Perfection inside a jewel in the sky

From time immemorial, people have wanted to get up into space, and get a chance to see planet earth as the beautiful celestial orb that it is. The 20th century saw man finally breaking free from the pull of gravity and orbiting the earth. But all of space travel up to this point has been firmly via the space agency of a few selected nations.

Now all that is set to change, with Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic unveiling the world’s very first commercial spaceship named SpaceShipTwo. Branson was visibly proud as his company revealed the spaceship of the future in the presence of the media, VIP guests and some of the wannabe ‘astronauts’.

The contours of the flight above Earth would consist of an initial sub-orbital flight of which takes up a couple of hours. This is followed by a zooming propulsion at a height of 50,000 feet to a speed of an eye popping Mach 3.3, and in just all of 30 seconds. Passengers would be in for a ride of their life, as the spaceship then gets into more cruising speeds more than 68 miles above the surface of planet earth. This will give privileged passengers the opportunity to gaze at the earth and also enjoy the pleasures of zero gravity.

Those who would like to be passengers on SpaceShipTwo would need to pay $20,000 as an initial deposit, with the final bill for the flight coming to $200,000. The package includes three days of training as you just cannot expect to wake up one fine day and get into space, without undergoing g-force acclimatization and related training. Prospective space passengers also need to have a modicum of fitness, which puts obese and unfit folks at a distinct disadvantage.

Space travel on SpaceShipTwo is scheduled to commence from 2011, and at $200,000 apiece, Branson’s offer of space travel is actually quite a steal!