Space Tourism

Stories

Stories 1 - 20 of 22

1 2 Next >>

March 2009
- First Repeat Space Tourist Arrives at ISS
  
  CBC (Canada) | Mar 28, 09 12:43 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A Russian spacecraft carrying a cosmonaut, an astronaut, and the first two-time space tourist has docked with the International Space Station, the CBC reports. The Soyuz capsule will soon offload the two crew members and US billionaire Charles Simonyi. Simonyi will return to Earth in the same capsule on April 7 with two crew members leaving the station. The visit will cost the software executive $35 million. More »
December 2008
- For Sale: Space Shuttle, $42M
  
  Orlando Sentinel | Dec 18, 08 2:58 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - NASA is taking the unprecedented step of offering to sell the three space shuttles to museums when the workhorse vehicles are retired some time after 2010, reports the Orlando Sentinel. The space agency is seeking at least $42 million—including $6 million for shipping and handling, and the cost of decontaminating each shuttle. More »
October 2008
- Tourist, Crew Dock at Space Station
  
  Space.com | Oct 14, 08 9:37 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - American space tourist Richard Garriott arrived safely at the International Space Station today for a 10-day visit, Space.com reports. “I can fly!” Garriott told Russia’s command center, where former NASA astronaut and dad Owen watched his son become the first second-generation space-traveler. Also aboard the Soyuz craft was a replacement crew for current station residents, who haven’t had any visitors since June. More »
- Space Tourist Video Gamer Blasts Off
  
  Reuters | Oct 12, 08 4:44 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - US video game magnate Richard Garriott blasted off into space today aboard a Russian rocket—and all it cost him was $35 million. The "space tourist" was cheered on by his father, a one-time NASA astronaut, Reuters reports. "I can see he is really enjoying it like a little kid in a candy shop," said Garriott's girlfriend. The craft is already in orbit and will dock with the International Space Station in two days. More »
September 2008
- Private Firms Hope to Haul NASA's Space Cargo
  
  Washington Post | Sep 25, 08 1:10 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Hauling crew and equipment between earth and the international space station is expensive work, and NASA is looking to private entrepreneurs to pick up some of the slack, the Washington Post reports. Among the front-runners is Elon Musk, a founder of Paypal, who has seen his three prototype shuttles crash before they could make it into orbit. More »
August 2008
- Branson's Aircraft: Beyond Space Tourism
  
  Economist | Aug 3, 08 11:19 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Though space tourism is an exciting feat in itself, it’s just the beginning of the possibilities for Virgin Galactic’s White Knight Two , the Economist notes. The carbon-composite plane doubles as a spaceship’s first stage, and is capable of launching satellites, transporting replacement engines, and facilitating the study of the inaccessible “ignorosphere” —believed central to climate change. More »
July 2008
- Branson Rolls Out Space Plane
  
  Los Angeles Times | Jul 28, 08 5:00 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - At a remote airfield in the Mojave Desert today, Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson unveiled the flagship of his new venture, an aircraft that will carry the first passenger space rocket to its launch height of 48,000 feet, the Los Angeles Times reports. Tickets are going for $200,000-plus, with the maiden voyage possible before decade’s end. More »
June 2008
- Google's Brin Books Flight to Space Station
  
  New York Times | Jun 11, 08 9:03 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Google co-founder Sergey Brin is turning space tourist, plunking down a $5 million deposit with Space Adventures for passage to the International Space Station aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket in 2011, reports the New York Times . Space Adventures is planning to buy two of the three seats aboard the mission, whose sole agenda would be tourism. More »
March 2008
- Space Tourism Gets New 2-Seater
  
  Los Angeles Times | Mar 27, 08 11:57 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - California's XCor Aerospace is jumping aboard the space-tourism bandwagon with a new rocket plane, the Los Angeles Times reports. For $100,000, one passenger at a time will be able to ride the Lynx to 200,000 feet and feel about 90 seconds of weightlessness. With flight tests beginning in 2010, XCor aims to be the second company in the business. More »
January 2008
- Branson Unveils SpaceShipTwo
  
  TechCrunch | Jan 23, 08 5:31 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Richard Branson has unveiled the ship that will carry paying passengers to space. Slightly different from its original prototype, SpaceShipTwo will be carried to high altitude by a double-hulled plane called White Knight, where the rocket will then separate and launch. Branson's Virgin Galactic startup hopes to start test flights this summer, reports the TechCrunch blog. More »
December 2007
- Space Tours to Northern Lights
  
  Guardian (UK) | Dec 29, 07 11:41 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Virgin Galactic plans to launch sightseeing tours into the heart of the northern lights—a first for humans—within three years. If all goes to plan, passengers willing to pay $200,000 a ticket will board spacecraft from north of the Arctic Circle to head for the edge of space, directly through the shimmering aurora borealis, the Guardian reports. More »
October 2007
- Space Race Goes Private
  
  CNET | Oct 4, 07 11:33 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Today’s wildest-eyed entrepreneurs were kids when Sputnik launched 50 years ago today, and they’re picking up the government’s slack by taking their inspiration spaceward. Men who made millions in technology are privatizing spaceflight, even egging each other on to compete: Google is offering $20 million to the first private team to place a robotic rover on the moon, CNET reports. More »
September 2007
- Russia Shoots For the Moon
  
  ABC News | Sep 3, 07 12:10 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Russia has announced a plan to put a man (or woman) on the moon by 2025, reports ABC. The cash-strapped Russian space agency also plans a permanent moon base and a Mars mission. "The Russians have some big ideas, but their space program is coming up slowly from being in a position (of) bankruptcy," says one former astronaut. More »
August 2007
- First Teacher Rockets to Space
  
  Orlando Sentinel | Aug 9, 07 4:42 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Former schoolteacher Barbara Morgan safely reached space last night when the shuttle Endeavour rocketed through a problem-free launch. Ten minutes after its evening blastoff, the shuttle was orbiting 140 miles above the Earth in preparation for docking with the International Space Station tomorrow. Morgan is the first astronaut teacher since Christa McAuliffe, who died seconds after liftoff in 1986 when the Challenger exploded. More »
- US Teacher Headed for Space
  
  Reuters | Aug 6, 07 8:02 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - NASA is sending another schoolteacher into space, 21 years after the Challenger disaster killed educator Christa McAuliffe. Barbara Morgan, a former Idaho schoolteacher and now a fully trained astronaut, will spend most of the trip transferring cargo to the International Space Station and about six hours on educational pursuits. When she returns, she'll develop a curriculum based on her experience. More »
July 2007
- 3 Dead in Space Center Blast
  
  Associated Press | Jul 27, 07 5:42 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A third person has died from injuries suffered in an explosion at a Mojave Desert airport where part of billionaire Richard Branson's private space program is being developed, AP reports. The blast occurred during testing of a nitrous oxide propellant system for a space tourism vehicle. Three people were hospitalized, two of them with critical injuries. More »
- Mojave Spaceport Blast Kills 2
  
  Associated Press | Jul 26, 07 10:24 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - An explosion killed at least two people at a remote desert plant attempting to develop billionaire Richard Branson's space tourism program. The blast at Mojave Air and Space Port was in part of the facility where SpaceShipTwo is being built for Virgin Galactic—to be used for $200,000 trips into Space. More »
- Citizens Book Tickets to Moon
  
  Christian Science Monitor | Jul 26, 07 3:03 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A citizen spaceflight company has two passengers willing to pay $100 million each for a flight around the moon. Tickets aboard Virgin’s future suborbital flights are flying out the door. The civilian aeronautics industry finds itself better funded every day, as would-be astronauts and backers alike are rushing to get on board, the Christian Science Monitor reports. More »
- MIT Slims Down the Space Suit
  
  Time | Jul 24, 07 1:05 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - When NASA astronauts are suited up for space heroics they're more Marshmallow Man than Spider-Man, but that could change with a sleek new space suit designed by MIT aeronautics professor Dava Newman. The revolutionary BioSuit is lightweight and form-fitting, allowing physical feats not possible in the current bulky gear. More »
June 2007
- Europe Seeks Mars Test Volunteers
  
  BBC | Jun 20, 07 5:31 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The European Space Agency is recruiting 12 volunteers to spend 17 months living and working in a series of interconnected modules that simulate an inter-planetary mission to Mars. The 'spaceship' is 19,250 cubic feet and is located at the Russian Institute for Biomedical Problems in Moscow. More »