Digest Number 1261

G'day,

If they are paying $200,000 for a sub orbital flight I doubt they would
think space flight is easy. The great benefit of
space tourism is that it makes it available to vastly more people. Virgin
Galactic has allready got 100 people to pay the ticket
fee and 38,000 more have paid deposits. And the rocket plane has yet to be
built!

Whats more it will mean there will soon be a high altitude hypersonic space
plane commercially available. Tourism is not going to be the only market for
the vehicle. Think of the military uses for one. This is bound to increase
demand for cheaper orbital vehicles. Remember an orbital vehicle can get you
anywhere on Earth in under and hour. Makes a lovely military space plane,
fast cargo plane etc as well as a space taxi.

I think a Soyuz tourist flight is about $20M. A reduction in price by say,
a factor of 10 would allow space resorts such a Bigalow is working on. That
will allow people who have been completely left out of Space to get involved
such as the adventurer-explorer. The sort of people who climb mountains and
walk across Antartica.. Imagine a one person moon shot to farside or the
poles. A race to Mars or Near Earth Asteriod . Thats when I expect human
exploration of the Solar System to really take off.

ta

Ralph