The future of commercial space flight is no longer in the hands of billionaire playboys like Virgin’s Richard Branson. A new contender by the name of World View Enterprises is on the cusp of launching a technology that will send tourists into the suborbital limits of our atmosphere, suspended above our “pale blue dot” in a space balloon. The adventure costs $75,000, or $175,000 less than the price Mr. Richard Branson charges to ride aboard Virgin Galactic’s solar express.
The U.S.- based World View has just completed their first successful test flight out of Roswell, AZ, this past June 18, while simultaneously breaking the record for the highest parafoil flight. During the course of the five-hour flight, a high-altitude balloon — similar to kind that elevated Felix Baumgartner in 2012 — was elevated to 120,000 feet, high enough where the atmosphere no longer blots out the raw blackness of space. After sailing for two hours, the balloon descended to 50,000 ft and transformed into a parafoil; an action typically reserved for the height of 30,000 ft.
The perspective from 120,000 ft is enough to induce a philosophical brooding within even the hardest of souls, courtesy of what dreamers and astronauts have dubbed the “Overview Effect,” or the raw emotional reaction that comes from the impact of viewing Earth suspended in the void. It’s a feeling unlike any other, often described by astronauts as a cognitive shift of awareness or enlightenment.
World View CEO James Poynter wants to share this experience with the public, “it's about giving people that incredible perspective of seeing the Earth that we live on as a globe, and the blackness of space.” Unlike Virgin Galactic’s commercial shuttle, no training is necessary to ride the balloon.
The final version of the balloon is slated for completion in 2016 and is roughly 10 times larger than what was tested in June. Riding aboard the capsule will give patrons the opportunity to view the Earth from a 360° angle as the capsule serenely glides across the silky boundary of space for two hours.
This month’s launch was dubbed extremely successful, giving World View the opportunity to test its operational procedures as well as the reusable Tycho vehicle that will carry riders. On a slightly disappointing note, the company indicates that the Tycho capsule can double as an eye in sky for spying on governments or the commercial sector. Regardless, witnessing the Earth in all of its cosmic glory is a once-in-a-lifetime thing.
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