A project to send tourists into the stratosphere proposed by the company zero2infinity has received funding from private investors. So it becomes a reality?
Spanish startup, zero2infinity was founded by aerospace engineer and entrepreneur josé Mariano lópez-Urdiales in 2009. The idea, created it ten years ago, is to use a large and durable balloon to send brave people (and probably scientists) to 36 km altitude.
According to the author of the project bloon (distorted balloon — “balloon”), views of our planet from 36 km is not much different from what can be seen from 100 km away, where the conditional border between air and outer space. In both cases, noticeable the sphericity of the Earth, and over the head of the observer is black space.
Not the sky, but still have no space. (Here and below the image zero2infinity.)
The difference is that suborbital ship (same SpaceShipTwo them. Richard Branson’s) is moving on a ballistic trajectory — which means that passengers have very little time to enjoy the spectacle. Those who dare to climb into the basket of the balloon, will be able to tickle the optic nerves for two hours.
A soft landing will provide the parachute.
The entire flight on bloon will take 5-6 hours. The maximum diameter of the ball will be 129 m, and closed the basket with a diameter of 4.3 m can accommodate two pilots and four adventurers. The climate inside will be moderately comfortable so that passengers can be in everyday clothes. Before the reduction there will be separation of the ball, and “residential unit” will descend on a parachute.
The first who decided to invest in this unusual and, it’s a risky venture, was a Spanish venture capital company Caixa Capital Risc. With adequate financing, test runs can take place in 2015.
The estimated cost of the ticket is €110 million ($154 thousand), which is a quarter cheaper compared to SpaceShipTwo.
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