Space tourism is coming to Tucson with a World View

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TUCSON, Arizona (KOLD News 13) – At the age of 90, William Shatner from Star Trek flew into space aboard the Blue Origin rocket. It was a round-trip flight, but it made quite an impression on Shatner.

“What you gave me in the most profound experience you can imagine,” Shatner told Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos. “I’m so touched by what just happened, extraordinary.”

This is the feeling that more Americans will feel in the months and years to come as civil space travel has become a reality and much more is on the way.

“We started taking reservations last Monday,” said Ryan Hartman, President and CEO of World View, a space company. “As of this morning we’re already at 450 reservations.”

Enough to keep her busy schedule for a year.

Starting in 2024, World View will bring people into “near space” and not into space for US $ 50,000.

Half a dozen passengers per flight will spend six to eight hours in a capsule floating 100,000 feet between Earth and space, which is a profound experience.

“The excitement it caused, you know people are excited that this is a reality,” Hartman said. “Our role in all of this is to make it achievable.”

While it can be a bit expensive at first, prices will come down to make it easier to get to in the future as more people get into the market and space becomes more common.

“I don’t want this to be an exhilarating ride, I don’t want this to be a significant adrenaline rush of 6G on takeoff and 5G on re-entry,” he said. “This is something that people can experience, how calm and gentle it can be.”

World View first brought the idea of ​​space tourism to Tucson in 2016 when Pima County’s board of directors voted to build and rent a $ 15 million facility and launch pad to the company.

There has been a lot of skepticism that people would pay to go into space, but since Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin started taking ordinary citizens into space, the doubters no longer have any doubts.

“This is the only solution where you see the earth, see the curvature of the earth, see the darkness of space,” he said. “There is no other way than World View.”

Hartman says his company isn’t competing with Virgin Galactic or Blue Origin, but it’s making the market up and offering a different alternative for those who want the experience.

A smooth ride as opposed to a rocket. But the goal is the same: a profound experience.

Copyright 2021 KOLD News 13. All rights reserved.

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