

For Sale: Balloon Rides to Near-Space for $75,000 a Seat - sasvari
http://www.space.com/23291-space-tourism-balloon-flights.html

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3327
2015 seems ambitious. Needless to say the ride up is safe, but mind you there
is a glider structure carrying 6 passengers, in other words an "untested
aircraft". Aircraft development takes time and lots of $$$ in testing.
Building this and getting the proper approval is no easy feat. Not only that
there is only one agency in the world that also has built a massive glider to
decent from the space and/or edge of space...

Long story short, 75K x 6 makes 450k a pop, say it goes up monthly in its
inception, that makes ~ $5.5M. Felix Baumgartners jump reportedly cost around
$20-30M. Granted it was higher, and the design needed a space suit and a
capsule along with the a massive team. Regardless, this will require a capsule
and a solid team, not to mention a more complex capsule design that can soar
down and land in 1 piece.

I don't want to poop on the cake but 1 accident also everyone gets to watch
Jimi Hendrix play in the garden of eden till eternity, which also spells the
end of the company and idea. So 2015 extremely ambitious, Highly doubtful
unless they have some some nutty billionaire willing to throw in 50M to see
what happens.

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hedgie13
I think I'd prefer MiG-29 ride:
[http://www.skyandspacetravel.com/included_sky.html](http://www.skyandspacetravel.com/included_sky.html)

Not as high, but much cheaper, sky is already pretty black and you get a
chance to control the damn thing.

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VladRussian2
previously they were flying mig-25 & 31 and these planes can go higher,
especially mig-25, yet they are older and seems to be more harder(expensive)
to maintain.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izIClWYKK1o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izIClWYKK1o)

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danmaz74
I wonder what is the marginal cost of each launch here. I might be missing
something, but it looks like something that could cost much much less, if
there will be enough demand to drive competition.

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KwanEsq
But you don't get to jump out? Disappointing.

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noonespecial
You can jump out. Once.

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simonswords82
Not if you have breathing apparatus and a parachute :) See
[http://halojumper.com/](http://halojumper.com/) for example

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elorant
Well if you’re rich and looking for a unique way to propose to your better
half this could be it.

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abirfrankel
Nothing is more romantic than an oxygen mask and a space suit.

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vaadu
Near space? 30 kilometers is not even a 3rd of the way to the 100km boundary
of space.

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ackfoo
Yes, but that boundary is rather arbitrary. Humans require a pressure suit
above the Armstrong Limit at around 19,000 metres, so by a more meaningful
definition of space as "a place where you need a space suit", this trip
qualifies.

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kevinpet
I suspect Virgin Galactic will do better, even at over double this cost.
Virgin is going to give the feel of a rocket launch, like everyone has been
watching on TV since they were kids. Also, weightlessness.

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ricg
Thinking about space debris: What happens to the balloon afterwards? Will it
remain in orbit or sink down to earth? Could the balloons cause problems for
other aircrafts later on?

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omegant
30km is not space (official boundary is at 100km). Also the balloon is not in
orbit, so even if they it could go much much higher, the debris would fall
straight down. Space debris come from spacecraft that are in orbit, and
therefore remain in orbit for quite some time. That´s why they are dangerous.

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hedgie13
I am so tired of people suggesting that balloons "go to space".

Yes, Felix Baumgartner set a new record and his jump was a great
accomplishment. But it was not a "space jump".

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tslathrow
Now if we could somehow play disc golf up there...

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acqq
How does the balloon rise? I don't see any heaters to use plain air. It then
probably wastes helium, supply of which is limited:

[http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/med-
tech/why-...](http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/med-tech/why-is-
there-a-helium-shortage-10031229)

Still I don't have the doubt that the flights can be profitable for the
organizer.

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rthomas6
>The federal government, which sets helium prices

What. Why?

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tanzam75
Helium is considered a strategic resource.

Going as far back as the 1930s, when it was restricted because of its scarcity
and use in naval airships. For example, the United States refused to sell
helium to Nazi Germany -- which is why the airship _Hindenburg_ was filled
with hydrogen.

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dmak
I feel silly for asking, but will I feel any form of zero gravity at this
point?

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bmm6o
No. In the big picture you're barely leaving the surface. 30km off a spheroid
of radius ~6000km means gravity is essentially what it is at the surface.

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GenesisMachines
near = 1/11th the altitude of the ISS.

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corin_
And the ISS is only ~1/10,000,000th the altitude or Neptune - neither of these
things define where "space" begins or ends.

