The Space Race became an important part of the
cultural and technological rivalry between the USSR and the United
States during the1960's and the early part of the 70's. Aside
from a few fuzzy photographs taken by the Mars rovers, the final
frontier has since yielded very little excitement. To date, only
3 civilians have been able to finance their multi-million dollar voyage
to the International Space Station. Yet, with the recent advent of the
Ansari X Prize (formerly known as the X-Prize), the solar system got a
lot more interesting with the possibility of affordable suborbital
voyages for the rest of us. Space Adventures has
just announced the construction of two earth-based Spaceports that will
offer suborbital spaceflights, as well as astronaut training
facilities. The first facility will be located in Ras Al-Khaimah
in the United Arab Emirates, while Singapore's Changi Airport will
grow to accommodate the second Spaceport. The main attraction at
both facilities will be suborbital voyages, that will "take passengers
to an altitude of 100 kilometers, allowing them to experience up to
five minutes of continuous weightlessness, all the while gazing at the
blackness of space set against the horizon of Earth". Space
Adventures has yet to announce how much these voyages will cost
tourists, but they are adamant that they will be affordable. by Harold C
Just as Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C Clarke envisioned
decades ago, the future of Space Resorts are now within our reach.
'Space island Group' is the world leader in space station design and
construction. When SPI approached world famous design group Blaess
to create the entire interior environment and overall aesthetics of the
space resort, the task was undertaken with sheer artistry. Designed on
earth and later transported to low earth orbit, all materials and
fixtures used must be manufactured from non gaseous materials to ensure
total safety. by Billy
Neil Armstrong did it on the moon, Jane Fonda did it in Barbarella,
even Kylie has done it in one of her film clips. Were talking zero
gravity floating. Swedish company XERO is the first in the world to
offer commercial zero gravity flights other than space agencies in the
U.S. Through a unique inflatable design aircraft interior and flying
manoeuvres which work on extreme drops in gravity, passengers can
experience the same weightlessness felt by astronauts in space. The
chance to defy gravity lasts 30 seconds and is repeated to accumulate a
total of 12 to 15 minutes of zero gravity. The IL-76 MDK aircraft,
specially designed and modified for zero gravity flights, measures
inside 3,5 meters wide, 3,5 meters high and 14 meters long. The
aircraft will accommodate 12 passengers who are supervised by
professional crew from Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre. All of
this sci fi fun takes place in Kiruna, which is nestled 200 km above
the Arctic Circle and is one of the preferred tourism destinations in
northern Sweden. A professional film crew accompany passengers on board
and present them with a DVD memento of their once in a lifetime
weightless experience. www.xero.se
