According to British media reports, Liam Gallagher, lead singer of the British rock band Oasis, gave his older brother Noel, the band’s lead guitarist, a flight into space on Virgin Galactic for his 40th birthday. Apparently Noel Gallagher won’t be one of the first 100 “Founders” on Virgin: the report said that his flight won’t […]
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A few short items from presentations at the ISDC by Alex Tai of Virgin Galactic and Chuck Lauer of Rocketplane on Friday: Tai said that Virgin was “toying with the idea of ‘space attendants’” on its SpaceShipTwo flights. The attendants would help passengers back into their seats at the end of the zero-g phase of […] Almost exactly a year after examining what the well-dressed space tourist will wear, the New York Times reexamines the subject, this time looking at what designer Philippe Starck is proposing for Virgin Galactic. His current design is pretty basic: a “plastic-looking bodysuit with attenuated gloves and a dome helmet”, according to the Times. But that’s […] USA Today takes a look today at the various people who have signed up to fly on Virgin Galactic, the usual mix of stars and starry-eyed folks, many of whom (like Victoria Principal) have gotten significant publicity already for signing up to fly on SpaceShipTwo. Virgin does reveal that they will be giving away two […] Virgin Galactic announced this week that it has signed up its first customer from the United Arab Emirates, Ibrahim Sharaf. He will apparently be one of the Founders, the first 100 to fly on Virgin’s suborbital flights. Not only will Sharaf get to fly to space, his company, Sharaf Travel, will be the accredited travel […] Australian newspapers reported over the weekend that Brisbane woman Glenys Ambe is the first person to book a flight on Virgin Galactic. First person? That’s going to be a bit of a surprise to the 100 or so Founders, plus anyone else who reached a deal with Virgin prior to Ms. Ambe; perhaps she’s the […] If you think you have a clue regarding when Virgin Galactic will begin commercial service, and you’re not averse to or prohibited from gambling, you might be able to make a buck or two. Web site BetUS is taking bets on when Virgin Galactic’s first commercial spaceflight will take place. The leading time frame is […] The Orange County Register gave Sunday a travel agent working with Virgin Galactic an opportunity to talk about the suborbital spaceflight experience. Tom Jackson has the basics of a suborbital spaceflight down, but he hasn’t captured all of the details. A few examples: The technology is proven with the successful winning of the X-Competition [sic] […] The website for Time magazine has a fairly detailed review article about the emerging space tourism industry. Writer Cathy Booth Thomas talks with a number of the leading companies, including Virgin Galactic, Armadillo Aerospace, and Benson Space Company, and also covers the more secretive Blue Origin; there’s also coverage if Bigelow Aerospace and developing spaceports, […] |
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Desert skepticism
While Virgin Galactic got a lot of publicity in the Middle East last week when it announced its first customer from the UAE, not everyone is impressed. In an article in ArabianBusiness.com, Anil Bhoyrul sees the announcement, and Virgin Galactic itself, as little more than a publicity stunt designed to further the overall Virgin brand. […]