150 sign up for space tourism
More than 150 people, including former Dallas star Victoria Principal, have signed up for Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic space tourism programme, it was revealed today.
Virgin are also having talks with actor William Shatner about the possibility of the former Star Trek star going into space.
Branson, his children Holly and Sam and his parents Ted and Eve, who are both in their 80s, are all keen to go into space when the galactic flights begin in 2008.
Severely disabled scientist Dr Stephen Hawking has also expressed interest in the flights which will see tourists travel 400,000 feet above the earth in a rocket the size of a corporate jet.
Full details of the progress of the Virgin Galactic project are due to be given tomorrow in Dubai to where Virgin Atlantic has just started a new service from London.
Today, Virgin Galactic spokesman Will Whitehorn said that 157 people had applied to go on the space flight which will, initially, cost around $200,000 (€165,000).
Virgin, which first announced the Galactic in autumn 2004, has a licence to launch the space programme from a spot in California’s Mojave Desert.
Mr Whitehorn said a rocket would be attached to a plane about the size of a Boeing 757 passenger airliner.
The space tourists would be taken to a height of around 55,000 feet when the rocket would be fired, propelling them out into space before returning them to earth in an operation similar to that of a Space Shuttle.
The whole flight would take about two and a half hours, with tourists spending 15 minutes in space, including five minutes when they experience weightlessness.
Between seven and eight people would be able to travel on any one trip, with the plan being to eventually move the project to the deserts of New Mexico, USA.
Mr Whitehorn said the test programme could begin in 2007 with passenger flights the following year.
The first flight would be by a test pilot with the next people likely to go up being Sir Richard, his family and the project’s leading light, Bert Rutan.
Mr Whitehorn went on: “About 80 per cent of people would be eligible to go but it could be that those with heart problems or circulation difficulties might be ruled out.
“It’s also possible that people with breast implants might not be able to go. The youngest allowed to go will probably be around 14-16.”
Mr Whitehorn continued: “Eventually we hope to get the cost down to around $75,000 (€62,000). It will be a much easier experience for travellers than going on a rollercoaster. They won’t be able to go to the toilet. They will have to wear a NASA nappy.
“Stephen Hawking has had this life-long ambition to go into space although obviously there may be health problems for him.”
