned for 2010.

News about Virgin's progress had been limited until an explosion at the Mojave Desert facility killed three technicians in July, which forced public scrutiny upon spacecraft construction.

'On the cutting edge'

Lepley, in Bothell, completed a training course at Cape Canaveral in Florida, where she learned how to sell space tours. She is marketing the trips to corporations and high-net-worth people, but no one has yet plunked down a deposit. Deposits start at $20,000.

But, she said, Seattle is full of adventuresome types and she expects a deposit in a few days. "They've done Italy, they've done the African safari, they've done Nepal," she said.

Her commission on each trip sold -- 3 percent -- is not as high as other travel sales, but her company gets name recognition, "and to be on the cutting edge and sell something for the adventurous soul," she said.

Huib van Leeuwen, 42, a Seattle engineer, is one such soul. He's already registered his interest online.

"It's something of a real fantasy, going into space," he said. His biggest concern is that the other people in the craft could ruin the experience.

He looked longingly at a model spacecraft at the Bothell party on Thursday. He hasn't yet made a deposit, he confessed, nor saved the money to go.

How long until it's his turn? "I'm talking to my wife about it."

WHICH TRIP IS THE BARGAIN?

SPACE ADVENTURES tourists pay about $25 million to spend two weeks at zero gravity, totaling 20,160 minutes.

Per-minute cost: $1,240

VIRGIN GALACTIC will charge $200,000 for its trip, which includes four minutes at zero gravity.

Per-minute cost: $50,000

INTO SPACE

Commercial human spaceflight milestones:

April 1, 2004: U.S. government issues the first launch license for a reusable launch vehicle to Scaled Composites. The company is building a spaceship for Virgin Galactic.

April 8, 2004: Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne completes the first private- sector human commercial rocket launch.

June 17, 2004: U.S. government issues the first license for an inland spaceport to Mojave, Calif.

June 21, 2004: U.S. government awards Mike Melvill the first commercial astronaut wings for his successful flight of SpaceShipOne.

Oct. 4, 2004: An international competition awards $10 million, called the XPrize, to Scaled Composites for its successful flights of SpaceShipOne. Pilot Brian Binnie receives the FAA's second set of commercial astronaut wings.

Dec. 31, 2006: FAA issues requirements for crew and passengers involved in private space travel.

April 6, 2007: FAA completes guidelines for obtaining experimental launch permits.

Source: Federal Aviation Administration

Friday, December 7, 2007

G.A.P Adventures takes travellers to the edge of space

After years of providing travellers with the most exciting, innovative adventures in the world, G.A.P Adventures is now helping people experience our planet’s last frontier—space. With the launch of these three new Space Experiences, G.A.P Adventures can now cater to those travellers whose wanderlust extends beyond this world.

“Making new and thrilling travel experiences available to people has driven G.A.P Adventures to every corner of the globe,” said G.A.P Adventures CEO Bruce Poon Tip. “I am proud that we now also cater to travellers who not only look up into the night’s sky with open eyed curiosity, but want to experience it first-hand. For G.A.P Adventures it was never a question of if we could provide our travellers with the experience of undertaking space travel, but when.”

G.A.P Adventures new Space Experiences include:

Russia Space Adventure – The Edge of Earth: Would be astronauts no longer require a degree in astrophysics or a million dollar bank account to be able to view the earth’s curve from 60,000 ft with G.A.P Adventures new Russia Space Adventure. Travellers will be taken to the upper reaches of earth’s atmosphere in a MIG-31 Jet Fighter to experience the edge of space itself.

When their feet finally touch the ground, travellers on this adventure will be able to explore remnants of the vast aviation history that placed the then Soviet Union on the world map. The Monino Air Museum, just outside of Moscow, houses some of the oldest aircrafts in the former Soviet Republic. This three-day trip concludes with a chance for travellers to immerse themselves in the many sights of fascinating Moscow, with the third day acting as a back-up flight day in case of poor weather conditions.

Zero Gravity Adventure: G.A.P Adventures has a tour that allows travellers to experience zero gravity first-hand. After exploring Moscow, tour members will be transported to the Chkailovsky Air Base, located just outside of Moscow. After one day of cosmonaut training, they will fly 34,000ft into the atmosphere to experience zero gravity. Once the proper altitude is reached of this remarkable flight, weightlessness takes control and the travellers will feel as though they were in space itself.

Cosmonaut for a Day: If you don’t want to fly to 60,000 ft but would still like to experience life as a cosmonaut, then G.A.P Adventures has the ideal tour. The five-day “cosmonaut training package” provides the opportunity to train like a real Russian cosmonaut, from eating space food to experiencing space simulators. Also included is an opportunity to explore the immense aviation history of Russia and the many tourist attractions of Moscow. This unique tour allows travellers to experience what is required for life in space, without having to leave earth.

G.A.P Adventures has committed itself to providing the public with unique and accessible travel experiences. The three new Space Experiences will take travellers closer to space than ever before. For more information visit Gapadventures.com.

Monday, December 3, 2007

Space cadets taken in by TV hoax


Three contestants have spoken of their disbelief after being fooled into thinking they went into space for the UK reality show Space Cadets.

The three believed they had blasted off from a cosmonaut training camp in Russia, but were in fact in a fake spaceship in a warehouse in Suffolk.

They cheered up when told they had each won £25,000 ($44,300).

But one contestant, teaching assistant Keri Hasset from Birmingham, said she was "heartbroken" by the prank.

Fake ceremony

"When I thought we were coming back to Earth I was planning my speech. I was going to say it had been my childhood dream. Now I'm a little bit heartbroken," she said.

Ms Hasset, plasterer Paul French, 26 from Bristol, and footballer/recruitment consultant Billy Jackson, 25, from Kent, had suspicions they were being tricked when they had to hold a ceremony for a celebrity Russian dog called Mr Bimby on the spaceship.

"This is a spacecraft but it feels like a caravan," Paul told his fellow astronauts.

"And if we were going to space and they were weighing us for our health, they wouldn't use scales like you get at home, would they?"

On discovering the show was a fake, Billy told Channel 4: "My mum and dad are gonna love this.

"This is the biggest wind-up ever. This is wicked."

"Aw man," said Paul. "We're not astronauts. We're just asses."

The show, presented by Johnny Vaughan, built a full-scale replica of a Russian space training camp in a disused hangar near Ipswich.

The ten original contestants had been whittled down to three over the course of two weeks, with the winners believing they were becoming Britain's first space tourists.

Channel 4 invested millions in the hoax but viewing figures slipped during the series.
Source

Friday, November 23, 2007

Space program co-ops and Astronaut Farmer



Spaceflight started out in the realm of the hobbyist. Then it entered the realm of the government. In 2004, SpaceShipOne proved by example that a person could have a space program. In 2007, Space Shot pointed the way for a person of Charles Farmer’s means to take a spaceflight with the launch of freespaceshot.com. Let’s review the space age from the personal perspective, then see where it’s headed.
Emergence to emergency

Science in the 19th century was not yet a scientific military industrial complex. Rocketry for human spaceflight started out as a club activity on the fringe. During the early years, the space hobbyist could do the following:
Further research and experimentation in rocketry
Join a rocketry club

Rockets had been used as weapons for hundreds of years, but in World War 2 rockets became fashionable. With the advent of nuclear weapons, rockets became important strategic weapons. Human spaceflight was not yet big business.

When Sputnik circled the Earth, the United States populace awoke to the feasibility of artificial satellites and the fear of foreign domination of space. This fear fueled the Space Race culminating in a series of Lunar flights.
During these heady years, individuals could apply to be astronauts and the engineers to build the rockets. But spaceflight was beyond even the wealthiest individuals. No one could buy V-2 missiles at the scrap yard the way they could a DC-3. Rocketry was a national obsession and the government marshaled all national resources to force the pace of rocket development.

During these years, the space hobbyist could do the following:
Build a small rocket
Join a space advocacy group
Read or write science fiction
Join the national effort to explore and conquer space

The space hobbyists were largely nationalized to become the new cadre of military and civilian government space programs.

Even after the national emergency ended with the end of the Space Race, there was still little new that the individual could do even as the national effort to explore and conquer space wound down.

This is how Charles Farmer in The Astronaut Farmer got involved. He was going to be an astronaut for the government.
The personal space program and the startup space program

With the Ansari X Prize, Peter Diamandis gave Paul Allen the impetus to go out and build his own personal space program. For tens of millions of dollars, a person could achieve what the government did with its X-15 program that cost hundreds of millions of dollars nearly fifty years ago or about $1.5 billion in current dollars. This opened up the possibility of having a space program to Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson. Others similarly situated, such as Bob Bigelow and Elon Musk, were making progress on their personal space programs.
With the award of hundreds of millions of dollars in government money to Musk’s SpaceX for his rocket and for Branson’s spaceport, the validation of the age of the personal space program is underway. It won’t be for lack of government support that these space programs fail, but it might be due to too much support; they may get co-opted and lose their personal flavor.

Even as rich people with tens or hundreds of millions of dollars to burn started hiring engineers by the score, the garage startup personal space program is gaining ground. XCOR Aerospace is making steady progress toward its first spacecraft.

These new opportunities became available to the space enthusiast:
Go to work for a company that expects to fly all of its employees into space
Earn sweat equity by working for a space startup
Invest in a company if you are a qualified investor (roughly $250,000/year family income or $1 million in assets)

This is where I joined. But even if there are two million families with $250,000/year income, that still leaves 98 percent of the United States without a way to invest without becoming an employee of a space firm.

Could an atypical farmer take a lifetime of effort and farm wages and spend them on an orbital rocket ride? It may be fiction today, but it is only a few years away from being fact. Forty years working full time earning about the average wage of $12.50 an hour earns $1 million. It is only a matter of time before private industry finds a way to provide an orbital flight for $1 million now that orbital flights for over $10 million on the Russian Soyuz are sold out. Kistler K-1 may be able to fly 4,500 kg to low Earth orbit, which is enough for a pair of two-person Gemini re-entry modules, for $17 million. That would be about $4.25 million per person in launch costs if a charter can be had for four people for $17 million. That might be half of the total costs because one still has to build the crew compartment; the launch vehicle is only part of the costs.

Call it next decade, December 31, 2019, when someone saving a lifetime’s earnings at the average wage will be enough to afford an orbital spaceflight. That amount of money will probably be up to $1.5 million by then, or $3 million if you are working two jobs like Charles Farmer did in the movie.
Cooperative space program

Now for the first time, anyone can be like Charles Farmer and invest a little time, and in return earn a small opportunity to get into orbit. You don’t need to dedicate your life or a big chunk of riches to directly seek space flight. Instead of spending millions of dollars of time to earn a spaceflight, spend a few minutes at a time and earn an opportunity to win a multi-million dollar spaceflight worth a few dollars.
FreeSpaceShot.com has a tournament to win an orbital spaceflight on the Kistler K-1 with billions of entries. Playing takes a couple of minutes and builds a few cents of advertising revenue toward a spaceflight. Less than one thousand people playing at night for forty years could together produce a winner of one seat at today’s $20 million Soyuz flight price tag (plus tax). We already have 2,000 players and rising and spaceflight prices are falling. I expect the players will not have to wait as long to see an orbital flight winner as the twenty years Barbara Morgan has been waiting for her government flight.

In a generation as spaceflight prices go down and income goes up, we might see an orbital flight raffled for a fund raiser the way that trips to Hawaii were raffled a generation ago: tens of thousand tickets at $100 each, with the bulk of the money going to the sponsoring organization.

Thus, we return to the club roots of space programs after a seventy-year long hiatus. This time, the prize is a trip to orbit or beyond. Strive to be an astronaut like Charles Farmer whenever you want.
by Sam Dinkin

Space program co-ops and Astronaut Farmer

by Sam Dinkin
Monday, March 5, 2007

Spaceflight started out in the realm of the hobbyist. Then it entered the realm of the government. In 2004, SpaceShipOne proved by example that a person could have a space program. In 2007, Space Shot pointed the way for a person of Charles Farmer’s means to take a spaceflight with the launch of freespaceshot.com. Let’s review the space age from the personal perspective, then see where it’s headed.
Emergence to emergency

Science in the 19th century was not yet a scientific military industrial complex. Rocketry for human spaceflight started out as a club activity on the fringe. During the early years, the space hobbyist could do the following:
Further research and experimentation in rocketry
Join a rocketry club

Rockets had been used as weapons for hundreds of years, but in World War 2 rockets became fashionable. With the advent of nuclear weapons, rockets became important strategic weapons. Human spaceflight was not yet big business.

When Sputnik circled the Earth, the United States populace awoke to the feasibility of artificial satellites and the fear of foreign domination of space. This fear fueled the Space Race culminating in a series of Lunar flights.
During these heady years, individuals could apply to be astronauts and the engineers to build the rockets. But spaceflight was beyond even the wealthiest individuals. No one could buy V-2 missiles at the scrap yard the way they could a DC-3. Rocketry was a national obsession and the government marshaled all national resources to force the pace of rocket development.

During these years, the space hobbyist could do the following:
Build a small rocket
Join a space advocacy group
Read or write science fiction
Join the national effort to explore and conquer space

The space hobbyists were largely nationalized to become the new cadre of military and civilian government space programs.

Even after the national emergency ended with the end of the Space Race, there was still little new that the individual could do even as the national effort to explore and conquer space wound down.

This is how Charles Farmer in The Astronaut Farmer got involved. He was going to be an astronaut for the government.
The personal space program and the startup space program

With the Ansari X Prize, Peter Diamandis gave Paul Allen the impetus to go out and build his own personal space program. For tens of millions of dollars, a person could achieve what the government did with its X-15 program that cost hundreds of millions of dollars nearly fifty years ago or about $1.5 billion in current dollars. This opened up the possibility of having a space program to Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson. Others similarly situated, such as Bob Bigelow and Elon Musk, were making progress on their personal space programs.
With the award of hundreds of millions of dollars in government money to Musk’s SpaceX for his rocket and for Branson’s spaceport, the validation of the age of the personal space program is underway. It won’t be for lack of government support that these space programs fail, but it might be due to too much support; they may get co-opted and lose their personal flavor.

Even as rich people with tens or hundreds of millions of dollars to burn started hiring engineers by the score, the garage startup personal space program is gaining ground. XCOR Aerospace is making steady progress toward its first spacecraft.

These new opportunities became available to the space enthusiast:
Go to work for a company that expects to fly all of its employees into space
Earn sweat equity by working for a space startup
Invest in a company if you are a qualified investor (roughly $250,000/year family income or $1 million in assets)

This is where I joined. But even if there are two million families with $250,000/year income, that still leaves 98 percent of the United States without a way to invest without becoming an employee of a space firm.

Could an atypical farmer take a lifetime of effort and farm wages and spend them on an orbital rocket ride? It may be fiction today, but it is only a few years away from being fact. Forty years working full time earning about the average wage of $12.50 an hour earns $1 million. It is only a matter of time before private industry finds a way to provide an orbital flight for $1 million now that orbital flights for over $10 million on the Russian Soyuz are sold out. Kistler K-1 may be able to fly 4,500 kg to low Earth orbit, which is enough for a pair of two-person Gemini re-entry modules, for $17 million. That would be about $4.25 million per person in launch costs if a charter can be had for four people for $17 million. That might be half of the total costs because one still has to build the crew compartment; the launch vehicle is only part of the costs.

Call it next decade, December 31, 2019, when someone saving a lifetime’s earnings at the average wage will be enough to afford an orbital spaceflight. That amount of money will probably be up to $1.5 million by then, or $3 million if you are working two jobs like Charles Farmer did in the movie.
Cooperative space program

Now for the first time, anyone can be like Charles Farmer and invest a little time, and in return earn a small opportunity to get into orbit. You don’t need to dedicate your life or a big chunk of riches to directly seek space flight. Instead of spending millions of dollars of time to earn a spaceflight, spend a few minutes at a time and earn an opportunity to win a multi-million dollar spaceflight worth a few dollars.
FreeSpaceShot.com has a tournament to win an orbital spaceflight on the Kistler K-1 with billions of entries. Playing takes a couple of minutes and builds a few cents of advertising revenue toward a spaceflight. Less than one thousand people playing at night for forty years could together produce a winner of one seat at today’s $20 million Soyuz flight price tag (plus tax). We already have 2,000 players and rising and spaceflight prices are falling. I expect the players will not have to wait as long to see an orbital flight winner as the twenty years Barbara Morgan has been waiting for her government flight.

In a generation as spaceflight prices go down and income goes up, we might see an orbital flight raffled for a fund raiser the way that trips to Hawaii were raffled a generation ago: tens of thousand tickets at $100 each, with the bulk of the money going to the sponsoring organization.

Thus, we return to the club roots of space programs after a seventy-year long hiatus. This time, the prize is a trip to orbit or beyond. Strive to be an astronaut like Charles Farmer whenever you want.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Space tourist talks about great trip

Students told how Anousheh Ansari fulfilled her dream



By WHITNEY ALLEN
Times Staff Writer whitneydallen@hotmail.com

As a girl, Anousheh Ansari had always dreamed of going to space, but females growing up in Iran don't usually get encouragement for such dreams.

So, she moved to the United States when she was 16, earned advanced degrees in engineering and started an Internet company, Telecom Technologies, that she and her husband sold for $750 million. Last year, she spent $20 million of her self-made fortune to buy a ride to the International Space Station aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket.

"I always wanted to be an astronaut, but everyone always told me that it would never happen," said Ansari, who spoke to Bob Jones High School students Thursday during a schoolwide assembly.
Students sat on the edge of their seats while she explained the intense training she endured to prepare for her trip to space.

"I had to learn Russian," said Ansari, 41. "I trained in Moscow during one of the coldest winters in history.

"It took two days to reach the space station and I spent the first six hours of the trip with my knees pulled up to my chest."

Even before her trip to space, Ansari was a major proponent of space innovation. Her family's name is attached to the Ansari X-Prize, a $10 million prize awarded in 2004 to entrepreneur Burt Rutan for his SpaceShipOne, the first commercial space vehicle to crack the atmosphere.

Tim Pickens, president of Orion Propulsion in Huntsville, worked on the team that built SpaceShipOne. Pickens and his wife, Melanie, a chemistry teacher at Bob Jones, were among those responsible for bringing Ansari to Madison to speak to the students.

After she spoke, the students asked Ansari questions about her trip to space. One of her favorite experiences, she said, was eating M&Ms while floating weightless.

One student asked, "Do you believe in aliens and extraterrestrial beings?"

Ansari quickly answered, "I sure do. The universe is so huge, it is hard to believe that we are the only beings in the entire universe.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Watch this space!

Dutch radio station offers space flight as prize


by Thijs Westerbeek


Dutch commercial radio station Q-music is trying to further raise its profile, and its market share, with a remarkable promotional activity. Listeners can submit their names, and every hour three names are mentioned on the air. The first person to call back after hearing his or her name stands a chance of winning a very special prize.

The prize consists of a so-called 'suborbital' flight, where a small, space shuttle type of aircraft will be launched on the back of a bigger plane. Although the Space Shuttle Explorer will go higher than 100 kilometres for only a few minutes, it will indeed be a real space flight. According to the renowned Dutch aerospace journalist Govert Schilling, it will be an experience the winner will never forget for the rest of his or her life.

"You will reach an altitude of over 100 kilometres, which is far beyond the atmosphere. You will see the blackness of the universe and you will see the Earth as a beautiful blue planet from the outside. However, it will only be for a short time, and a few minutes later you will be landing on the runway, like a plane."

Harmful exhaust fumes
It will be an exciting trip, but it will have a harmful effect on the atmosphere, says Peter van Vliet. He's the president of iNS, a foundation that promotes sustainability; he is also the editor-in-chief of a Dutch-language news site on sustainability. He says the higher aerial strata in the atmosphere are especially vulnerable.
"Those higher aerial strata are extremely thin. The exhaust fumes emitted at that level cause much more damage than the same amount of exhaust fumes would do on lower aerial strata."

Van Vliet holds the view that space tourism is unacceptable at a time when there is so much attention on air pollution and climate change. He says it will be even more unacceptable if such commercial space flights happen more frequently in the future.
"It's a classic case of something you just can't do anymore, in this day and age. Just look at the fuel that is burned up, and the emissions an adventure like that will produce, and compare it with those five minutes of fun for six passengers. What's more, if you think of your direct contribution to the decay of the higher aerial strata, I have serious doubts about the whole thing."
Drawing board
It remains to be seen if the lucky Q-music listener really will embark on a journey into space. In fact, the spaceship only exists on the drawing board at the moment, and the launch sites in the United Arab Emirates and Singapore still have to be built as well.

The website of 'Space Adventures', the American company that is supposed to carry our the space flights, is keeping silent about when all of these plans are going to be realised. It will take years before they're able to stage a space flight, if at all. The winner of the contest will be announced on Saturday 22 September at a special event in the aviation and space travel museum Aviodome in Lelystad, the Netherlands.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

OPINION: Space 'Adventurers' Paving The Way For the Rest of Us


Ready for blast off! Cue the music ... For days now, I've been hearing the poignant song, "Imagine" by John Lennon in my head every time I hear, read, or even think about Anousheh Ansari's flight to the International Space Station. While reading her blog today, I learned that the hauntingly beautiful song is actually one of her favorites. That's not really a surprise however; most of us space-lovers know the relevance of that song to our cause.



As the author of the book, "Women Astronauts," I really wanted to write something to commemorate the flight of the first female space tourist, but I can't! She's nowhere in sight because her flight hasn't been booked yet. Ansari, who is set to blast off into space in less than twelve hours from this writing, is not what I would call a tourist. The self-described "space ambassador" is better described as a "space adventurer!"



Think of it this way, your typical tourist doesn't spend six months away from family and friends in intensive training and study in a foreign country. Adventurers, on the other hand, do spend months training to climb Mount Everest, or dive to the bottom of the ocean, or to fly into space. That takes extreme dedication to accomplish your own personal dream. "Tourists" on the other hand, plunk down a credit card, buy some appropriate duds, and go on a trip.



Ansari joins the other space adventurers. These are independently paying space travel customers; Dennis Tito, Mark Shuttleworth, and Greg Olson, who've paid their own way into space. Ansari is the first female space adventurer to pay her own way. So what? It doesn't really matter what gender she is, her passion is what drives her. Besides, her flight really isn't that different from British space adventurer Helen Sharman. The Russians also flew Sharman into space back in 1991, but her flight was (partly) funded by a corporate contest.



What makes Ansari's flight special? It's not because she's the first woman to pay her own way into space. It's because of her efforts and dedication to making space accessible to everyone. Personally, I'm impressed with her because she has had the dream of spaceflight since she was a kid, saw an opportunity, and worked to make it happen. Like me, and maybe you too, she was born with an extreme passion for space exploration and desire to travel into space. Unlike most of us, she's actually making her dream happen. And with her support for space tourism causes, like the X-Prize, she's helping to make that dream happen for you, me, and others too.



I admit that I'm a bit jealous because she gets to see the Earth and stars from space and experience weightlessness. But, I'm also happy for her. And I think she's bringing hope to all of us that dream of flying into space and seeing our beautiful planet Earth as one.



So, while these guys and gals are not what I would call "space tourists," they are space adventurers. They are pioneers blazing the way into space for all of us. And someday, when the first real space tourists actually fly into space, that will mean that anyone who's got the money will be able to experience space at any time. Imagine being able to just book your flight and go into space for a ten-day vacation!


When will we have real space tourism; the kind where you can put your money down and just go? When will we have easy and safe access to space? When will the openings for space adventurers allow dozens or hundreds of people per year to experience space? We must work together with private industry to make it happen. We need to demand our space. We must make our politicians understand that they must work to remove roadblocks to private industry's access to space. And we must get as many people interested in space exploration as possible. That part is straightforward however; all we need to do is share with them our vision of the future.



Space tourism can help to make Earth a better place in the same way that international travel does. Travel expands our view of the world. It makes us realize how much we have in common with people who live differently than we do. It makes us see what we have in common. Many astronauts and cosmonauts come back with profoundly different views of the world after seeing it from space, the way it really is - without borders.



The true power of space "adventurism" or "tourism" is that it can bring home that perspective of the Earth as one, no separation because of borders, politics, ethnicity, religion, or anything else. Again from the immortal words of John Lennon, "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us. And the world will be as one." And music out...



Laura S. Woodmansee (www.woodmansee.com) is a science journalist and JPL Solar System Ambassador. She is the author of three space books; Women Astronauts, Women of Space: Cool Careers on the Final Frontier, and most recently, Sex in Space. She can be contacted via her web site at www.woodmansee.com.
By Laura S. Woodmansee

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Sales Strong for First Seats Aboard Virgin Galactic's Spaceliner


GOLDEN, Colo. -- After witnessing the initial surge of public interest in suborbital space tourism that followed the successful flight of the X Prize-winning SpaceShipOne three years ago, officials at Virgin Galactic thought the pace of paid reservations might slow down in 2007 — particularly since SpaceShipTwo is not slated to launch before late 2009 at the earliest.

They needn't have worried.

"In the last quarter, we have doubled the number of bookings taken on the same time last year," said Carolyn Wincer, head of Astronaut Sales for Virgin Galactic. Wincer told SPACE.com the company had thought that interest might drop for a while until the new spaceship was rolled out.

"However, this is not the case at all," she said. "As word gets around that you can make a reservation now, people are keen to secure a place. Even better, uptake is in line with our 'best case scenario' from our original business plan ... meaning that the price point and estimates of interest that we projected ourselves, and based on market research, are so far proving to be correct."

So in the big picture, Wincer says the strong public interest is "good news for all space enthusiasts and for the industry as a whole!"

Initially, Virgin Galactic space flights will operate from the Mojave Spaceport in Mojave, California – home of Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites, the company that built SpaceShipOne and where SpaceShipTwo is now coming together.

The Spaceship Company, a joint venture announced in July 2005 between Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites, has contracted Scaled Composites to design and build SpaceShipTwo and the carrier mothership WhiteKnight Two.

SpaceShipTwo is being designed to accommodate six passengers. It is scheduled to be unveiled before the end of 2007 and will be named Virgin SpaceShip (VSS) Enterprise.

Virgin Galactic will own and operate at least five of the new spaceships and two motherships. The spaceline operator has established a set payment of $200,000 per seat, with a minimum refundable deposit of $20,000 to make a reservation.

Wincer said 200 customers from 30 different countries have already made deposits to confirm their reservations.

Space Sales Force

Fresh statistics from Wincer show some interesting trends.

The country that is home to the largest number of ticket buyers is the United States, followed by the United Kingdom, Japan, Russia, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Spain, and Ireland. In terms of the proportion of Virgin Galactic customers per capita, the top three countries are New Zealand, Ireland and Denmark.

Of the customers who have signed up so far, 15 percent are female, Wincer's statistics show. Ten percent of total customers booked through a travel agent, but 30 percent of the bookings have been received via Virgin Galactic "Accredited Space Agents" — an initiative launched in January of this year, she said. Accredited Space Agents are registered travel agents who have been specially selected and fully trained on all aspects of the Virgin Galactic offering.

As for Accredited Space Agents (ASAs) around the world, the numbers are as follows:
Australia has nine travel agencies and about 30 travel consultants.
New Zealand has one national chain with 10 consultants.
Japan has one agency with five consultants.
The United States has 47 consultants from about 45 agencies, all of these are members of Virtuoso, a leading leisure travel network.
Canada has six consultants from four agencies (who will be trained next week in Vancouver and are all Virtuoso members).
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has one agency with about 12 consultants.
Then add one agency and two to three consultants from each of the following who are all being trained this week at the International Space University: Austria, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, the United Kingdom, Russia, Israel, and the Czech Republic.

"I mention the number of consultants as they are the ones who actually become 'ASAs' after they undergo our one day training program covering technology, customer experience, g-forces, medical issues, sales, marketing and public relations," Wincer said. "By doing a quick tally, by the time we finish the training in Vancouver, we should have around 100 ASA consultants worldwide from around 82 agencies in 17 countries."

Takeoff to touchdown

What you get for your $200,000 includes three days of pre-flight preparation, bonding and training onsite at the spaceport.

The big day arrives with departure of the White Knight Two that cradles SpaceShipTwo, hauling the vehicle and passengers to 50,000 feet (15,240 meters) in altitude for release.

Space travelers will then be rocketed to around 360,000 feet (109,728 meters) in altitude, some 68 miles (109 kilometers) high, with "fee-floating" passengers experiencing 4 to 5 minutes of microgravity. Faces pressed against large windows, customers get an on-high view of more than 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) in any direction. As for the length of time for SpaceShipTwo to glide to a terra firma touchdown, that takes some 30 minutes. The suborbital journey ends with SpaceShipTwo gliding to a runway landing.

All-in-all, the suborbital sojourn — from takeoff to touchdown — takes approximately 2.5 hours.

In the United States, those who travel above an altitude of 50 miles (80 kilometers) are designated as astronauts.

The Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI), the world air sports federation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, defines spaceflight as over 62 miles (100 kilometers). Virgin Galactic passengers will receive Virgin Galactic astronaut wings and may receive Federal Aviation Administration astronaut wings as well.

Spaceport America

While initial spaceline operations will take place at the Mojave Spaceport, Virgin Galactic is to establish its headquarters and operate space flights from Spaceport America, now under construction in New Mexico and billed as the world's first "purpose built" commercial spaceport.

Momentum is picking up in readying Spaceport America for operations – but first the paperwork.

The New Mexico Spaceport Authority anticipates official filing of its license application later this year to the Federal Aviation Administration.

"We expect to receive the Record of Decision on the Environmental Impact Statement and the approval of the license application in early 2008, and we plan to break ground shortly after that," said Rick Homans, Executive Director of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority.

"Bottom line...we remain on schedule to be operational by late 2009 or early 2010," Homans told SPACE.com.

Video here

Friday, November 2, 2007

Q&A: Astronaut's Son Takes New Route to Space

Oct. 16, 2007 — Who could blame Richard Garriott? He grew up in Houston, surrounded by astronauts, including his dad Owen. He wasn't particularly turned on by math and science, but he did have a sharp eye for engineering — computer games that is.

By the time he was in high school, he was earning more than his astronaut dad. He tried college, but as the game business grew, his grades flagged until finally he dropped out.

Garriott, 46, is ready now to make a daring play in a game that's been building for 10 years. Unlike the quests in his medieval/fantasy series Ultima, the new gig is for real. Garriott is going to space like dear ole' dad, but he's doing it the new-fashioned way: by making out a check for $30 million.
arriott spoke with Discovery News about why he wants to leave the planet, what it was like growing up as an astronaut's son, and who is the real inspiration behind his adventures.

Irene Klotz, Discovery News: What is it about flying in space that appeals to you?

Richard Garriott: I think everyone has the fantasy or the desire to travel in space. I grew up in an environment where not only was my dad actually going to space, both of my next-door neighbors were astronauts, the guy behind me over the fence was an astronaut — basically the whole neighborhood was either astronauts or engineers in support of NASA...I kind of assumed that someday we would all be going to space.
Read here

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Moon 2.0 - Your Chance to Ride Along


As you may have noticed in the videos and posters you can find on the the Google Lunar X PRIZE website, we are referring to this competition and the missions spurred by the prize as Moon 2.0. This is also a theme that's been used, to a limited sense, in talking about the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge. While I was in India, I had a few people come up to me and ask me about this particular phrase,

Partly, of course, the Moon 2.0 theme references the fact that we hope the Google Lunar X PRIZE will kick off a second era of extensive lunar exploration, similar to the era of Lunar Orbiters, Rangers, Surveyors, Lunas, Lunokhods Zond, and Apollo missions. That rationale for the Moon 2.0 theme is apparent, but there's another reason that perhaps isn't as obvious--or maybe just doesn't translate as easily across generational or language gaps.

These days, a lot of the talk about the Internet--at least among my peers here in the USA--is about Web 2.0. This isn't a new internet protocol or a separate network (like Internet2). Instead, Web 2.0 represents a new way of thinking about the internet. If Web 1.0 was about portals and "push" technology--content produced by a central body and served up for the public--Web 2.0 is about public participation, sharing, and, increasingly often, user generated content. If Web 1.0 was a unprecedented and useful window to an enormous library, Web 2.0 is a new sort of town hall, where all users can participate.

We believe that the second era of lunar exploration will have an incredibly important aspect of public participation, and in a way fundamentally different than the first such era. Moon 1.0, to be sure--especially the Apollo mission--captured the public imagination to an extent rarely seen in any endeavor, regardless of the industry. But the members of the public were, for the most part, passive observers in the program, watching the events unfold from home.

This time around, it will be much more common for ordinary citizens from all around the world to actually play a role in the competition. Not only can any person from any country take part by forming or joining a team, but they will also be able to virtually 'ride along' with the lunar probes in new kind of way. I expect that each of our Google Lunar X PRIZE teams will find a new and unique way to do this, but the X PRIZE Foundation has already launched one: the Lunar Legacy program.

As part of the requirements for the Google Lunar X PRIZE, each team will be required to carry a small amount of payload provided by the X PRIZE Foundation to the surface of the Moon. Part of that payload space (and, more importantly, mass) will be used to carry a memory device that carries photos and messages provided by members of the viewing public through this program. Much as Apollo Astronaut Charlie Duke left a photograph of his family on the lunar surface as a symbol or inspiration and a lasting legacy of mankind's first voyages to the Moon, this program will allow anyone to send, for example, a photo of a loved one, to express their support or any other message. At the announcement of the Google Lunar X PRIZE, we took literally hundreds of photos of students, families, and enthusiasts to be included in part of this program. Then, we opened it up to allow anyone to participate.


Every once in a while, we'll spotlight a particularly interesting entry in the Lunar Legacy gallery. Today, I'd like to point you to a particularly poignant one. It would be hard for me to express it any more eloquently than the poster did herself, so if I may quote:

Robert P. (Bob) Verdier was a Boeing test conductor during the Apollo years. On July 16, 1969, he wrote and posted letters to each of his children. When they arrived a few days later in the mail, he said we could open them right away or put them in a safe place for future reading. I gave mine back to him to keep for me. After he died, my mom had boxes of his work life she wanted us to have. In amongst the old Saturn V firing manuals, badges and flightline passes, was his unopened letter to me.

.

Her father ends the letter by imploring the next generation to "use it wisely"--to treasure the ability to reach out to our celestial neighbors. With Moon 2.0, finally--finally--my generation, not yet born during Moon 1.0, gets a chance to do just that.

Update: Funnily, just as I posted this, comedian Stephen Colbert is interviewing Apollo astronaut Jim Lovell on his television show, The Colbert Report. At the beginning of a pretty entertaining (and very complementary, for Colbert) interview, Colbert said, talking about his childhood fascination with the Apollo program and the people who made that possible: "my childhood was better than my children's childhood, because I had these heroes to look up to." I'm hopeful that Moon 2.0 can change that!

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Space Adventures Announces 1st Second Generation Astronaut

Space Adventures, Ltd., the world’s leading space experiences company, announced today that famed game developer Richard Garriott, son of former NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, has begun preparations for a “commercially active” mission to the International Space Station (ISS).


Mr. Garriott’s spaceflight, currently planned for October 2008, will be the first in a series of missions that will accommodate commercial activity aboard the ISS. Involvement from the private sector can include scientific and environmental research and educational outreach programming.


“It has always been Space Adventures’ goal to open the space frontier. Now, with Richard’s flight, we have designed a series of missions devoted to increase commercial involvement in manned space missions,” said Eric Anderson, president and CEO of Space Adventures. “It is a very rare occasion when so many commercial opportunities are available in one space mission. We encourage interested parties to contact us.”


Space Adventures made history in 2001 by organizing the mission of the first private space explorer. Now, the company continues to bring innovation to manned space flight by enabling corporate and non-profit entities to participate in commercial endeavors on the planet’s only orbiting outpost.


“I am dedicating my spaceflight to science,” said Mr. Garriott. “It is my goal to devote a significant amount of my time aboard the space station to science, engineering and educational projects. I understand the necessity for conducting research in extreme environments whether it is collecting microorganisms from deep sea hydrothermal vents to carrying out experiments in the continuous micro-gravity of Earth orbit.” He continued, “We need to be adventurous in mind and stimulate our intellects to answer today’s most daunting scientific questions and to invent tomorrow’s technological marvels.”


The first commercial research partner involved in Mr. Garriott’s mission is ExtremoZyme, Inc., a biotechnology company co-founded by Owen Garriott. The company plans to conduct protein crystallization experiments in space with proteins that have important cellular functions and are usually associated with common human diseases. Having access to these superior crystals will enable researchers to learn more about the molecular details of these proteins which is essential for protein engineering and structure-guided drug design.


“Because of my career, it was almost natural for Richard to be interested in space and exploration. I am so pleased that he is able to embrace this himself and that he is dedicating his flight to research. I am very proud of him,” said Owen Garriott, Mr. Garriott’s father and former NASA astronaut (Skylab II/SL-3, STS-9/Spacelab-1).


Interested parties, including commercial and non-profit entities and space enthusiasts, can get involved in Mr. Garriott’s spaceflight via his web site (www.richardinspace.com). Mr. Garriott will be updating the site continuously via photos, blog entries and individuals can submit questions and suggestions for his mission activities. “I want to involve as many people as possible in my mission,” said Mr. Garriott.

About Richard Garriott:

Richard Garriott is best known as a key figure in the computer gaming field. He was one of the earliest and most successful game developers. Mr. Garriott developed the Ultima series which remains the longest running computer game franchise, and with his brother, Robert, he founded Origin Systems, one of the most respected PC game developers and publishers. Richard also created Ultima Online, which ushered in the new massively multi-player online (MMO) genre, the fastest growing segment in computer gaming today. More recently, he co-founded the North American arm of NCsoft, the world’s largest online game developer and publisher. In October, his latest game, Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa, will ship in North America and in the European Union. For more information, please visit www.rgtr.com.


About Space Adventures:

Space Adventures, the company that organized the flights for the world’s first private space explorers: Dennis Tito, Mark Shuttleworth, Greg Olsen, Anousheh Ansari and Charles Simonyi, is headquartered in Vienna, Va. with an office in Moscow. It offers a variety of programs such as the availability today for spaceflight missions to the International Space Station and around the moon, Zero-Gravity flights, cosmonaut training, spaceflight qualification programs and reservations on future suborbital spacecrafts. The company's advisory board includes Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, Shuttle astronauts Sam Durrance, Tom Jones, Byron Lichtenberg, Norm Thagard, Kathy Thornton, Pierre Thuot, Charles Walker, Skylab/Shuttle astronaut Owen Garriott and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Usachev.

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Space Adventures Announces 1st Second Generation Astronaut

First private spaceflight open to commercial involvement in mission activities.
September 28 2007


Space Adventures, Ltd., the world’s leading space experiences company, announced today that famed game developer Richard Garriott, son of former NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, has begun preparations for a “commercially active” mission to the International Space Station (ISS).


Mr. Garriott’s spaceflight, currently planned for October 2008, will be the first in a series of missions that will accommodate commercial activity aboard the ISS. Involvement from the private sector can include scientific and environmental research and educational outreach programming.


“It has always been Space Adventures’ goal to open the space frontier. Now, with Richard’s flight, we have designed a series of missions devoted to increase commercial involvement in manned space missions,” said Eric Anderson, president and CEO of Space Adventures. “It is a very rare occasion when so many commercial opportunities are available in one space mission. We encourage interested parties to contact us.”


Space Adventures made history in 2001 by organizing the mission of the first private space explorer. Now, the company continues to bring innovation to manned space flight by enabling corporate and non-profit entities to participate in commercial endeavors on the planet’s only orbiting outpost.


“I am dedicating my spaceflight to science,” said Mr. Garriott. “It is my goal to devote a significant amount of my time aboard the space station to science, engineering and educational projects. I understand the necessity for conducting research in extreme environments whether it is collecting microorganisms from deep sea hydrothermal vents to carrying out experiments in the continuous micro-gravity of Earth orbit.” He continued, “We need to be adventurous in mind and stimulate our intellects to answer today’s most daunting scientific questions and to invent tomorrow’s technological marvels.”


The first commercial research partner involved in Mr. Garriott’s mission is ExtremoZyme, Inc., a biotechnology company co-founded by Owen Garriott. The company plans to conduct protein crystallization experiments in space with proteins that have important cellular functions and are usually associated with common human diseases. Having access to these superior crystals will enable researchers to learn more about the molecular details of these proteins which is essential for protein engineering and structure-guided drug design.


“Because of my career, it was almost natural for Richard to be interested in space and exploration. I am so pleased that he is able to embrace this himself and that he is dedicating his flight to research. I am very proud of him,” said Owen Garriott, Mr. Garriott’s father and former NASA astronaut (Skylab II/SL-3, STS-9/Spacelab-1).


Interested parties, including commercial and non-profit entities and space enthusiasts, can get involved in Mr. Garriott’s spaceflight via his web site (www.richardinspace.com). Mr. Garriott will be updating the site continuously via photos, blog entries and individuals can submit questions and suggestions for his mission activities. “I want to involve as many people as possible in my mission,” said Mr. Garriott.

About Richard Garriott:

Richard Garriott is best known as a key figure in the computer gaming field. He was one of the earliest and most successful game developers. Mr. Garriott developed the Ultima series which remains the longest running computer game franchise, and with his brother, Robert, he founded Origin Systems, one of the most respected PC game developers and publishers. Richard also created Ultima Online, which ushered in the new massively multi-player online (MMO) genre, the fastest growing segment in computer gaming today. More recently, he co-founded the North American arm of NCsoft, the world’s largest online game developer and publisher. In October, his latest game, Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa, will ship in North America and in the European Union. For more information, please visit www.rgtr.com.


About Space Adventures:

Space Adventures, the company that organized the flights for the world’s first private space explorers: Dennis Tito, Mark Shuttleworth, Greg Olsen, Anousheh Ansari and Charles Simonyi, is headquartered in Vienna, Va. with an office in Moscow. It offers a variety of programs such as the availability today for spaceflight missions to the International Space Station and around the moon, Zero-Gravity flights, cosmonaut training, spaceflight qualification programs and reservations on future suborbital spacecrafts. The company's advisory board includes Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, Shuttle astronauts Sam Durrance, Tom Jones, Byron Lichtenberg, Norm Thagard, Kathy Thornton, Pierre Thuot, Charles Walker, Skylab/Shuttle astronaut Owen Garriott and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Usachev.

Monday, October 1, 2007

First female space tourist blasts into space (Roundup)

Moscow - The world's first female space tourist Anousheh Ansari launched from Kazakhstan on a Russian Soyuz rocket Monday, heading to the International Space Station (ISS) with the orbiter's new crew.


Ansari, 40, an Iranian-American telecommunications entrepreneur, Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin and American astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria blasted off punctually at 10:08 a.m. (0408 GMT) from the Baikonur space centre, Russian mission control said.

Meanwhile, there was concern about the appearance of smoke or vapours on the ISS, apparently emanating from a faulty oxygen generator.

Authorities told the three-man crew to don protective suits with goggles, but said the situation was under control.

'The situation on the ISS is normal, there is not danger, and certainly no fears for the safety of the crew, Roskosmos space agency spokesman Igor Panarin told the Interfax news agency.

The incoming Soyuz is due to dock with the space station early Wednesday. Commander Tyurin and Lopez-Alegria will serve on the ISS for six months while Ansari should return to earth on September 28 with the station's departing crew.

The businesswoman went through the lift-off eyes wide, as footage from NASA, the US space agency, showed. Worried that she was becoming overexcited, Russian controllers told her professional companions to calm her as they embarked on the two-day journey to the station.

'If she carries on turning her head so frantically it may affect how she feels and spoil her first days in orbit, and we want her to receive maximum enjoyment from the flight,' flight director Vladimir Solovyov said.

As the Soyuz rose for nine minutes into its designated orbit Ansari's mascot for the trip, a small toy badger, swung on a string from the capsule ceiling above her. The amateur space traveller gave a smile of wonderment as it then began to float in the conditions of weightlessness.

Ansari, who left Iran at age 16 and is now a US citizen living in Dallas, was preceded in space by three other so-called space tourists, all men.

Paying some 20 million US dollars for the trip, she says she hopes her life and space voyage will inspire young people worldwide, 'especially women and girls.'

During her eight-day stay, she will conduct scientific experiments for the European Space Agency ESA into the effects of anaemia and backache in zero gravity.

The ISS is currently crewed by three people. While German Thomas Reiter will stay on board until later in the year, Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov and American Jeffrey Williams will be busy with cleaning chores during their last hours in orbit, officials said.

The new crew, which is the station's 14th, will have an especially intensive programme.

Four space walks are planned for their stay, during one of which Tyurin will drive a golf ball as part of an advertisement for a Canadian company. The stunt was to have been filmed by the current crew but was postponed amid safety worries.

Three unmanned progress supply ships and at least one US space shuttle are also due to dock at the ISS in the coming months.

To make way for the approaching Soyuz capsule carrying Ansari, the shuttle Atlantis undocked from the station Sunday after completing three spacewalks to install a truss and two solar arrays on the orbital outpost. It is scheduled to land in Florida Wednesday.

The Soyuz will now orbit the planet 22 times as it move into the same flight path as the ISS, which flies around 400 kilometres above the earth. The capsule is due to dock at 0525 GMT Wednesday.

The journey is the culmination of a lifetime of interest in space for Ansari. After selling her Internet company Telecom Technologies in 2001 for 750 million dollars, she was in a position to lend serious clout to efforts to develop private space flight.

She and her family provided sponsorship for the Ansari X Prize, and a ten-million-dollar award for the first non-governmental organization to launch a reusable manned craft into space twice in two weeks. This feat was accomplished by designer Burt Rutan in 2004.
http://monstersandcritics.com

Leads to Space Settlement

Space tourism is a reality. Four tourists have traveled to the International Space Station (ISS) at their own expense and at least four companies are developing sub-orbital tourist vehicles (Virgin Galactic, Space Adventures, Rocketplane Kistler, and Blue Origin). Not only does space tourism extend the freedom to travel into space for those with the means, it promises a profitable market to develop the launch vehicles necessary to expand life throughout the solar system. Space tourism may solve the single most difficult problem holding up space settlement: safe and inexpensive transportation from the surface of the Earth to Low Earth Orbit.

Present launch capabilities, while sufficient for communications, remote sensing, some space science and limited manned operations, are grossly inadequate for large scale space settlement. By space settlement we mean very large numbers of people living in giant orbital spacecraft, on the Moon, on Mars and/or within large asteroids. Space settlement could provides humanity with hundreds of times more living area, thousands of time more physical resources, and millions of times more energy than is presently at our disposal. Such a vast expansion of the resources available to human civilization would eliminate the need, although perhaps not the practice, of resource-driven war. Such warfare kills and maims large numbers of people and destroys their work. Substantially better launch capacity is a necessary precursor to space settlement, but progress over the last 50 years has been disappointing. Space tourism may change that.

Over the last 50 years a wide variety of launchers have been developed, up to and including the U.S. Space Shuttle, the most capable space vehicle to date. However, in spite of decades of development, Earth-to-Orbit transportation costs thousands of dollars per kilogram and suffers a catastrophic failure rate of a one or two percent. Worse, these figures have not improved with time. For example, the Saturn V was developed in the 1960’s to put men on the Moon. This vehicle cost less, measured in man-hours per ton to LEO (Low Earth Orbit), than today’s major launch vehicles. Furthermore, the Saturn never suffered a catastrophic failure, although there were many close calls. By contrast, current shuttle costs run between $500-1,000 million per flight to deliver, at most, a few tens of tons of payload to the International Space Station, and the shuttle has suffered two catastrophic failures in just over a hundred flights.

Aircraft developed much more rapidly in their first 50 years. This may be because hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of flights occurred in that period, but we have only launched a few thousand payloads into space. Substantial launch vehicle improvement may require tens of thousands of launches per year, not the current 50-70. Unfortunately, current markets for space launch: communications, Earth-observing, science, national prestige, etc. cannot support hundreds of launches per year, let alone tens of thousands. However, a new space market has recently been created: Space Adventures, Ltd. and the Russian space program have flown four tourists to the ISS, reputedly for about $20 million apiece. Although the ISS was originally intended to serve a host of space applications, it has not yet done so for a variety of reasons. Space tourism
may be the legacy of the ISS, and it could be a very good one indeed.

The only market for humans-in-space potentially capable of sustaining thousands of flights per year is tourism, if the cost is in the $100,000 range or less. If the price is in the $10,000 range, millions of flights can be supported. Published market research suggests that the space tourism market may become very large if the price is right. In 1994, Patrick Colins, et all found that the Japanese market could provide about one million customers per year for space flight at about $10,000 per passenger. In 1996, Sven Abitzsch found that approximately 20% of the U.S., Canadian and German populations and nearly 40% of the Japanese population would be will to pay over $10,000 (actually, six months salary) for a trip into space. This represents nearly a hundred million people. In 1999, Oily Barrett found that 12% of United Kingdom residents, representing 3.5 million people, said they were willing to pay over $10,000 for a trip to space. In 2001, Crouch surveyed the literature and found that the global space tourism market is a strong function of price, with an annual demand of five million per year at $10,000 per flight and 170 at $500,00 per flight, representing annual markets of $5 billion and $85 million respectively. Table 1 shows Crouch’s demand vs. price per ticket. If these projections are optimistic by no more than a factor of ten, and the price per ticket can be brought down sufficiently, there is good reason to believe space tourism can support tens of thousands of launches per year or more, a rate comparable to the early decades of aviation.

price/ticket (1994 $) passengers/year
$1,000 20 million
$10,000 5 million
$100,000 400 thousand
$250,000 1,000
$500,000 170

All human-capable orbital vehicles to date have been developed as national projects by the U.S., Russia/USSR, and China. For sub-orbital vehicles the picture is quite different. Spurred by the $10 million Ansari X-Prize, a change in the way launch development was rewarded, Scaled Composites, LLC built and flew SpaceShipOne into space twice in as many weeks in 2004. Interestingly, these were the only U.S. manned space flights that year as the Shuttle was grounded after a fatal accident in 2003. While Scaled Composites reportedly spent considerably more than the purse to win, other commercial deals involving advertising and technology sales netted a small profit. As a direct result, Scaled is now developing SpaceShipTwo for Virgin Galactic. Virgin Galactic is building a space port in New Mexico and intends to fly tourists into space for two hundred thousand dollars per trip within a few years. Furthermore, Virgin has serious competitors.

Space tourism may lead to large numbers of people traveling to space in the next few decades. Burt Rutan, the technical genius behind SpaceShipOne, made a prediction in a 2004 talk in San Jose, CA:
Within 5 years 3,000 tourists will have been to space.
Within 15 years sub-orbital tourism will be affordable, and 50,000 people will have flown.
Within 15 years the first, expensive orbital tourist flights will have happened.
Within 25 years orbital tourism will be affordable.

Space settlement has tremendous potential benefits for mankind but requires a much more robust and inexpensive launch capacity than is available today. Traditional approaches to improving launch have failed to deliver a sufficiently capable system over the last few decades and shows little promise of doing so. To address this issue, we propose orienting launch development towards the tourist market, which, at the right price, is large enough to support tens of thousands of flights per year. Just as computers once cost millions of dollars and were only available to the few, space tourism today is the province of the wealthy. However, as the cost of computers plunged, they have become part of everyday life for the world’s middle-class. Space tourism promises to do something similar for personal space flight. Just as one day millions of years ago life, for whatever reason, crawled out of the oceans and onto dry land, space tourism may well begin the spread of life throughout our solar system.
sorce
http://www.nss.org

Monday, September 24, 2007

Space tourist tells tales of rockets, diapers

SAN FRANCISCO--Knowing the feeling of weightlessness...enjoying NASA-issued shrimp cocktail...being called "space cowboy" by Russian cosmonauts. Cost: $20 million.

The experience of flying to the International Space Station: Priceless.

That may be the easiest way to sum up Greg Olsen's 10-day tour into orbit with the Russian Space Agency, as the third private citizen ever to make the trip. Olsen spoke about his October 2005 travels at the annual Society of Information Design luncheon, held here Wednesday.

"It was absolutely worth it," Olsen said to a roomful of scientists, after describing some of the sillier highlights, like flying through the shuttle or snacking on a floating Slim Jim.

On a more technical note, Olsen trained for five months, or 900 hours, in Moscow before rocketing roughly 200 miles into outer space, orbiting the Earth for two days, and then finally docking at the ISS for eight more days. In all, Olsen, who was 60 when the voyage launched, orbited the Earth 150 times before heading back to Russia. That's possible because the ISS travels at about 17,000 miles per hour, completing an orbit around the Earth every 90 minutes.

"The only way for someone like me to go up there is through the Russian Soyuz rocket," he said, adding: "It's quite an experience."

If private industry has its way, Olsen will soon be joined by many other people out to expand the idea of what it means to travel abroad. Entrepreneurs like Elon Musk are building businesses around private space travel, and NASA itself is hosting contests to encourage companies and academics to build next-generation technology for commercial space flight.

A New Jersey resident, Olsen got the idea for his trip one morning in 2003 while reading the paper at a local Starbucks. Space Adventures--a U.S.-based space-travel agency contracted with Russia--had sent the first two private citizens to ISS, according to a news article that day. Olsen, who was recently flush with cash from the sale of his optical technology company Epitaxx to a telecom operator, decided it was a good time to pursue a long-held dream.

But his plans were temporarily thwarted in 2004, when Russian doctors found a black spot on his lung during routine X-rays before training was to start. After working with doctors for nine months, he was re-admitted to the program.

"People often ask me what I learned and I tell them, 'Don't give up,'" said Olsen, who now lectures at schools around the country, encouraging kids to study math and science. "I failed trigonometry in high school and eventually went on to get my Ph.D."

Olsen described his five-month training in Moscow as a cross between college and military boot camp, but for Russian cosmonauts. Training included a two-mile run every morning, Russian language classes and exams, fire-fighting drills and zero-gravity training, in which he practiced free-falling for 30 seconds at a time.

Olsen traveled with two astronauts, a Russian and an American, but he still had to speak the language, which was the hardest part of the training, he said. At liftoff the three men had waited two and half hours in cramped conditions, and then flew another four-and-a-half hours before having the ability to move around. "We all wore Huggies diapers, and we all had to use them, too."

In the Soyuz, the crew made 34 orbits before docking at the ISS, where there were two other astronauts manning the station. The ISS is fairly close to Earth at 226 miles in outer space, and it measures about 200 feet long. Olsen likened his experience in the station to a long and weightless camping trip. No showers, no sinks, no running water. The crew uses wet wipes to clean up and an onboard vacuum to urinate. The crew straps into sleeping bags to sleep upright.

When Olsen landed, he needed help to stand and walk because of effects to the vestibular system in zero gravity and the shaky re-entry to the Earth's atmosphere. It took him three or four days to regain normalcy.

It also took him some time to regain his normal height. He was 1 inch taller for a day, thanks to weightless effects that cause the vertebrae to relax and stretch.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Rivals race for UAE launch space

Virgin Galactic and Space Adventures eye Ras Al-Khaimah as potential base for suborbital tourism flights

Rival space tourism ventures Virgin Galactic and Space Adventures could go head-to-head over plans to launch suborbital flights from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Virgin chairman Sir Richard Branson says Virgin Galactic will talk with authorities from the northernmost emirate Ras Al-Khaimah, where Space Adventures already has spaceport development plans in place.
“We are going to have discussions over the next week with the people who have approached us. It is a perfect region from which to operate flights and if discussions go well, it’s quite likely the UAE will see space needle Virgin Galactic flights from here in the not-too-distant future,” said Branson, in Dubai last week for the launch of Virgin Atlantic’s service from London Heathrow.
Space Adventures in February announced plans to develop a commercial spaceport in Ras Al-Khaimah to add to other potential spaceport locations in Asia and North America.
The venture says the Ras Al-Khaimah spaceport development project will cost at least $265 million with shared investments by Space Adventures and the government of Ras Al-Khaimah and unspecified other funding. The UAE Department of Civilian Aviation has cleared suborbital spaceflights.
First flights for Virgin Galactic’s suborbital service will be from Mojave airport in California before moving to its preferred centre of operations in New Mexico. Virgin Galactic’s network of potential future spaceports includes the north of Scotland or Sweden, Ras Al-Khaimah and Australia.
Virgin Galactic president Will Whitehorn says the space shuttle design for SpaceShipTwo (SS2) is frozen with construction of the commercial prototype expected to start this year. “We have taken, for commercial reasons, the deliberate decision of not unveiling the design until early next year,” says Whitehorn.
Virgin Galactic has increased the size of the SS2’s carrier vehicle, White Knight 2, to the size of a Boeing 757, while SS2 itself will be the size of a large-cabin Gulfstream IV business jet, designed to allow space tourists to experience weightlessness earth from space and spectacular views.
Whitehorn says that so far $13.1 million has been paid in deposits by 157 prospective customers.