Space Perspective is a Florida-based firm ready to bring in a “new era in luxury travel experiences,” with a hydrogen-supported balloon that will float to the top of the Earth’s atmosphere and offer viewers a once-in-a-lifetime look over their planet.
The vessel Spaceship Neptune is set to take flight in 2024 and the $165,000 tickets for the 2024 season have already sold out, with 2025 selling fast.
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The trip will last about two hours and a successful test flight was completed last June. There was no crew on the balloon, but on-board cameras took incredible images of the earth and everything ran smoothly.
Rather than the strenuous experience one might generally associate with a blast-off into space, it will be a gentle ascent, where guests will calmly enjoy the reclining seats, panoramic windows and a refreshments bar, not experiencing any of the high G-Forces that astronauts on rocket launches do.
Space Perspective founder and CEO Jane Poynter says the mission for Space Perspective is changing the way people see the planet.
“We’re committed to fundamentally changing the way people have access to space – both to perform much-needed research to benefit life on Earth and to affect how we view and connect with our planet.”
Space Perspective’s website describes what you can expect to see: “Spaceship Neptune will begin its ascent while the sky is still dark, and the stars will be visible like you’ve never before seen them. As Spaceship Neptune glides along at 100,000 ft, the sun will slowly rise over the curved limb of Earth, scattering rainbow colours of light across the planet and illuminating the thin, bright blue line of our atmosphere. And the sky remains black, completely inky black. This view of Earth, in the void of space, has transfixed astronauts since the dawn of the space age.”
From the description you can’t really imagine a more awe-inspiring place to simply sit and contemplate your place in the universe.
Passengers may even get the chance to utilise “the loo with the best view in the known universe.”
Space Perspective joins companies such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic in the space tourism market. Space Perspective’s $165,000 ticket is the cheapest ticket to space announced so far.
If you feel like COVID has had you missing out on those truly life changing travel experiences, maybe one day you’ll make up for lost time by sailing into space.
