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These adventures
are out of this world, almost
For
adventure travel that’s out of the ordinary, consider
going — well — out of this world. Arlington-based
Space Adventures is bringing space travel, or a near
replica, to the earth-bound. Adventure traveler Mike
McDowell started the company in 1998 with a team of
aerospace experts, and now offers a menu of five exotic
travel adventures.
Terrestrial
tours include such down-to-earth adventures as watching
a shuttle launch with an astronaut as a guide. For $1,150
per person, excluding airfare to Florida, the three-day
program provides a VIP tour of NASA’s Cape Kennedy,
post-launch celebration, an IMAX movie and three-night
stay at an area resort. The program has been popular
with businesses wanting to add some thrust to their
incentive programs, says Tereza Predescu, Space Adventures’
spokesperson.
The
company also offers unusual trips to extraordinary locations.
This year, it’s leading diving expeditions to the
Titanic and to the hydrothermal vents at Nine North
off the coast of Mexico, previously accessible only
to scientists. The Titanic trip costs $35,000; the Nine
North trip is $25,000. Non-divers can go along for $5,000.
One
adventure takes thrill-seekers to once-secret air bases
in Russia. For prices ranging from $5,000 to $13,000
per person, they can be strapped in a high-performance
MiG-29 Fulcrum jet fighter for combat aerobatics or
fly to the edge of space in a MiG-25 Foxbat plane. Likewise,
they can experience near-zero gravity in a four-engine
cargo jet just like cosmonauts, at a cost of $5,400
per person, not including airfare to Moscow. Space Adventures
is planning four zero gravity trips in 2003. “We’ve
had about 400 people go on the zero-g flight; it’s
our most popular product,” says Predescu. The supersonic
flights cost more because of the type of fuel required
to power these planes nearly out of the atmosphere.
If
you’ve got your heart set on suborbital flight,
however, you’ll have to get in line. More than
100 people have put down payments on the $98,000 trip,
but flights are not scheduled to start until late in
2005. For $20 million, you can book a flight to the
International Space Station — of course if you
can’t raise the money don’t feel too bad.
Neither could ‘N Sync singer Lance Bass. So far
the only tourist in space was California millionaire
Dennis Tito, who put up the money for an April 2001
flight.
—
Marjolijn Bijlefeld
Return
to Virginia Business - February 2003
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