Mark Megahan
Sure, rockets can blast today’s astro-tourist into orbit but the ride is punishing. Some engineers in Florida came up with a way to bring paying customers to the edge of outer space in style and grace without all those nasty g-forces.
Alternate Space Perspective
Calling their company Space Perspective, they want passengers to fly in style, all the way to the edge of the atmosphere. Their Spaceship Neptune pressurized capsule can carry passengers and research payloads all the way to the top of the stratosphere.
The balloon is as high tech as it is huge. They just released a batch of artist’s illustrations visualizing their concept.
The luxurious cabin features 360-degree panoramic windows. Even the restroom has a view. They made the announcement on April 12 to coincide with Yuri Gagarin’s first human spaceflight in 1961. The artist drew up a couple of designs for cabin configuration.
One has reclining seats while another, complete with sofa couches, can accommodate a “more intimate dinner for two or special event” at the edge of space.
Ticket price will include food and beverage services and the designers note that “the capsule features mood lighting that can be dimmed to see stars or the curvature of Earth outside.”
The capsule’s Space Lounge comes fully equipped with a telescope and interactive display screens. One striking feature is the use of ordinary decorations like floor lamps and plants to “remind us of the interconnected nature of our planet.”
Connect more closely
According to Jane Poynter, founder, co-CEO and chief experience Officer of Space Perspective, their “mission is to inspire space explorers to connect more closely with our planet and each other.”
They’re convinced that the environment in which their passengers travel is central to the whole experience. They’re horrified by the stark “white, utilitarian environments you find in other spacecraft.”
As explained in the sales brochure, a “typical Space Perspectives mission will lift off at dawn and will take about two hours to reach the maximum altitude of 100,000 feet.” Once at operating height, “Spaceship Neptune will glide for two hours.”
After that, it comes back to Earth gradually over another two hours or so before splashing down conveniently in the ocean. Once down, it’s retrieved by ship.
Commercial flights are set to begin as early as 2024 with tickets selling like hotcakes at $125,000 a pop. That’s a huge bargain considering that Virgin Galactic currently charges $450,000 per seat. Jeff Bezos hasn’t set a price tag yet.
Starship Neptune will be booked for quite a while with “about 600 people on Space Perspective’s waiting list” to date. Each of them put down a $1,000 refundable deposit.
