Company To Balloon Tourists To the Edge of Space For $75,000

astroengine writes "If the thought of a rocket ride to space — or the $250,000 price tag to get there — leaves you feeling queasy, an Arizona firm thinks it has a gentler, less expensive alternative. World View, an offshoot of privately owned Paragon Space Development Corp., is developing a balloon-launched, near-space (30 kilometers) ride for $75,000 — less than one-third the current cost to fly on Virgin Galactic's suborbital SpaceShipTwo. "It really is very gentle. You can be up at altitude for hours, for days for research if you need to be... I think we have the opportunity to give a really, really incredible experience to people — and for a lot less than most of what's out on the market right now," project co-founder and Paragon president Jane Poynter told Discovery News."

Comments

30Km isn't space

[rossdee]

30Km isn't space, its only about 1/3 of the way there
I think the definition of space starts at about 100Km
you certainly couldnt achieve orbit at 30Km, you'd burn up

Re:30Km isn't space

[master_kaos]

hey come on this is slashdot, no one here knows a girl analogy, you need a car one
It would be like sitting in a Lamborghini Reventon at a car show, not able to turn it on or even push any buttons.

Re:30Km isn't space

[czert]

100 km is kind of an arbitrary number. I have a better definition, though: if you can get there in a baloon, it's not space.

Re:30Km isn't space

[Anonymous Coward]

hey come on this is slashdot, no one here knows a girl analogy, you need a car one
It would be like sitting in a Lamborghini Reventon at a car show, not able to turn it on or even push any buttons.

It would be like paying $75,000 to sit 30% closer to the Lamborghini than everyone else. You still wouldn't be getting into the car.

Re:30Km isn't space

[camperdave]

100km isn't exactly arbitrary. It is the altitude where, in order for an aircraft to generate sufficient lift, it would have to be moving at orbital velocity.

Re:30Km isn't space

[dj245]

30Km isn't space, its only about 1/3 of the way there I think the definition of space starts at about 100Km you certainly couldnt achieve orbit at 30Km, you'd burn up

Here are some photos from approximately 30km up- . The curvature of the earth is evident, and the sky is pretty black at that height. It might still be inside the atmosphere, but it is outside most of the atmosphere. The air pressure at 30km is less than 3% of sea level. Good enough for everyone? No. But it is good enough for a lot of people, and at a far lower price.

Re:30Km isn't space

[tgd]

if you can even scream, it's not space.

As far as I'm concerned, if Sandra Bullock isn't there in panties, its no longer space.

Re:30Km isn't space

[RivenAleem]

Voyager 1 isn't in space yet.

Re:30Km isn't space

[dunkelfalke]

You can book a flight in a MiG-31 to 28km up for a third of the stated price. The stay at the altitude is way shorter, though.

Re:30Km isn't space

[camperdave]

... in space you shouldn't be able to generate surface lift.

Why not? Space is not a perfect vacuum. Even deep in the intergalactic void there are hydrogen atoms and a gravitational field. So, with a large enough wing, moving at a large enough velocity you can still generate lift.

Re:30Km isn't space

[Dr. Zim]

I worked on commercial blimps (Bud One, Airship Shamu, MetLife) for several years and you're not the first person to think about re-compressing helium. The equipment needed to compress helium back into a tank would add more weight than practical.

It will take a while

[Calinous]

This is not a couple of hours suborbital flight, this would probably take most of one day (or maybe more). And while it might be nice, it isn't space

Ballooning as space launch vehicle

[netean]

I've always wondered why, if we can send balloons to the upper reaches of our atmosphere why we don't use ballooning as a 1st stage launch platform for reaching space? Granted, you'll need big balloons to life satellites or people, but surely getting stuff even 1/3rd or half way there by gentle gas lift balloon would be cheaper, easier, safer and more environmentally friendly way of launching into space. For launching people it's got to be a far less physically stressful way than strapping them to a giant firework as it pulls x number of Gees to reach high altitude and hoping it doesn't explode on the way.And far less risky for satellite launches, it a rocket fails it's a fireball, it a balloon sprouts a leak it's a slow and gentle drop with a parachute) Obviously you'll still need some form of propulsion to reach space, but until we get a space elevator it's surely a going to require far less fuel than the massive amount currently needed to get off the ground in the first place?

Re:Ballooning as space launch vehicle

[camperdave]

I've always wondered why, if we can send balloons to the upper reaches of our atmosphere why we don't use ballooning as a 1st stage launch platform for reaching space?

This balloon lifted a 3000 pound capsule. To do that required the balloon to be 55 storeys tall and have a surface area of 40 acres. A loaded SpaceX Dragon capsule weighs over eight tons, so you're going to need a balloon at least five times as large.

For practical purposes, however, reaching space means getting into orbit. Getting into orbit isn't about the altitude. It is about the velocity. The ISS orbits at approximately Mach 17. Earth's escape velocity (to reach the Moon, and other planets) is about Mach 37. Top speed for a balloon is Mach 0.4 on a generous day. In other words, not much help.

For sounding rockets, and small suborbital payloads, balloons might work. However, beyond that, balloons are quite impractical.

Re:Ballooning as space launch vehicle

[Anti-Social Network]

Relevant XKCD for the more visually-oriented

Perhaps...

[mschaffer]

Perhaps some sort of lead zeppelin would be advised?