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Virgin Galactic Will Depart From Spaceport Sweden in 2012

March 18, 2009 at 8:56 AM | 0 Comments

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.

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Perigee Moon Alert: If You're Outside Tonight, Look Up

January 10, 2009 at 12:06 PM | 1 Comment

Here's a ray of light in an otherwise dark time of year. Tonight, billions of people around the world will witness a perigee Moon, a once or twice a year phenomena that results in the biggest, brightest full Moon the lunar cycle. As the Moon men of NASA point out, a perigee Moon is as much as 14% wider and 30% brighter than "lesser moons" because it's about 50,000 kilometers closer to the earth than when it's at its apogee. The result is a big, beautiful moon that casts an otherworldly glow over the earth, bright enough to "read a newspaper, ride a bike, write a letter, and at the same time count the stars overhead."

Unlike NASA, we don't actually recommend you count stars while riding your bike, but you ought to make a point of getting outside at some point tonight and looking up in the sky. Find the night setting on your digital camera and see what kind of photos you can get, as they might make a good desktop wallpaper. The weather forecast calls for snow tonight in many parts of the U.S., which might obscure the moonlight, but I'm sure plenty of people will do a double take at the sky as they stumble out of the bars, pausing for a moment to gaze at the celestial show.

[Photo: NASA]

Related Stories:
· Biggest Full Moon of the Year, Take 2 [NASA]
· Tonight's Full Moon Closest, Brightest of the Year [The Ledger-Enquirer]
· Moon Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

Beyond Ombudsmanship: Jilted Space Tourist Sues for $21 Million

September 27, 2008 at 12:16 PM | 0 Comments

This one's worth following because it could just as easily have happened to you or me. A 37-year-old Japanese businessman named Daisuke Enomoto thought he had booked the vacation of a lifetime, a 10-day visit to the International Space Station in September, 2006. Reuters points out that Enomoto paid $21 million to Virginia-based Space Adventures to make the arrangements, completed his training, and was all set to blast off in a Russian Soyuz capsule when he was bumped from the mission due to health reasons.

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

August 5, 2008 at 3:35 PM | 0 Comments

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]

Adventures of Link: Space!

July 28, 2008 at 6:48 PM | 0 Comments

We were hardly the only ones out in Mojave today covering the unveiling of Richard Branson's latest baby. We also spotted a bunch of travel bloggers, some aviation reporters, a couple friends from Virgin America and, why not, Buzz Aldrin.

So to spread the love around--and give you a more complete picture on what's up--we're linking to some of our pals today who also braved the desert heat to poke, prod and videotape White Knight Two.

Related Stories:
· Virgin Galactic Shows off Mothership [AP, via Google]
· Branson Unveils Space Tourism Jet [BBC]
· Live from Virgin Galactic [CrunchGear]
· Virgin Galactic WK2 Photos [Gizmodo]
· Like You Could've Missed It: Our Virgin Galactic coverage [Jaunted]

Virgin Galactic Launch: More Photos of White Knight Two

July 28, 2008 at 4:38 PM | 0 Comments

We're out in the Mojave Desert today for the roll out of Virgin Galactic's White Knight Two, the carrier vehicle for SpaceShipTwo.

In addition to our video, we also found time to shoot tons of pics before we were hustled back to LA by the Virgin crew. From a glamour shot of Richard and Burt to a shot of the plane's throwback Vargas Girl, you'll find our faves below.

In all, we were in Mojave for about three hours, inside a hangar with White Knight One, while hearing all about WK2, parked out front. A media spectacle? Sure. But definitely a historic unveiling of a plane we'd love to hop on.

Related Stories:
· Richard Branson and Burt Rutan Wow Mojave [Jaunted]
· Charles Ogilvie Wants a Piece of Space [Jaunted]
· Virgin Galactic coverage [Jaunted]

Virgin Galactic Launch: Now With Video!

July 28, 2008 at 1:24 PM | 1 Comment

We're out in the Mojave Desert today for the roll out of Virgin Galactic's White Knight Two, the carrier vehicle for SpaceShipTwo.

If our first photo of Virgin's new spaceship didn't do it for ya, how's this video?

To the left of the frame, it's Richard Branson, hanging over a Vargas Girl based on his mum. To the right, it's Burt Rutan, the founder of Scaled Composites and the mastermind of the WK2.

After minutes of waving, they finally came down out of the ship and started answering questions about the massive all-carbon-fiber beast.

Related Stories:
· Richard Branson and Burt Rutan Wow Mojave [Jaunted]
· Charles Ogilvie Wants a Piece of Space [Jaunted]
· Virgin Galactic coverage [Jaunted]

Virgin Galactic Launch: Richard Branson and Burt Rutan Wow Mojave

July 28, 2008 at 12:38 PM | 0 Comments

We're out in the Mojave Desert today for the roll out of Virgin Galactic's White Knight Two, the carrier vehicle for SpaceShipTwo.

Stagecraft master Richard Branson just rolled up to a hangar in Mojave with Burt Rutan riding in the White Knight Two. We have to admit: It looks pretty awesome.

The all-carbon-fiber ride is the largest such vehicle on Earth, and it also happens to be the most fuel efficient airplane ever created.

Over the coming months, it'll be run through a battery of ground and air tests, gearing up for its marraige to SpaceShipTwo, the actual space vehicle that Branson hopes will ferry passengers 62 miles up by 2012.

Related Stories:
· Virgin Galactic coverage [Jaunted]
· Charles Ogilvie Wants a Piece of Space [Jaunted]

Virgin Galactic Launch: Charles Ogilvie Wants a Piece of Space

July 28, 2008 at 10:00 AM | 0 Comments

We're out in the Mojave Desert today for the roll out of Virgin Galactic's White Knight Two, the carrier vehicle for SpaceShipTwo.

What better way to kick off our space ship coverage today than to post a photo of Charles Ogilvie mugging with a model of one. The man may be holding controllers for Virgin America's RED system, but you never know what partnerships could happen, says Charles, who now works at Panasonic:

Much of the entertainment [on Virgin Galactic] will probably be looking outside and the sensations: Don't forget the fact that you're weightless and that's pretty cool! We certainly envision areas where Panasonic innovation can help capture and take a little of such a profound experience back to Earth with you.

Hmmm... Built-in panoramic cameras? Memory stick readers and seat-back email capability? Video chat with friends from 62 miles up? Guess we'll find out soon enough.

Related Stories:
· Virgin Galactic coverage [Jaunted]
· Charles Ogilvie coverage [Jaunted]

South Australia to Richard Branson: Pick Me, Pick Me!

April 25, 2008 at 9:35 AM | 0 Comments

Got your spaceflight booked yet with Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic? They're still saying the first space tourist flights should take off next year at a cost of $200,000--or two million frequent flier points.

Initially, the suborbital space flights will blast off from the Californian desert, but if the government of South Australia has any say in it, that might change. The SA Tourist Commissioner has suggested to Branson that the vast nothingness that makes up much of the south-central Australian state would be the perfect launching pad for Virgin Galactic flights.

If Branson considers all those nasty nuclear tests that happened in the area in the 60s, he might be able to increase his profit line by not even taking off--some of that desert probably looks just like outer space already.

Related Stories:
· South Australia Wants Space Tourists [ABC]
· Virgin Galactic Unveils Space Ship Two [Jaunted]
· Virgin's Free Space Flight [Jaunted]

[Photo: wouter!]

Boomerangs Come Back In Space, Too

March 21, 2008 at 9:15 AM | 0 Comments

Who would've thought it. Boomerangs come back even when you throw them in space. We were pretty skeptical when we mentioned the Japanese guy who decided he would test boomerang throwing while he was at the International Space Station, but now we humbly bow to him. He was right!

Astronaut Takao Doi said:

"I was very surprised and moved to see that it flew the same way it does on Earth," during an experiment that his bosses were quick to say he did in his spare time.

This really does open up some opportunities for future space tourism. If boomerangs work, then that's already one bonus activity that a space resort can offer us. Now they just need to find a place where we can go snorkeling, surfing and swimming and we'll all be ready for our trip on Virgin Galactic.

Related Stories:
· Boomerang Works in Space, Says Astronaut [news.com.au]
· Japanese Guy To Throw Boomerangs. In Space. [Jaunted]
· Space Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

The City of Space is Actually in France

March 20, 2008 at 9:30 AM | 0 Comments

It's been open for ten years, but a UK Times report has only just alerted us to the existence of the Cité de l'Espace or City of Space, a space-themed amusement park near Toulouse, France which sounds surprisingly well worth visiting.

Along with full scale models of the Mir space station and a couple of rockets, there are also heaps of different interactive exhibits that give you a better idea of how life is for astronauts in space. Children get to do astronaut training courses, you can drive a replica of an American space scooter and of course there's some suitably tasteless space food to try.

The Times reviewer also checked out the on-site restaurant, and was pleased that the French version of space had good wine, even if the food was a bit questionable. Luckily if you've had a couple of glasses of French vino, even space food tastes good.

Related Stories:
· France's Futuristic Theme Park [UK Times]
· Cité de l'Espace [Official Site]
· Space Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: barclakj]