IS BUDGET SPACE TRAVEL FINALLY HERE?

THIS COULD BE THE ULTIMATE 'AFFORDABLE' LATE CHRISTMAS GIFT. For the 'space buff' in your life, how about an affordable trip into space.

Much longer, equally thrilling, more serene at a fraction the cost of others.

(A Max Allen Replay from June 24, 2021)

Dateline Titusville, Florida – Space Perspective is a company ready to send folks up to the limits of the stratosphere at only $150,000 a ticket! A lot you say, but not when compared to the many tens of millions of dollars a seat costs with Blue Origin or Virgin Galactic!

You can forget being shot into space on a huge bomb [sorry, ‘rocket’] for a 6 minute thrill ride. Yep, that’s not a great dollar-per-minute value, now is it? You can forget rockets when you ride in Neptune One, a space balloon by Space Perspective, a Florida based firm.

These flights will begin in 2024, possibly 2023 depending on how things go. Unlike the aircraft-like capsule of the other commercial space firms, Neptune One will be more like a lounge, complete with WiFi, toilet and bar, that floats at 12 mph in the upper limits of the Earth’s atmosphere. The capsule can seat eight passengers and a pilot.

Says Jane Poynter, who founded the company with her husband, “Everything is slow, gentle and comfortable. You’re not blasting into space on top of a rocket, with the fury and vibrations that involves. You can see the full blackness of space and 450 miles in every direction on Earth—including all of Florida and into the Bahamas. The view is virtually indistinguishable from one out the tiny porthole of a space capsule.”

Check it out: https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/forget-rockets-insane-space-balloon-170000292.html

The six-hour, thirty-seven-minute trip contrasts to the 11-minute flight of a rocket. So does the price: Space Perspective opened up ticket sales at only $150,000. Virgin Galactic wants what will certainly be in excess of their initially planned $250,000. And the latest ‘auction winner’ for Blue Origin’s flight paid $28 Million for the seat.

The balloon doesn’t actually go into space, but rises to 100,000 feet which provides an unparalleled view. Says the spokesperson for Space Perspective, The actual time at 100,000 feet is nearly two hours, allowing plenty of time to enjoy the view.

Can I go? I’m Max, and that’s the way I see it!