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Billionaire Takes Wrap Off Tourist Space Flight Business |
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Saturday, 06 January 2007 |
It now appears that if you're ever going to be able to take a vacation in space, it won't be NASA that will make it happen.
British billionaire Richard Branson already has his Virgin Galactic operation up and running.
And now the man who founded Amazon.com has taken the wraps off what had been a highly secretive effort of his own to send average people into space.
Self-made billionaire Jeff Bezos' "Blue Origin" has built an experimental cone-shaped craft he believes could be the rocket that launches an affordable space tourist business.
"We're working, patiently and step-by-step, to lower the cost of spaceflight so that many people can afford to go and so that we humans can better continue exploring the solar system," Bezos is quoted as saying on a new web page devoted to the venture. "Accomplishing this mission will take a long time, and we're working on it methodically."
The first tests of the vehicle, which look more like a 50's sci-fi version of a spacecraft than the modern sleek ships we're used to seeing, were carried out in November. Videos on the site show the inside of the odd-looking contraption as well as its launch - reaching some 285 feet on its maiden voyage.
The sometimes eccentric businessman is hoping this rocket will eventually be replaced by "a vertical takeoff, vertical-landing vehicle designed to take a small number of astronauts on a suborbital journey into space."
And if you've got the qualifications, he's looking for help in the form of "a hardworking, technically gifted, team-oriented, experienced aerospace engineer or engineering leader" and "experienced propulsion engineers and experienced turbomachinery engineers, as well as a senior leader to head our turbopump group."
Not that there's a lot of those hanging around seeking employment.
Bezos spent several years and millions of dollars buying the 165,000 acres of land in West Texas needed to make his dream a reality.
There's no word on how much a space flight might cost, but you can bet the first ones won't be cheap.
Like most consumer-oriented goods and services, it's expected they could come down in price once a business model is established and more customers opt for the vacation of a lifetime.
Bezos plans to keep testing and refining his equipment over the next three years, and hopes to launch as many as 52 commercial flights by the year 2010.
Which will definitely make space not only in the great beyond, but in your wallet, too.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 23 January 2007 )
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