Jaunted - Tag: Virgin Galactic

Las Cruces: New Mexico's Spaceport America Is Opening For Tours, No Blastoffs Yet

kjb — 2009-11-03T09:19:21-05:00

If you’re patiently awaiting the launch of Virgin Galactic, there’s something new to keep you entertained for a little bit. Bulldozers and cranes at Spaceport America in Las Cruces, New Mexico have been moving dirt and rocks around to get things ready for rockets, shuttles, and spaceships. Things have been progressing so well that public tours will begin in December—looks like a great holiday gift.

The tours will require a snazzy hardhat, because of course, it’s a work zone and they don’t want any ~~lawsuits~~ injuries. Visitors will learn all about the history of New Mexico from conquistadors to the state’s future in outer space tourism. The highlight of the tour will be to see the runway and the vertical launch pad up close and personal. Maybe you'll even be able to add your initials if the concrete is still wet.

The Best Way To Jumpstart Space Tourism Is...Not To Go To Space?

Omri — 2009-09-16T16:39:37-05:00

If you want to be a space tourist today, pretty much your only option is to pay a space tourism company hundreds of millions of dollars to hook you up with the Russians. While that usually works—and it doesn't always—it's hardly what most people mean when they talk about broad-based "space tourism." They mean an industry where space is accessible as a luxury vacation option to a variety of tourists.

A new report on the industry insists that the only way to open up outer space is to start small:

Virgin Galactic Determined to Send Folks Into Space

juliana — 2009-07-28T17:58:58-05:00

While we thought their collection of songs for an playlist in space was just a joke, it looks like Virgin Galactic is still really serious about putting civilian folks into space. Richard Branson reportedly sold about a third of the space travel start-up to a Middle Eastern investment fund to speed up the

The AP reports:

British billionaire Sir Richard Branson signed a deal Tuesday to sell about a third of his space travel startup Virgin Galactic to a Mideast investment fund, giving the venture an influx of cash at a time when the global recession has dried up funding sources.
Aabar Investments will pay $280 million for a 32 percent share of the company, according to the agreement that also gives the wealthy Persian Gulf sheikdom of Abu Dhabi a chance to set up its own space flight industry.

Branson of course, conducted the signing much like he does anything else related to his Virgin companies: he don a black Virgin flight suit and took his first ride in the WhiteKnightTwo aircraft, designed to launch a ship into space (pictured, above, last summer). Virgin Galactic is expected to take off from Sweden in 2012 with flight tickets costing $200,000 a piece. Hmmm...we'll see about that.

NASA Celebrates Moon Landing, Twitter Followers and a Repaired Space Toilet

juliana — 2009-07-20T18:49:52-05:00

While Prez Obama was honoring the Apollo 11 crew in DC this morning on the 40th anniversary of the spaceship's lunar landing, the name Apollo 11 was rapidly becoming a Trending Topic on Twitter. We're sad to say that's not really a good thing as spammers have recently begun including Trending Topics and hashtags on their spam tweets so that they show up in Twitter searches. Oh the ups and downs of Twitter. Btw, have you heard of the hotel who took out a billboard ad to advertise their Twitter feed? Yeah. That's how insane Twitter is now.

Still, we looked to the all-knowing NASA Twitter page to see what they were tweeting about on one of their high holy days. And it turned out, today was a big day for NASA. Along with the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, NASA notched their 100,000th Twitter follower and they successfully completed a spacewalk to repair a toilet at the US Destiny Lab Space Station. Hurrah!

Meanwhile, hopeful space travel traveler, Virgin Galactic, is collecting songs for a playlist that will be played for passengers in space. Something tells us aspiring astronaut Lance Bass will want to be on both the Virgin Galactic launch and the playlist. VG: you can do better.

Join the travel twitter conversation, follow us here.

Related Stories:
· Guinness Giving Away a 2012 Space Trip on Virgin Galactic [Jaunted]

Guinness Giving Away a 2012 Space Trip on Virgin Galactic

BS — 2009-07-06T15:04:17-05:00

The world’s most famous stout purveyors are upping the ante in travel giveaways; Guinness is celebrating the company’s 250th anniversary with a spate of special events throughout the summer, and instead of just giving away a couple of tickets to Ireland, the Dublin-based brewers are promoting their celebration by offering one lucky winner the chance to hop on board Virgin Galactic.

Guinness has reserved a $200,000 seat on Richard Branson’s private spacecraft, and one lucky drinker will be among the first astro-tourists to ride on the rocketship when it takes off in 2012. Two runners-up will receive more earthly prices—a four-day cruise aboard the Guinness Deep Sea Bar—an underwater adventure around Norway’s Lofoten Islands—and the chance to enjoy an exclusive studio performance from the Black Eyed Peas.

The catch? Well actually, they’re not saying yet. You’ll have to keep an eye on Guinness’ web site for details on how to win. Obviously, we’ll be checking for updates religiously.

Related Stories:
· Remarkable Experiences [Guinness]
· Virgin Galactic Will Depart From Spaceport Sweden in 2012 [Jaunted]
· More Galactic Fallout: More Video of Virgin's Newest Plane [Jaunted]

[Photo: Guinness]

Virgin Galactic Will Depart From Spaceport Sweden in 2012

kjb — 2009-03-18T08:56:23-05:00

Virgin Galactic hasn’t even begun to fly yet, and they’re already quick to announce new routes. Honestly, we’re not too surprised since Richard Branson is behind the whole space tourist industry.

Besides launching from the desert of New Mexico, travelers can now choose to depart from Sweden as well. The IceHotel has announced that they’ll start packaging a quick trip into space along with accommodations at their chilly hotel. The trips will depart from Spaceport Sweden in Kiruna starting in 2012, as long as all the testing—which we assume is pretty extensive—goes well. If you’re not up to an icy hotel, there’s some other Scandinavian travel agents that have been approved to book your trip too.

Mojave: More Galactic Fallout: More Video of Virgin's Newest Plane

pbb — 2008-08-05T15:35:16-05:00

Didn't get enough Virgin Galactic as we were liveblogging the unveiling of WhiteKnightTwo last week? Then allow us to present this video from our pals at Boing Boing tv.

Host Xeni Jardin chats with Buzz Aldrin, Richard Branson and David Cush to get more scoop on the launch vehicle that--fingers crossed--will be lofting paying passengers 62 miles above Earth by 2012.

Related Stories:
· Virgin Galactic with Buzz, Branson and Rutan [BBtv]
· More Photos of WhiteKnightTwo [Jaunted]
· Virgin Galactic Launch: Now With Video! [Jaunted]
· Richard Branson and Burt Rutan Wow Mojave [Jaunted]