space and tourism

July 26, 2008

Space tourists to get peek at mothership
Excitement ahead of Monday's partial unveiling of Branson's commercial project
FLASHBACK: The White Knight, with SpaceShipOne underneath, on the runway at Mojave Airport in September 2004. On Monday, Mr Richard Branson and aerospace designer Burt Rutan will show off White Knight Two. -- PHOTO: AP
LOS ANGELES - A TOP-SECRET aerospace project that will launch rich tourists into space will be partially revealed on Monday.
Aerospace engineers have been holed up in a Mojave Desert hangar, fashioning the commercial spaceship for the past four years.
But come Monday, British billionaire Richard Branson and American aerospace designer Burt Rutan will show off their mothership, which is designed to air launch a passenger-toting spaceship out of the atmosphere.
More than 250 wannabe astronauts have each paid US$200,000 (S$270,000) or put down deposits for a chance to float weightless for a mere five minutes.
'Having invested all my faith in it, I'm so excited to see the actual thing,' said artist Namira Salim, a customer who is lined up for a ride on the world's first spaceline.
In 2004, throngs of spectators gathered at the high desert north of Los Angeles to witness the launch of SpaceShipOne, which was the first private manned craft to reach space.
Its successor, SpaceShipTwo, which can carry up to six passengers and two pilots, is being designed out of the public eye, along with the carrier aircraft White Knight Two.