If you had this view, would you invest your money to preserve the planet or to try to get rich selling the trip to the wealthy and privileged?
Astronauts Get Down to Earth
Alan Boyle
Cosmic Log
Space travelers from around the world are gathering this week to focus on the most precious planet they’ve ever discovered: Earth.
The planetary introspection is taking place in Seattle during this year’s congress of the Association of Space Explorers, which brings together astronauts and cosmonauts from the United States, Russia and other nations….
Perhaps the most enduring way of passing along the “Overview Effect” is by getting young people excited about space exploration, and the Association of Space Explorers was doing its part on that front this week. The spacefliers spent more time in public outreach - at Seattle-area schools, universities and other venues - than they did being cooped up in lecture halls.
The South Australian Tourism Commission is “cautiously optimistic” about Virgin Galactic flying space tourism vehicles from Woomera. The London-based company is considering a spaceport in Australia at some point in the future.
The Wimmera Mail-Times reports that Mrs. Amanda Wilson of Horsham, South Australia wants to invite Virgin Galactic boss Richard Branson to her town as part of a bid to locate a spaceport there. The paper really doesn’t explain who Mrs. Wilson is, but she is truly excited about space travel. She may have to wait awhile; the paper quotes a Virgin official as saying Australia is not in the company’s immediate plans.
Speaking of Virgin Galactic, The Advertiser has a story about Englishman Richard Burr, who is number 205 on the list to fly into suborbital space aboard SpaceShipTwo. The 52-year-old North Norfolk man is a property developer and businessman. “Everybody has a dream,” Burr said, “mine happens to be expensive.”
The world’s next space tourist, Richard Garriott, will take custom photographs of Earth for 200 paying subscribers on his ISS flight in October. The “Earth Portraits” program is being co-sponsored by the Association of Space Explorers and the space memorabilia website collectSPACE.com.
