Tag: Space Tourism

Russia’s Energia Space Corporation has said it will take a tourist on a space walk in 2023, under the terms of a new contract with a US partner. Energia has inked a contract with Space Adventures, which promises to take two space tourists to the International Space Station (ISS) that year.  “We plan that one of the participants of the expedition will do a space walk from the Russian segment, together with a professional Russian cosmonaut,” said Energia, which is part of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos. The announcement comes days after NASA signed a deal with Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic ... Read more

Richard Branson’s space-tourism venture, Virgin Galactic LLC, reached the edge of space in a test flight Thursday, four years after a fatal accident set back the project, in a feat expected to accelerate commercial efforts to send tourists and small satellites aloft using low-cost rockets. The space plane called SpaceShip Two, with its two pilots, was launched from a carrier aircraft flying high above Southern California’s Mojave Desert. For around USD 250,000 a seat, Virgin Galactic seeks to offer thrill rides featuring majestic views of the earth capped by a few minutes of weightlessness. After the flight, the closely held ... Read more

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is on track to send human to space in its ‘Gaganyaan Mission’.  the space agency said Tuesday. “The total programme cost is expected to be less than Rs 10,000 crores. Two unmanned Gaganyaan missions will be undertaken prior to sending humans to space,” ISRO chief K Sivan said today. The GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle, which has the necessary payload capability for the mission, will be used. “The total programme is expected to be completed by 2022 with the first unmanned flight within 30 months. The mission will aim to send a three-person crew to ... Read more

The two companies, leading the quest of space tourism revealed that they are just months away from their first space travel, carrying tourists; the date is yet to be confirmed. Virgin Galactic Spacecraft Virgin Galactic, founded by British billionaire Richard Branson, and Blue Origin, by Amazon creator Jeff Bezos – are striving to be the first to finish their tests. However, both the companies are using fundamentally different technology. Space tourism by both the companies does not mean to carry the passengers along the orbit of earth. Their weightless experience will last just minutes. The experience will be different from ... Read more

Planning to vacation outside this planet? We’ve been hearing about space tourism for long and reports suggest that it could soon turn out be a reality, perhaps this year itself. Virgin Galactic headed by Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin are the two companies which could take us beyond this planet. Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShip Two had a successful first powered test flight in April. To add to the excitement, Blue Origin had another successful test launch of its New Shepard rocket on April 29th. This is why 2018 is rumoured to be the year of space trips. The Virgin ... Read more

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is experimenting with potential structures for lunar habitation, informed Jitendra Singh, minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office that looks after the Department of Space. “ISRO along with academic institutions is doing experimentation on potential structures for lunar habitation. Various options are being studied about the requirements and complexities of habitats. The study is more towards futuristic developments,” the minister said. India plans to send an orbiter, a lander and a rover to the Moon this year to study lunar topography, mineralogy, elemental abundance, lunar exosphere and signatures of hydroxyl and water-ice.

ഔദ്യോഗിക സഞ്ചാരികള്‍ അല്ലാതെ ആര്‍ക്കും ബഹിരാകാശ സഞ്ചാരം സാധ്യമാകാത്തത് എന്തുകൊണ്ട്? പണമുണ്ടേല്‍ നമുക്ക് ചന്ദ്രനിലും ബഹിരാകാശത്തും പോകാനാവില്ലേ ? രാജേഷ്‌ Photo Courtesy: Santhosh George Kulangara സഞ്ചാരത്തിന് അതിരുകളില്ലന്നാണ് പറയാറ്. എന്നാല്‍ ആകാശം കടന്നു യാത്ര ചെയ്യുന്നത് കൃത്യമായ പരിശീലനം ലഭിച്ച ബഹിരാകാശ സഞ്ചാരികളും ചാന്ദ്ര ദൌത്യക്കാരും മാത്രം. . എന്തുകൊണ്ടാണ് സ്വകാര്യ കമ്പനികള്‍ക്ക് ഇതുവരെ സഞ്ചാരികളെ ആകാശത്തിനപ്പുറം എത്തിക്കാന്‍ കഴിയാതെ പോയത്. കൊതിച്ചവര്‍ നിരവധി ബഹിരാകാശ യാത്രാ പരിശീലനത്തിലാണ് സന്തോഷ്‌ ജോര്‍ജ് കുളങ്ങര എന്ന് മലയാളി കേള്‍ക്കാന്‍ തുടങ്ങിയിട്ട് ഏറെയായി. വിര്‍ജിന്‍ ഗാലറ്റ് കമ്പനിയാണ് സന്തോഷ്‌ ജോര്‍ജിനെയടക്കം ബഹിരാകാശം കാണിച്ച് തിരികെ കൊണ്ട് വരാന്‍ പദ്ധതിയിട്ടത്. പരിശീലനവും നടന്നു. പക്ഷെ ഇത് വരെ സന്തോഷ് ജോര്‍ജ് കുളങ്ങരക്ക് ബഹിരാകാശത്ത് പോകാനായില്ല. പരിശീലനം തുടരുന്നതായാണ് സന്തോഷ് ജോര്‍ജ് ഏറ്റവും ഒടുവില്‍ ഒരു മാധ്യമത്തോട് പറഞ്ഞത് . രണ്ടു യാത്രികരെ ഈ വര്‍ഷം ചന്ദ്രന്‍ കാണിക്കുമെന്ന് സ്പേസ് എക്സ് എന്ന കമ്പനി ... Read more