Klingonmike

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Posts posted by Klingonmike

  1. Posted · Edited by Klingonmike

    I got my information from from CNN and 3 other news sources at the radio station I work at. And I'm correct at 2-3 hours. They all confirm that.

    As for the VSS, thats what I was thinking as well.

    I got this from BBC news:

    Last Updated: Monday, 27 September, 2004, 08:38 GMT 09:38 UK

     

    E-mail this to a friend Printable version

     

    Virgin boss in space tourism bid

     

     

    The deal will see a bigger version of SpaceShipOne being developed

    Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson has signed a £14m agreement which will see his company take passengers into space.

    The British entrepreneur is having five "spaceliners" built in the US by the team behind the SpaceShipOne vehicle.

     

    The California-based rocket plane became the first privately developed carrier to go above 100km in June.

     

    Sir Richard says it will cost around £100,000 to go on a "Virgin Galactic" spaceliner, and the first flights should begin in about three years' time.

     

    If it is a success, we want to move into orbital flights and then, possibly, even get a hotel up there

     

    Sir Richard Branson

    Sir Richard revealed his new venture at a briefing held on Monday at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London.

     

    "We've done quite a lot of research; we think there are about 3,000 people out there who would want to do this," Sir Richard told the BBC.

     

    "If it is a success, we want to move into orbital flights and then, possibly, even get a hotel up there."

     

    'Historic' step

     

    The deal is with Mojave Aerospace Ventures, the company set up by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and aviation pioneer Burt Rutan to exploit the technology developed for SpaceShipOne.

     

    HAVE YOUR SAY

    Had I the money I'd certainly go!

     

    David, Stockholm, Sweden

     

     

    Send us your comments

    SpaceShipOne is one of more than 20 craft vying for the $10m (£5.7m) Ansari X-Prize, which rewards the first team to send a non-government, three-person craft over 100km (62 miles) into space, and repeat the feat in the same carrier inside two weeks.

     

    The Virgin boss was flanked at Monday's announcement by Rutan, who has already collaborated with Sir Richard on Virgin GlobalFlyer, a jet plane designed to fly non-stop around the world without refuelling.

     

    THE VIRGIN SPACESHIP

     

    The vehicle will have room for five passengers

    A week's pre-flight training will be required

    Three-hour trip; three minutes of weightlessness

    Flights to leave from Mojave Desert, initially

    Tickets to cost about £100,000, perhaps less

    "Virgin has been in talks with Paul Allen and Burt throughout this year and in the early hours of Saturday morning signed a historic deal to license SpaceShipOne's technology to build the world's first private spaceship to go into commercial operating service," said Sir Richard, who founded the Virgin Group of companies.

     

    Commentators said it was a logical next step for someone to come in and move the SpaceShipOne technology into the commercial flight business.

     

    David Ashford, director of UK-based Bristol Spaceplanes Limited, another X-Prize contender, said space was finally being opened up for ordinary people.

     

    "The price will come down - there's no doubt about that," he told BBC News Online.

     

    "The X-Prize has succeeded in doing what it set out to do. The original idea was to break the mould of thinking - to break Nasa's monopoly on space policy. Space tourism should have happened many years ago."

     

    Design, build and testing

     

    The deal with Mojave Aerospace Ventures allows Sir Richard to use the SpaceShipOne technology. He will now have five bigger versions of the current vehicle built. The Virgin SpaceShip (VSS) will carry five passengers compared with the two-passenger capacity offered by SpaceShipOne.

     

    The final design for the maiden ship, the VSS Enterprise, should be signed off in 2005.

     

     

    Branson and Rutan are involved with Steve Fossett in the Virgin GlobalFlyer project

    The vehicle will then have to be built and tested before beginning a scheduled space service.

     

    "Every passenger will have a spectacular view; they will have considerable windows and luxurious seats," Sir Richard said.

     

    "Initially, they will take off from the Mojave Desert near Los Angeles. It will be a three-hour journey. Passengers would have about a week's training prior to taking off."

     

    The Virgin Group has interests in a range of businesses, including trains, finance, soft drinks, music, mobile phones, holidays, and cars.

     

    Globally, Sir Richard is probably best known for his Virgin Atlantic airline and for his speedboat and ballooning adventures.

     

    He said many of the group's existing pilots would be in line to take the controls of a VSS vehicle after the necessary training.

  3. Posted

    British mogul Richard Branson announced monday that his Virgin Group plans to offer commercial space flights by 2007 through a new service called Virgin Galatic, and envisions taking up 3,000 travelers in the first 5 years. Branson has made a deal to license technology from Mojave Aerospace Adventures, a firm owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Contruction of the first ship, the VSS Enterprise is set to begin contuction next year readying the flights by 2007. A trip will cost $208,000 for a two-three hour flight, including three days of training. The Vigin Group includes Virgin Records, Virgin Mobile Phone network, and several airlines including Virgin Atlantic.

     

    So save all your money now folks, we just might get a chance to go into space in our lifetime!!! And I think its cool that the first commercial spacecraft will be named Enterprise!

  4. Posted

    I like Jolene Blalock, I think she does a fine job with her character T'Pol. As for not liking her because she cusses and used God's name, well if that bothered me I would hate everyone I work with, I would hate all my friends, hell I would hate myself! LOL

  12. Posted

    Nope never will. My mothers friend used a Ouiji board when she was younger with her friends and they all thought they were talking to an 8 year old boy when in fact they were speaking with satan. That's just kinda creepy.

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    Now thats funny!!! :)

    Ouiji boards do not conjure up satan or evil spirts, its just a board game.

  14. Posted

    After Enterprise finishes its run (season 7 I hope!) I would say Star Trek needs to take about 5 years off. Judging from all the bashing Enterprise gets and even Voyager was not well liked by many, I say its time to chill out and get the fans hungry again. I'm talking no more movies or TV shows for 5 years.

    I love Star Trek and would like to see it continue, but any new Star Trek show would just be bashed again.

    Take 5 years off, I'll wait because good things come to those who wait.

  15. Posted

    I use to have a Ouiji board when I was a kid, my mom gave it to me for Christmas. We use to use it all the time, of course none of the things it said would happen never did. I don't believe there is anything evil or demonic about it, its mostly just used for fun.

    It also told me I would die soon, that was almost 30 years ago! I too an still waiting! LOL

  16. Posted

    I voted abortions and same sex marrage, I want Kerry to win because he will leave the abortion issue alone and women will continue to have a choice. And I'm all for Same sex marrage, this is an issue the federal goverment has no right to interfere with. It should be a state or local goverment issue (of course I don't see why anyone should stand in the way of two people in love.)

    As long as Bush is president then people rights will continue to be in jeapordy.

  17. Posted

    The ONLY good thing about the show was the great music and the visual effects.  Now all they need to do is work on the characters AS AN ENSAMBLE, and they will have a good show.

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    I don't know, for me personally I think they've done a fine job with the other characters, although I wish Hoshi would get a little more air time.This is a top notch show that is worthy of the name Star Trek!

  18. Posted

    What a screwed up world we live in when kids can't go to school without worring about killed by terrorist. And what worries me is that it could easly happen to any school here in the US or around the world.

    And whats worse is there is nothing we can really do about it.

    The war on terror will never end because there are millions of people willing to do things like this to make their point,its sad but true.

    For every Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussain, there are hundreds more just like them waiting to take over when they are killed or captured.

  19. Posted

    I work 2 jobs. I work as a disc jockey for a Classic Rock station, and I'm also the Master Carpenter/Crew Chief for the Waterside Theatre on Roanoke Island, N.C. My day starts at 4:30 am, I work until 3:00 pm, get a couple of hours for a nap then go to the theatre at 6:30 and work until 10:30 pm.

  21. Posted

    What I like the most about Enterprise are the great stories I've seen, especially this last season. The show just keeps getting better!!

    I've enjoy watching the characters grow and come into their own. Enterprise is a wonderful show that makes a great addition to the Star Trek universe.