Space Tourist

Employees of Virgin Galactic are starting to be relocated to Spaceport America in New Mexico. According to the Las Cruces Sun-News, “Virgin Galactic recently relocated U.K.-based staff to Las Cruces, advertised some new hiring and announced its leasing office space off Roadrunner Parkway – all signs of an operational ramp up in southern New Mexico that will continue throughout 2012.

“The moves are in preparation for the start of space tourism flights from Spaceport America just north of Do-a Ana County – possibly in 2013.

“But they’re also the most tangible signs of permanent, local job creation since Virgin Galactic – billed as the world’s first commercial spaceline – first courted New Mexico with its suborbital spaceflight proposal seven years ago.”

Virgin Galactic plans to hire locally whenever possible for both blue collar and white collar jobs. The company says those already living in New Mexico have preference.

When Spaceport America is up and fully operational (within the couple of years) there will be a least 200 employees on the payroll according to Virgin Galactic. In a time when this country needs jobs, jobs, jobs, this news can’t come too soon.

The Space Development Co-op is starting on a 25-year plan to build a “space city” capable of housing up to 2 million people. The Space City, once completed will not require any supplies from Earth and will be completely self-sustaining.

According to the website, “We have designs for a space habitat that will house 2 million people. This ‘space city’ will have all the conveniences of earth including gravity and large bio-diverse habitats that simulate the diverse fauna and flora of Earth. Each member will receive approximately 5000sq ft. of space for their own private residence within the city for their family.

“The habitat offers a simpler life style in a virtually pollution free environment. All capable persons are required to commit only a small amount of labor to the cause. A myriad of facilities will be available to all for fitness, hobbies, culture, workshops, research, sports and more.”

According to Space Development Co-op Founder Louis C. Gelinas, “We have designed a space habitat capable of sustaining about 2 million long term residents. It is a modification of the classic space wheel (actually 4 wheels) on a common axle.

“We have also designed a complete asteroid robotic mining and fabricating system. We are in early stages of development of a prototype miner, ProMiSe 1, that will prove ability to extract iron from an asteroid.”

Far-fetched or not? You decide but I like the idea that they are dreaming big and thinking outside the little box we call “Earth.”

With the race for space tourism now in a heated battle between different commercial agencies, NASA has had a sudden awareness. And that awareness is that sometime in the future tourists on the Moon may be trampling all over Neil Armstrong’s first giant leaps for mankind, literally.

The Google Lunar X-Prize will give $30 million to the first commercial flight to the Moon to send a robotic explorer. Doing figure 8’s and wheelies around where the Apollo astronauts once walked or left some valuable souvenirs is something that NASA doesn’t want to deal with anytime soon.

According to USA Today, “NASA isn’t expecting the sites to generate the kind of traffic we see at national parks on Earth, but the prospect of future tourists could affect plans to inspect the sites and artifacts in the future. So, the space agency released guidelines this summer on protecting lunar landing sites and artifacts. They call for a 1,200 acre ‘no-fly’ zone around the first Apollo 11 landing site, and final Apollo 17 one. Tourists could only walk within 82 yards of the Apollo 11 landing site where Neil Armstrong first took ‘One small step for man,’ on July 20, 1969, under the guidelines.”

Like a “Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone” (Elton John song), NASA doesn’t want the rocket men and women of the future trampling science, doing graffiti, leaving space garbage or any of the nasty things some tourists do here on Earth upon sacred space grounds.

Anyway, so far NASA hasn’t come out with the penalties for such a breach in space etiquette or even if they have to right to make such a no-fly zone according to the courts (does anyone actually own the Moon?). Stay tuned for future developments in regard to guarding the Moon.

While other space tourism companies are taking off in places like New Mexico, the Mojave Desert of California and Russia, XCOR Aerospace is headed to the Caribbean. XCOR has just finalized a deal with Space Expedition Curacao worth over $10 million.

According to MSNBC, “California-based XCOR’s development plan calls for beginning flight testing about a year from now, using a prototype version of the Lynx that’s built for flights up to an altitude of 38.5 miles (62 kilometers). By the time the Curacao deal kicks in, XCOR aims to have one or two ‘Mark II’ production models ready to fly to altitudes in excess of 62.5 miles (100 kilometers), which is the internationally recognized boundary of outer space.”

The cost of a flight on the XCOR Lynx is $95,000. Space Expedition Curacao has already signed up 35 passengers since April of this year. They expect to that number to rise to 50 passengers by the time the holiday season rolls around. By the way rich relatives if you are reading this, know that a ticket to space would be a wonderful stocking stuffer. 

This isn’t a trip to Magic Mountain folks or even an exotic Kenyan picture safari (though I do like the sound of this). Now, for the first time ever, 7-Eleven, the convenience store has made it convenient for you to win a trip into suborbital space.

Space Adventures will be providing the ride as 7-Eleven is promoting a new film due out in June 2011 called Super-8. As you will recall totally Space Adventures is currently the only company offering trips into orbit. Yes, in a year or two there will be several more, but right now SA is the only game in town.

And it’s game on with 7-Eleven. Here are some details on how you can use your Foursquare app to sign up for this adventure and experience zero G’s. Hopefully you’ll be able to keep down your Big Gulp and hotdog as you do it, but hey, that’s half the fun.

Even though NASA may be winding down part of its space race program, it is not getting out of the biz altogether. In fact NASA is taking steps to insure that humans will be exploring space for eons to come.

The U. S. space agency has just put out the word that it is looking to spend around $200 million for a space fueling station that can safely store liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. The liquid oxygen storage must be no loss (zero boil off) and the liquid hydrogen can be minimal loss.

This minimal loss of liquid hydrogen is acceptable for two reasons. First, liquid hydrogen has to be cryogenically stored at -423F. Second, the space fueling station will have to content with heat from the sun and other obstacles.

The space fueling station will not likely have any impact on space tourists flying into low earth orbit (LEO). But, in the future when tourists travel to the Moon, Mars or beyond, a space fueling infrastructure will be needed in order to carry passenger to and from locations swiftly and safely.