Space flight experience at a bargain price
A promotional shot of Virgin Galactic's Spaceship Two.
If a $260,000 flight into space busts your budget then maybe the $23,000 sub-orbital space flight training is more up your alley.
Open to the public for the first time, the simulation has been designed to mimic an intergalactic experience.
Three Australian travel agents have recently returned from the Virgin ASA Global Forum in the US where the Virgin brainchild was launched.
But the ride comes at a cost.
Virgin is planning on putting together half day (about $2030), full day (about $3390) and two-day (about $5645) packages for space junkies.
Edwin Spencer, director of Spencer Travel in Sydney, said that the simulation conveys what a trip in space is like, however the G forces on the ride are a little lower. He thinks that it is worth the cost.
"You get the exact same experience as if you were going to do one of the flights (into space)," Spencer said from the conference in Philadelphia.
"They (Virgin) are trying to promote this facility to give you the experience of what it would be like on a space flight. It's so deadly accurate."
Having said this, Spencer admits that it's not for everyone.
"I think by the time you package it all and you get them over here it's probably going to cost about $20,000, with airfares and accommodation.
"... It's not going to appeal everyone but it's brand spanking new ... it's something really really unique.
"The big boys toys kind of people. The guys that love the adventure."
The travel packages will include the sub-orbital space flight training in Pennsylvania and the longer sessions will also include training on a parabolic flight and fighter pilot training in Las Vegas.
Spencer Travel, accredited as a Virgin Galactic Space Agent, sold Australia's first fully-paid ticket to space last year.
The journey into space takes two and a half hours to fly up 15,240 metres. The mothership then drops the rocket and it is sent soaring to 116,000 metres.
To put it into context, a standard aeroplane flies at about 9000 metres.
Passengers then experience five minutes of weightlessness before being returned to earth.
The $260,000 journey takes just a day but involves two days training.
The first 100 visitors to go into space, deemed Founders by Virgin, are expected to make the trip in 2010. Most positions on the Founders team were invitation only, but one fully-paid female from Australia made the rollcall.
"She is determined to be in the first 100," Spencer said.
The space-loving customer wants to keep a low profile, but Spencer said that she is an adventurer.
He said that space travel hadn't aroused the same excitement here as it had in the US.
"It's not that big in Australia but in the US it's huge," he said.
"This is just the beginning. It's the ultimate experience in life.
"It's that whole concept of being able to see Earth out of the left hand porthole and space from the right hand porthole."
IF YOU GO:
Visit: http://www.spencertravel.com.au
