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In October 2014, Alan Eustace, then vice president of the Google company, jumped from a space balloon at an altitude of 41,420 meters, breaking the world record for free fall.
The feat was made possible not only by the pressurized suit he was wearing and, of course, Eustace's poise, but also by the team behind that balloon, including the founders of Space Perspectives today.
Captained by the couple Jane Poynter and Taber MacCallum, this new Florida-based company has now created a much larger sail, as well as a much more ambitious experience that unites luxury travel with the thrill of exploring space.
Travelers will enjoy a six-hour journey aboard the
Neptune
space capsule
that is propelled at a speed of 20 kilometers / hour by a gigantic space balloon the size of a football field.
Once the capsule reaches the maximum altitude of 30,000 meters, it will remain there
floating for two hours
, "like an ice cube on water", so that travelers can admire (and share) the 360-degree views of planet Earth.
The experience costs $ 125,000 per person (about 105,000 euros).
All seats on the first four flights, scheduled to take off at the end of 2024, are
sold out,
although the company does not yet have a license to reach the stratosphere.
Tickets for 2025 are already on sale.
The capsule will float for two hours in the stratosphere.
To space: yes, but no
Unlike the initiatives of billionaires Jeff Bezos with Blue Origin and Richard Branson with Virgin Galactic, the Space Perspective project wants to offer the space tourist an experience where
comfort and relaxation
prevail
. No astronaut suits, no adrenaline-pumping takeoffs. The passengers,
eight in total
plus the pilot, will also not experience zero gravity. This is, in fact, because the space globe is
at a great distance from the Kármán Line
, the official border between the Earth's atmosphere and space, located 100 kilometers high.
The views are not taken away by anyone and promise to be unforgettable.
Poynter has explained that they will take off from the Kennedy Space Center.
"It takes about two hours to reach an altitude of 30 km. During the ascent we will be able to contemplate up to 725 kilometers in all directions. At maximum altitude, passengers will see the total darkness of space and, at the same time, the curvature of the Earth, that iconic
thin blue line
astronauts always talk about. "
In June during one of the tests.
With bar and bathroom
Balloon flight has the advantage that no special prior training is required: it is like taking a commercial flight. But
first class
: the cabin has nine comfortable reclining seats, a bar to have a drink during the flight, a bathroom, Wi-Fi and anti-glare windows to take good pictures.
This spring of 2021 they carried out the first tests with a simulator that uses a pressureless capsule.
"We are planning the first test flight piloted in 2023," says the company.
For Poynter, the most differentiating thing about his balloons is that they are a more accessible way of going into space.
"Obviously, at 100,000 euros the flight is not accessible to everyone, but there is no doubt that it is infinitely cheaper than taking a Virgin flight or any other space company."
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