After watching “ Gravity, ” the Sandra Bullock and George Clooney movie that has been a box office success, many will have been put off the idea of traveling into space. However, the plans for tourist trips in 2014 are still going ahead. And it is that there are more than a thousand people who are on the waiting list.
Virgin Galactic ships are finalizing the last details before their first launches. In fact, Richard Branson’s company carried out different tests with ships and pilots last week.
New wings
Branson has decided to put new wings on the spacecraft that will lift tourists to 110 kilometers high, the SpaceShipTwo, and, apparently, the tests of this new equipment have turned out to be a success, as reported by the company on its Twitter account .
Trip
Suborbital flights cost $ 250,000 (about 189,000 euros) per person and are designed to reach 4,000 kilometers per hour. During the experience, the traveler will be able to observe the Earth in all its splendor in the blackness of space. Also, you will be able to experience the absence of gravity for a few minutes.
Famous on the waiting list
Among the more than a thousand people who are on the waiting list we can find some well-known characters, such as the actors Josh Harnett and Leonardo DiCaprio or the singer Justin Bieber. Furthermore, scientist Stephen Hawking has stated in several interviews his intention to travel as well. Of the rest, we can say that the average age is between 35 and 55 years old, although the youngest is 18 and the oldest is 77.
A world event
Branson is keen to turn these trips into a global event. For this reason, it has partnered with the NBC-Universal network to broadcast the first commercial trip to space. Branson himself and his children Holly and Sam will be the first passengers on the SpaceShipTwo, on a trip that will depart from the Virgin Galactic terminal at Spaceport America, in New Mexico (United States).