Virgin Galactic to tap Korea for space tourism

Virgin Galactic, an affiliate of the giant Virgin Group owned by Richard Branson, has begun promoting to Korean customers its future private space travel program that will hopefully start next year.

With some 300 people worldwide, including renowned professor Stephen Hawking, having made reservations, Virgin Galactic is already prepared to offer commercial space trips, which have so far been confined to astronauts.



Last week, Virgin Galactic officials said Korea is also an attractive market target for them due to the love for travel here, plus the relatively high standard of wealth.

"Although it may sound like a farfetched idea right now to be able to commercially travel to space, we are indeed getting closer to it, and we have great expectations," said Park Young-tae, president of Prime Air System Co., which will act as an official agency for Virgin Galactic in Korea.

The quest for safe commercial travel to space started back in 1969, when Branson, like millions of others, watched in awe as Neil Armstrong took his first step on the moon.

The journey towards space travel, however, developed at a meek pace, and it was only in the 1990s that Branson came to realize that would take a business the size of his international group of 200 companies and 50,000 employees to commercialize it, the company explained.

In 1996, Virgin Galactic was founded, and through the collaboration with legendary designer and engineer Burt Rutan, succeeded in building an environmentally friendly spaceship with carbon composite materials.

So far the Space Ship One has been tested successfully and Space Ship Two that can take six passengers and two pilots is under construction. The company expects the construction to be complete this year, allowing the commercial flight to space to begin next year.

Virgin Galactic`s spaceship is considered an epochal development in space technology. Instead of shooting the rocket from the ground, the spaceship is lifted off by the mother ship carrier, named White Knight.

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White Knight would release Space Ship Two when it reaches 15 kilometers in altitude. The spaceship will then accelerate toward space at a speed of 3,500 to 4,000 kilometers per hour. This 18-meter-long spaceship with 42-meter-long wings will enable passengers to travel at a height of 110 kilometers, reaching the sub-orbit area, and an experience zero gravity for four minutes.

The wings will change their positions -- designed by taking the physics of a shuttlecock that always lands on the same surface at a slower speed -- to adjust its speed when returning back to earth. The entire trip will take about two hours, and a trip will cost $200,000.

Space Ship Two, for which the construction remains extremely confidential, will be large enough for passengers to un-belt and freely enjoy zero gravity in their sub-orbital situation, according to Virgin Galactic officials.

Virgin`s commercial space travel will be operated from a space port being constructed in New Mexico of the United States as the first private space hub.

For the actual trip, a passenger will arrive at the port three days in advance, go through a thorough medical check-up and receive training before getting on the spaceship.

Virgin Galactic describes as a myth the idea that only government astronauts with top physical and mental fitness can experience space.

"We set out to explode that myth and through G Force centrifuge training with our early customers has shown that most normally healthy people regardless of age are made of the right stuff to fly on Space Ship Two."

For more information on Virgin`s space ambitions, visit www.virgingalactic.com

By Lee Joo-hee



(angiely@heraldm.com)