Travel agent offers space flights

[Guest Glenn]

Source: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20 ... 02,00.html

 

A SUBURBAN travel agent in Australia's most isolated capital has become one of the first in the world to offer space flights for sale.But Perth's Bicton Travel is not expecting a big rush on the $260,000 fares to take each person for a spin above the planet for a few hours.

 

Manager Philip Smethurst says it would be a big event for Western Australia if any local blasted off on one of Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic space flights that will launch late in 2008 or early in 2009.

 

?I am sure there is somebody out there, in WA, who would be willing to do it,? Mr Smethurst said. ?I know I would, if I had the money.?

 

The business, in leafy south suburban Bicton, is one of the first nine agents in the world, all from Australia, who have been appointed official agents to Virgin Galactic after filling out application forms they found in an industry magazine.

 

?Us nine are the first in the world, they haven't appointed any others yet,? he said.

 

The travel agents are not selling trips to the moon.

 

But each ticket will get travellers about three days of space training followed by a two to three hour trip 300,000 feet into space in a ship with two pilots and five other passengers.

 

Each of the Virgin Galactic fleet's five ships will have big windows to give passengers a good view of earth as they float, weightless, above the planet.

 

Richard Branson and his two children will be on the first flight which will flown high on the back of a mothership before launching.

 

They will take off from Mojave in the US until a $US220 million space port is completed in New Mexico for takeoffs from 2011 onwards.