May 1 2008Coming Soon: Space Flights For Cheaper
Thought Virgin Galactic had the public space travel market sewn shut? Well think again -- there's a new player coming to the game.
The company, XCOR Aerospace, of Mojave, CA, announced that its two-seat Lynx suborbital spaceship will carry people or payloads to where they will experience weightlessness and see the stars above and the Earth and its atmosphere below. This will launch XCOR into the emerging space tourism market, estimated at over a half-billion dollars.The Lynx will offer affordable access to space for individuals, researchers and educators," said XCOR CEO Jeff Greason. "Future versions of Lynx will offer ever-improving capabilities for scientific and engineering research and commercial applications.
The spaceship, roughly the size of a small private airplane, will first take off in 2010 and will be capable of flying several times each day.
Rides will last approximately 30 minutes from take-off to landing, but there's no word on pricing yet. It's definitely going to be cheaper than $200,000 Virgin Galactic rides, but probably still expensive. My guess is a tentacled arm and leg! Get it? Because aliens have tentacled appendages. That was a space joke. Just like this one: Why doesn't NASA let me fly the space shuttle? Because I'm a fucking idiot!
Another picture showing what a typical flight will consist of, along with a worthwhile video, after the jump.
Thanks to Gaston, whose intelligence is out of this world, for the tip
Reader Comments
1. SmokingGirl - May 1, 2008 2:51 PM
Lance Bass from N*Sync should be very excited about this.
*gets posessed by Tyler Durden* You look like a space monkey! Get shot into space, space monkey!
2. jesse - May 1, 2008 2:59 PM
que?
3. Scott - May 1, 2008 3:16 PM
SG, are we mind melding or something? I posted about Fightclub on a another site today. This is weird how our thoughts intermingle.
As for the space plane, I think this is just the beginning!
Serious post #2 of the week.
4. Scott - May 1, 2008 3:31 PM
And if everyone will look to their right, you will see that Gary Coleman is getting divorced from his gold digger that was too dumb to realize he was a has been and his parents spent all his money.
Further we can see that Mariah Carey is engaged! As much as I had a crush on her long ago, she has since turned into a tramp.
Oh, and Beyonce is pregnant! Which begs the question: Who cares about any of this crap?
Please wait for the bus to come to a complete stop before throwing up, thank you.
5. ~zeus~ - May 2, 2008 1:32 AM
No windows!!!
"I think this is just the beginning!"
=I think this is going 2 be a really shitty video-game..
6. Scott - May 2, 2008 10:03 AM
@5, I believe those transparent squares the people are looking thru would qualify as windows.
Furthermore, I have a shiny new nickel to back my claims! Aren't so big now, are you, big shot claiming not...right....guy.
I think I owned you but I don't know how to say it via that cool (retarded) new misspelling all the kids use these end days.
7. Not Scott - May 2, 2008 1:46 PM
The post above me makes no sense at all.
(Did you really use the term mind melding?.......asscap!)
8. ~zeus~ - May 2, 2008 2:17 PM
no windows for the passengers u sun-of-blind-cheerleader..
b.t.w. "owned"? omg, r u f***ing 4?
9. Gaston - May 2, 2008 6:20 PM
Zeus, the passenger sits in the front, next to the pilot, to maximize the view...through the windows...that are there.
10. machinafiction - May 4, 2008 7:41 PM
yeah i'd bang in this. its like the million mile high club. seats two, experience weightlessness, oh the possibilities.
11. InesBy - May 5, 2008 5:04 PM
It is fantastic !. Now we can travel space. ¿How much offer?
Dpto. Comunicación
InesBy.com