{"id":17679,"date":"2020-06-18T19:23:10","date_gmt":"2020-06-18T11:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/space-perspective-reboots-vision-of-flying-passengers-to-stratosphere-on-a-balloon\/"},"modified":"2020-06-18T19:23:10","modified_gmt":"2020-06-18T11:23:10","slug":"space-perspective-reboots-vision-of-flying-passengers-to-stratosphere-on-a-balloon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/space-perspective-reboots-vision-of-flying-passengers-to-stratosphere-on-a-balloon\/","title":{"rendered":"Space Perspective reboots vision of flying passengers to stratosphere on a balloon"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Stratospheric
Space Perspective\u2019s balloon-borne capsule, known as Spaceship Neptune, would provide a wide-angle view of the Florida coastline. (Space Perspective Illustration)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The space entrepreneurs who planned to send passengers ballooning into the stratosphere for astronaut\u2019s-eye views of the Earth below, way back in 2013, have revived the idea for a new venture called Space Perspective.<\/p>\n

Co-CEOs Taber MacCallum and Jane Poynter unveiled their concept for a balloon-borne capsule called Spaceship Neptune today, and said that uncrewed test flights are due to begin early next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood things take time,\u201d MacCallum joked during an interview with GeekWire in advance of the big reveal.<\/p>\n

Seven years ago, he and Poynter had a similar unveiling for World View Enterprises, an Arizona-based venture that aimed to fly people to an altitude of 100,000 feet, at a price of $75,000 a ticket. That altitude is much lower than the internationally accepted space boundary, which is 100 kilometers or 62 miles, but it\u2019s high enough to gaze at a wide-angle landscape spread out beneath a black velvet sky.<\/p>\n

Since 2013, World View has pivoted to sending up uncrewed payloads on balloon platforms known as Stratollites. Last year, Poynter and MacCallum brought in a new management team to head World View\u2019s operations, leaving them free to plan their next venture.<\/p>\n

After commissioning a study of the travel market, they found that stratospheric travel was still the right answer for what they were looking for.<\/p>\n

Space Perspective\u2019s initial base of operations would be at Kennedy Space Center\u2019s Launch and Landing Facility, where NASA\u2019s space shuttles used to touch down.<\/p>\n

The experience would be unlike the relatively short-duration, rocket-powered ride promised by Virgin Galactic or Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin space venture.<\/p>\n

Up to eight passengers and a pilot would climb into a spacious pressurized capsule for a two-hour ascent to the 100,000-foot level, lofted by a huge, hydrogen-filled balloon at the leisurely pace of 12 mph.<\/p>\n

After a two-hour cruise at that altitude, Spaceship Neptune would take another two hours to descend to a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico. A ship would pick up the passengers, capsule and balloon, and return them all to shore.<\/p>\n

Because the trip would last six hours, the capsule design leaves room for a bar \u2060\u2014 as well as an airplane-style toilet stall that would be recessed beneath Spaceship Neptune\u2019s passenger cabin. \u201cIt will have the best view of any loo in the world,\u201d Poynter promised.<\/p>\n