OPPapers.com

200,000 Bucks For Just Three Hours

Jeannie (Hyung Jin) Wang BUSMK-256 Section 5825 Case #1 200,000 Bucks for Just Three Hours? Virgin Galactic and other companies are getting their hands on to provide the outer space as another site of attraction for the ordinary people. With an extremely high cost ranging around $100,000 up to $200,000, it isn’t surprising that there is a waitlist with names who have already put down the cost of the trip. To be more specific, by early February of 2009, the company had approximately 300 customers with customer deposits totaling up to $39 million. It is probably attracting all these potential tourists with what was once the “once in a lifetime” experience. The Virgin Galactic website at www.virgingalactic.com, describes it as an intense, wonderful and truly unforgettable experience. What does Virgin Galactic, founded by the British billionaire, Richard Branson, in 2004, provide their customers at their statedcost of $200,000? Katherine Mangu-Ward, in her article in the journal, Reason, illustrates the itinerary of the trip. The entire tour will last three hours. The tour will include seven minutes of zero gravity. This, of course, is done after a week of preflight training. Some might wonder if that is a long enough training time to prepare the passengers. The tourists will get to ride on the bigger and better SpaceShipTwo, modeled on SpaceShipOne, which the makers Burt Rutan and his company, Scaled Composites, explains that it will fly higher than the original SpaceShipOne and seat eight people in total including two pilots. In _Marketing Real _People, Real Choices, it is mentioned that because of the unavailability of space travel from an already existing airport, Virgin Galactic completed a deal with the State of New Mexico to construct a $225 million spaceport where SpaceShipTwocan be launched. This spaceport is to be located 25 miles south of the town Truth or Consequences. Taking into account the steady climate, high altitude, free airspace and overall low...