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Company Wants You to Visit Near-Space In Their "Bloon"

Posted by samzenpus on from the more-up-than-up dept.

cylonlover writes "While space tourism efforts by the likes of Space Adventures and Virgin Galactic are relying on the tried and true technology of rockets to launch paying customers into space, Barcelona-based company zero2infinity proposes a more leisurely and eco-friendly ride into near-space using a helium balloon called the bloon. Designed to carry passengers to an altitude of 36 km (22 miles), an unmanned scale prototype bloon was flown to an altitude of 33 km (20 miles) last year and the company is already taking bookings for passenger flights that are expected to lift off sometime between 2013 and 2015."

8 of 135 comments (clear)

  1. Sounds cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    1) But we're running out of helium.

    2) You want to go up? Book a MiG-25. We already have private "space tourism" at this level of hopelessly deluded definition of "space tourism". And?

    1. Re:Sounds cool by Chris+Burke · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I'd take the kinesthetic experience of the MIG over the balloony visuals any day.

      I'll take whatever gets me the closest to seeing the planet earth from space, soonest, and cheapest. I'll worry about other considerations like how exciting the ride itself later when picking my 2nd and subsequent trips. So let's see how it shakes out...

      Mig-29: 22km, available today, $25,000 (see the "price list" .pdf link, last page).

      Bloon: 36 km, 2013-2015, and $150,000.

      The Bloon has a significant altitude advantage, but that's irrelevant compared to the price difference! It may get cheaper at some point in the future, but that just means it fails on the 'soonest' criterion. Sure, I may not exactly have $25k (+ travel) lying around to spend on a Mig-29 flight, but it's clearly the best, most feasible option for me in the near future.

      The Mig-29 wins! Then the fact that it's a jet fighter is just awesome-icing on the awesome-cake. :)

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
  2. Warning! by SethThresher · · Score: 4, Funny

    Watch out for monkeys throwing pins, those guys will RUIN your day.

  3. What kind of "near"? by jimmerz28 · · Score: 3, Informative

    So if I'm correctly informed from wikipedia (https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Earth) this is still only in the Stratosphere.

    This doesn't seem very "near" space at all...

  4. Re:Kind of unsafe? by Jeng · · Score: 3, Informative

    It descends on a parachute, I'm sure they even have a back up for that.

    --
    Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
  5. Their secret to making the balloon fly higher by istartedi · · Score: 4, Funny

    Their secret to making the balloon fly higher? Remove letters to reduce weight.

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    For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
  6. Re:Kind of unsafe? by GameboyRMH · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What about the U-2? (the spyplane, not the awful band)

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  7. Re:Kind of unsafe? by NonUniqueNickname · · Score: 5, Funny

    In the unlikely event of the helium balloon bursting, the captain will yell the evacuation procedure in a chipmunk voice and everyone will die, of laughter.