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Virgin Galactic signs deal with scientists for space travel
While NASA's Discovery made its final frontier into space on Friday, Virgin Galactic was inking its own space deal, this time substituting space tourists for scientists.Southwest Research Institute, a nonprofit research organization, signed a deal with Virgin Galactic to conduct experiments in suborbital space. Two $200,000 tickets aboard the six-passenger SpaceShipTwo will be handed to Southwest scientists, who will conduct various scientific experiments during the flight.
In a statement obtained by Space.com:
"This agreement signals the enormous scientific potential of the Virgin spaceflight system," Virgin Galactic president and CEO George Whitesides said in a statement. "Science flights will be an important growth area for the company in the years to come, building on the strong commercial success already demonstrated by deposits received from over 400 individuals for Virgin's space experience."
While no date for the commercial space flight has been set, the deal is already generating buzz. The scientist experiments onboard Virgin Galactic hold a value of about $1.6 million.
So, what exactly will the scientists be "experimenting"? The agreement will allow scientists to use SpaceShipTwo as a flying laboratory for experiments in weightlessness, biology, astronomy and climate research, officials said.
Alan Stern, one of the scientists who will be on board the flight, said: "Initially, two of our payload specialists will be flying on Virgin Galactic, conducting biomedical monitoring, atmospheric imaging, and microgravity planetary regolith experiments."
So... kind of like an astronaut? God speed, scientists!
[via Space.com]
So, what exactly will the scientists be "experimenting"? The agreement will allow scientists to use SpaceShipTwo as a flying laboratory for experiments in weightlessness, biology, astronomy and climate research, officials said.
Alan Stern, one of the scientists who will be on board the flight, said: "Initially, two of our payload specialists will be flying on Virgin Galactic, conducting biomedical monitoring, atmospheric imaging, and microgravity planetary regolith experiments."
So... kind of like an astronaut? God speed, scientists!
[via Space.com]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
JTWallace Feb 28th 2011 7:56PM
Wow! Does this mean it's the first step before we can orbit the earth as passengers in these next 10 years?
American Skies Jul 28th 2011 4:10PM
Americans aren't virgins in space, unlike the hated british enemy scheming this deathtrap up over American skies. It's always best to think over a deal with a virgin, especially a virgin who loves terror and hates America.
dontbealoserboy Mar 2nd 2011 1:50PM
Try again Skies and this time put some thought into it. Have you been living under a rock for the past 5 years? Virgin Galactic only purchased Scaled Composites after they had gone into space and won the Ansari X-Prize. The entire design comes from the mind of American Burt Rutan. Your mother would be ashamed that you're acting that stupid.
dontbealoserboy Mar 3rd 2011 6:14PM
Try again Skies and this time put some thought into it. Have you been
living under a rock for the past 5 years? Virgin Galactic only
purchased Scaled Composites after they had gone into space and won the
Ansari X-Prize. The entire design comes from the mind of American
Burt Rutan. Your mother would be ashamed that you're acting that
stupid.