If you’ve read my piece on space hotels and nuclear-powered sky hotel designs, you’d get the idea of me not being so optimistic about the concept of space travel. But that is not the case, I am not a pessimist challenging every theory or second perceptive on interplanetary travel. In fact, I would love the idea of Elon Musk sending me to Mars to discover water and other essentials of life only to call me back when I run out of oxygen and he runs out of patience.
Keeping my waggish kink aside; mankind seems serious about space tourism and a slate of companies have been building space shuttles, hotels and capsules that could give a common man a chance to peek at other rocks present in outer space. The space tourism company Space Perspective seems way more serious about the project and has been working on a space capsule that provides passengers with a smoother and safer journey to the edge of the stratosphere and back to Earth in just six hours. Surprised! But so am I.
A round-trip journey to outer space and back to Earth in less than time taken to reach California from London is downright amazing. But is it possible? We will have to wait and see.
Till now, we have seen bizarre space vehicle designs, but this by far is the wackiest concept you’d come across. The company says the small capsule will be raised up by a hydrogen-filled balloon that is a hundred times much humongous than the capsule itself.
The Space Perspective vehicle offers passengers 360-degree views of the empty space and the Planet Blue, all thanks to its spherical design with a number of windows. The six-hour ride to 100,000 ft. altitude will have eight passengers ferried at a time. When they get tired and hungry, the company also offers high-quality food and drinks to passengers.
Dubbed Spaceship Neptune, the space capsule includes separate compartments featuring plush reclining seats to maximize the comfort. Adjacent to the seat would be a window, offering eye-popping views of the celestial bodies. May be, it’s your chance to figure out that all you are afraid of is gravity, not height.
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Bookings for the space capsule are made with a fully refundable deposit beginning at $1,000 and customers can also book tickets via Crypto. Unmanned flights will begin in 2023, with commercial flights planned for 2024. It sounds strange but what’s more bizarre is the fact that Space Perspective has already sold 900 tickets.
Each ticket costs $125,000 and if I had this lumpsum amount, I’d invest on Crypto, shares and go gamble it on horse races. But to save money for a potential futuristic flight that makes me look down the Earth is a big no. Don’t cancel me please.
