Forget Virgin Galactic, balloons will take you to the edge of space for a THIRD of the price: Firm completes record-breaking test flight ahead of 2016 launch
comments
Next year, Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic is expected to begin taking paying customers to space for around £150,000 ($250,000) a ticket.
But if you can't afford that, one company has a cheaper alternative - World View Enterprises is offering balloon flights to the 'edge of space' for £45,000 ($75,000).
Beginning in 2016, the Arizona-based company will take paying customers in a pressurised capsule to a height of 19 miles (30 kilometres) - and it has just set a world record to prove the system works.
Scroll down for video
World View, a commercial balloon spaceflight company, has successfully completed a scaled test flight of its high-altitude balloon spaceflight system (illustration shown), breaking the world record for highest parafoil flight in the process, which will carry the Voyager capsule 19 miles (30 kilometres) high
On 18 June World View launched a parafoil from Roswell International Air Center in New Mexico on a flight that lasted five hours, breaking the altitude world record for such a flight in the process.
HOW THE FLIGHT UNFOLDS
The Voyager capsule will launch from a site in New Mexico.
It sits in a launch cradle, where passengers and crew can climb inside.
A high-tech balloon then inflates with helium and then lifts off.
In one-and-a-half to two hours the capsule ascends to just over 19 miles (30 kilometres), atop '99 per cent of Earth's atmosphere' according to World View.
Here, for two hours the capsule will float, letting passengers view out the window, get a drink from the bar and share pictures on social media with on-board internet.
Helium is then vented from the balloon before the parafoil, called the ParaWing, releases from the balloon.
This then glides the capsule back to the ground.
The Voyagers can then be taken back to the launch site, which may be as much as 300 miles (480 kilometres) away, for another flight.
The total flight time is five to six hours.
The test validated the full flight profile of the spaceflight system, lifting a model of the eventual system scaled down to ten per cent to 120,000 feet (36,000 metres) and back down to 50,000 feet (15,000 metres).
The parafoil was successfully executed, breaking the world record.
This allowed for further validation of the precision guided landing system of the space vehicle.
In 2016 the parafoil, together with a high-altitude balloon, will be used to take pressurised capsules known as 'Voyagers' on trips to the edge of space.
This will give six passengers, along with two crew members, two hours of 'cruising' during which they will be free to stroll around the 'luxury' capsule - which even has a bar and internet access.
While passengers will not experience any weightlessness on the flight like Virgin Galactic, the trip will be significantly longer than the latter's six minute projected flight time.
For the money-conscious, that means a minute of observing the curvature of Earth from World View's Voyager capsule will cost £370 ($625).
Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, meanwhile, sets you back £1,650 ($2,800) a minute.
Beginning in 2016, the Arizona-based company will take paying customers in a pressurised capsule to a height of 19 miles (30 kilometres). On 18 June they launched a parafoil (right) with a high-altitude balloon (left) from Roswell International Air Center in New Mexico on a flight that lasted 5 hours, breaking an altitude world record
Next year Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic (pictured) will begin taking paying customers to space for what is now £150,000 ($250,000) a ticket, whereas World View Enterprises is offering balloon flights to the 'edge of space' for £45,000 ($75,000)
With windows on all sides, guests above the Voyager will be given 360-degree vistas of the curvature of the world below.
Of course, the flight of the Voyager doesn't reach the official boundary of space, which stands at 62 miles (100 kilometres), but it will still enable passengers to see Earth fall away beneath them.
Upon completion of the flight, the parafoil detaches from the high-altitude balloon and glides the capsule back safely to a landing on Earth.
According to the company, the capsule will also give 'unprecedented and affordable access to the near-space environment' for educators, researchers, private companies and government agencies.
'We couldn't be any more excited about the results from this test flight,' said Jane Poynter, CEO of World View.
'It represents a foundational achievement that moves us one step closer to offering a life-changing experience to our Voyagers.'
The test flight represented the maiden voyage of World View's Tycho vehicle, a reusable commercial craft that enables research opportunities in fields including communications, surveillance, remote sensing and first response.
This will give six passengers, along with two crewmembers, two hours of 'cruising' during which they will be free to stroll around the 'luxury' capsule (illustration shown), which even has a bar and internet access. While the passengers will not experience any weightlessness they will still be afforded views of Earth
With windows on all sides, guests aboard World View's Voyager will be given 360-degree vistas of the curvature of the world below (illustration shown), although the flight of the Voyager doesn't reach the official boundary of space, which stands at 62 miles (100 kilometres)
Put the internet to work for you.
0 comments:
Post a Comment