Space Tourism.

The Ferengi would be so proud:

Richard Branson wants to start up Space Tourism, and has signed up the guys who entered the X-Prise with SpaceShipOne.

First vessel the VSS Enterprise.

So the Enterprise as a space-going vessel, in that great and noble tradtion of the Federation may well start out as a vehicle designed to cash in on a new tourism fad. Theres one in the eye for all those Trekkies.

Historical Note I had heard somewhere that NASA had always planned to call the second Space Shuttle Enterprise, but the letter writing campaign organised by Trekkies in that late 1970's shifted this designation to the first shuttle to honour Star Trek. Unfortunately this first model was a test bed vessel and was never designed to fly into space, but only for atmospheric test flights. *

*Only heard this, correct me if I am wrong?

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Historical Note I had heard somewhere that NASA had always planned to call the second Space Shuttle Enterprise, but the letter writing campaign organised by Trekkies in that late 1970's shifted this designation to the first shuttle to honour Star Trek. Unfortunately this first model was a test bed vessel and was never designed to fly into space, but only for atmospheric test flights. *

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Yep, that's right. Sadly humorous, but right. Branson -- quite the maverick that one. Virgin Space Ship. :) Now that's funny :D

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Originally posted by Dan Gurden

First vessel the VSS Enterprise.

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"Virgin Star Ship"???

* cue porn music *

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Originally posted by REG
"Virgin Star Ship"???

* cue porn music *

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Do you think he maybe hired Braga as a Marketing Director? We will find out if the hostesses all look like Seven or T'Pol.

You know? This £100,000 price tag is looking better value for money all the time.

Now they just need to build one which looks like a submarine and put some cryogenic stasis pods in it and Khan's escape ship is ready ! :D

Not sure about the letter writing campaign , but the first non spaceworthy space shuttle, with a wee airodynamic end cap (which covered where the rockets would be) was launched from a converted Boeing airliner (I think 747 because it was the biggest plane at the time, but it might have been one of the heavy lifter variants i am not up on planes that much :D) to test it's aerodynamic surfaces un flight.. and it did successfuly land and worked well.. sadly never to be used again.. I guess there should be nothing to stop them from retrofutting it's spaceframe, but then I suspect it's probably parked up on bricks at the space centre in Houston :D

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Originally posted by REG
"Virgin Star Ship"???

* cue porn music *

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Must...resist..."Enterprise"...joke... :D

- Don

Hmm T'porn ? :D

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Originally posted by Tobian
Now they just need to build one which looks like a submarine and put some cryogenic stasis pods in it and Khan's escape ship is ready ! :D

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Awesome! :D

- Don

Hee.


Thanks, I needed that.

Alex

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Originally posted by Tobian
I guess there should be nothing to stop them from retrofutting it's spaceframe, but then I suspect it's probably parked up on bricks at the space centre in Houston :D

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Well, it was tested more than once.

And it'd probably be easier and cheaper just to build a new shuttle than to refit Enterprise, unless someone invents a Structural Integrity Field.

And it's in the annex to the Air and Space Museum in Washington DC, not Houston.

Other than that, though...

As for the 'one in the eye'... poo on that. Anything that gets more people into space - aside from the Earth blowing up - is a good thing, and trekkies should be happy about it. They could call it the SS Minnow, for all I care.

How long are suborbital flights anyway? .... "a three-hour tour, a three-hour tour..."