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February 15, 2010

Space Bulletin: February 2010

 

 

STATUS UPDATE: SPACEPORT AMERICA

Watch the Spaceport America Groundbreaking

Steve Landeene, Executive Director of Spaceport America.

The Virgin Galactic terminal design by URS/Foster+Partners.

Click on the image above for a tour of Spaceport America.

On June 19th of 2009 ground was broken on a project of historic proportions. Construction has been progressing on a 10,000-foot long, 200-foot wide runway designed to handle any flying vehicle on the planet or returning from space! As of this week, 50% of the asphalt has been laid. That is the third layer of a four-layer process. Next and last will be a 14-inch thick layer of concrete, which is projected to finish off the runway by mid summer. Appropriately enough, the project has been sped along with the precision assistance of satellites! Rapid construction of the terminal will begin soon. In fact, if you were to drive up to Spaceport America in December 2010, you would see the finished airfield, taxiway and apron, and a fuel storage area  - all in the vicinity of a nearly completed Virgin Galactic terminal. Yet another real-life example that the New Era of Space Tourism is here!

BEHIND THE SCENES

A little-known fact is that Spaceport America is being constructed with particular care given to historical sensitivities. The site happens to be adjacent to the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro - the historic 1,500 mile trade route from Mexico City to Santa Fe which dates to 1598. Archaeologists are on hand full time scrutinizing every piece of overturned dirt. If a discovery is made, everything stops to allow for analysis and cataloguing the artifacts in question. Hundreds of historically significant artifacts have been located, catalogued and stored for future exhibitions.

For more information and updates see Spaceport America Twitter and Facebook.

Special thanks goes out to Aaron Prescott, Chief of Staff with the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, the state agency responsible for building and operating Spaceport America.

For more information on Spaceport America, the Virgin Galactic project or to reserve your place in space contact me today...

Barbara King 
(913) 338-2244 
barbara@greatgetaways.travel
www.greatgetaways.travel

 

 

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December 18, 2009

Send the ultimate gift and love it when they claim it's spacey!

 

 

             Consider what could be "the ultimate gift" for your loved ones; A three-day astronaut experience, culminating in a suborbital flight aboard VSS Enterprise!  A deposit in the amount of $20,000 will secure a reservation. Deposits may be assigned to the individual of your choosing and are fully refundable minus a small handling fee. You can even receive a 10% discount for a charter flight carrying up to six astronauts. Reserving now also permits future astronauts intimate involvement in the project by way of exclusive invitations to events surrounding project milestones.

 

             Fewer than 500 people have ever been into space and already there are about 300 more who have made their deposits. Contact me to reserve your loved ones a place in history!

 

                                                               Happy Holidays,

                                                             Barbara King,ASA

        Barbara King  |  Co-President  |  greatgetaways.travel  |  913.338.2244  |  800.546.TRIP  |  Virtuoso Member

                                                   

 

 

 

 

 

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December 11, 2009

If you want the "Real Deal" here it is!

Watch Virgin Galactic’s official video of the unveiling of SpaceShip 2, the VSS Enterprise!!!

Barbara King  |  Co-President  |  greatgetaways.travel  |  913.338.2244  |  800.546.TRIP  |  Virtuoso Member

Please consider the environment before printing this email

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Filed under  //   Accredited Space Agent   Barbara King'   Mojave   space   space flight   space travel   SpaceShip 2   Virgin Galactic  

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December 10, 2009

Tired of watching videos of the unveiling? Not me!!!

http://bit.ly/5Dr7c8

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Filed under  //   Accredited Space Agent   Mojave   Richard Branson   Sir Richard Branson   space   space flight   space travel   SpaceShip 2   Virgin Galactic  

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December 7, 2009

What an unbelievable few days!

I am on the bus headed for Mojave! It's kind of oxymoron to go by bus to see a spaceship! I have a silver admittance pass engraved w/ Virgin Galactic and a tattoo of evolution of flight.

-- Sent from my P

Just want to let you know the past few days have been unreal! I met the two test pilots who will put Spaceship 2 through all the test flights. One is from Scaled Composites (Burt Rutan's company) and the other is from Virgin Galactic. Both have amazing credentials and are seasoned veterans. We were also briefed on US rules and regulations that sounded like alphabet soup to me. I learned about ITAR (to monitor weapons, terrorism, etc) which has to do with anything exported by the US and SDN, a project of the Treasury Department and OFAC or ABCDEFG!!! The Executive Director of Spaceport America spoke as did his Virgin Galactic counterpart. Tonight we learned about US initiatives for different types of space programs related to military defense and future projects such as orbital solar panels. We also discussed other companies role in this new era of space exploration and how all of these projects will provide data that will lead to the next step---routine use of orbital flights for consumers and payload.

I could go on and on. Bottom line---it finally hit me---this is not just Richard Branson's novelty; this is serious business. Sometimes, I think I start buying into people's skepticism and I forget how very real all of this is. We are pioneers in a whole new industry---consumer space tourism and private space exploration and commerce. I have become a pending member of the International Organization for Space Tourism and Commerce and will probably attend the first symposium for it in July, 2010.

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December 6, 2009

It's Official!

My invite to the unveing tomorrow and a photo of panelists briefing us on SpacePort America!

 

The invitation reads: Sir Richard Branson, Burt Rutan and the Directors of Virgin Galactic are delighted to invite you to the unveil of SpaceShip Two, the world's first commercial manned spacecraft. Witness a milestone in aerospace technology and the dawn of private space launch for humans, science research and payload.

In the photo above: Carolyn Wincer, Head of Astronaut Sales, Virgin Galactic; Mark Butler, Program Manager (Spaceports), Virgin Galactic;; and Steve Landeene, Executive Director, Spaceport America...plus the backs of the heads of some other ASAs!

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

 

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December 4, 2009

3+3+3+3 Facts You Never Knew or T Minus 3 and Counting!

3 years ---- since Sir Richard Branson chose me as one of 47 Travel Advisors in the US to represent Virgin Galactic, a consumer space travel company  (developed from the proven technology and genius of Burt Rutan, Scaled Composites).

3 nights ---- spent in Florida while I trained at the Kennedy Space Center to become a Virgin Galactic Accredited Space Agent in January, 2007 (capped off by an elegant final night celebration of wining and dining beneath the huge Saturn 5 rocket!).

3 hours --- touring Scaled Composites in Mojave, California, seeing, touching  and being photographed by the Virgin Galactic mothership, VMS Eve, meeting Burt Rutan, Brian Binnie, and Chief Engineer Robert Morgan (from my home town of Highland Park, Ill. and I was a classmate of his sister, Lindy --- I know, small world---- or should I see small Universe???)

3 days --- until I return to Mojave, California for the unveiling of Virgin Galactic's Spaceship2 (they promised a photo of me in front of Spaceship2 for you non-believers)

I could go on and on with my theme of 3's---such as 3 minutes to dance with Sir Richard Branson (anyone giving odds on him asking me to dance?), 300 photos I'll take at the unveiling December 7th, 30 port-a-potties for attendees to use at the celebration event, etc (  a word of 3 letters ;-)  ); however, I'll spare you any more lame attempts at 3's...except for this last one:

3 groups of letters separated by dots that is a MUST SEE NOW: www.virgingalactic.com/

This is Virgin Galactics way cool new website that gives you the complete scoop on all things Galactic and in an entertaining way, so typical of all things Virgin! Bet you'll want to play around on www.virgingalactic.com for more than 3 minutes!

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November 29, 2009

10 Views of Earth from the Moon, Mars and Beyond [Slide Show]: Scientific American Slideshows

via scientificamerican.com

T minus 8 and counting! Virgin Galactic will unveil the first consumer-purposed spaceship on December 7, 2009! I am so excited to be invited to attend! Want to attend? Reserve a ride on Virgin Galactic! Email me to make your reservation: barbara@greatgetaway.com

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July 29, 2009

If you leave now and fly to Oshkosh, you can witness this live tomorrow!

 

 

 

 

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July 6, 2009

Fly Me to the Moon...

July 20, 2009 marks the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11’s historic moon landing. Wow---40 years----that’s a long time, isn’t it? If you were alive back then (as I and other “older than dirt” folks were), do you remember what you were doing? I remember watching TV, staring at this amazing feat of man walking on the moon! I was certain that many more astronauts would be landing on the moon, maybe even Mars, maybe fly to Saturn to check out its rings…maybe…maybe…maybe not.

In our fury to honor President Kennedy’s prediction, we used all our technical know-how to successfully send a crew to the moon and back and then it all kind of fizzled out. There are tons of articles and books about the “whys” of the fizzle so I won’t recount the reasons/speculations here. Suffice to say, only a few hundred people have had the opportunity to experience Space Travel in over 40 years----yikes!

Now, thanks to a partnership of Sir Richard Branson and the celebrated Burt Rutan, winner of the esteemed Ansari X Prize, people will be space bound aboard Virgin Galactic! This is not a joke or a sci-fi fantasy. Burt Rutan has created a space craft that has successfully “been there” AND back three times in a matter of weeks in 2004. Now, Virgin Galactic has created a more substantial vehicle that will hold 2 pilots and 6 passengers per flight.

A year ago, in 2008, my husband and I flew to Scaled Composites in Mojave, CA, to view the mothership, the VMS Eve, named after Richard Branson’s mom. The Eve has completed several test flights and soon will be visiting the Oshkosh Air Show the end of July.  Spaceship 2 will roll out in a few months (I know the unofficial date but have been sworn to secrecy---sorry!) and I look forward to seeing her soon, too. Who knows…maybe my kids will celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Virgin Galactic’s first flights!

So, what will you do to celebrate the 40th anniversary? There are several events to mark the occasion---I recommend the event below (thanks to NASA for this info):

Newseum, Washington, DC

Time:

2 p.m. to 3 p.m. (approximate) EDT
Description:

NASA and the Newseum will broadcast a special panel event commemorating the first human landing on our moon. Journalist Nick Clooney will moderate, asking and facilitating questions from the audience. The program also will be streamed into science centers and museums around the country. Six have been selected to participate:

- Boston Museum of Science (Boston)

- California Science Center (Los Angeles)
- Denver Museum of Nature and Science (Denver)

- Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago)
- St. Louis Science Center (St. Louis)

- American Museum of Natural History (New York)
Panelists include:

 
- Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11)

- Charles Duke (Apollo 16)
- Alan Bean (Apollo 12)

- A current NASA astronaut

- Laurie Leshin, PhD., deputy director for Science and Technology at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

Public:

Program is free with museum admission or membership.

 

span

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Filed under  //   Accredited Space Agent   Apollo 11   ASA   moon   Newseum   Scaled Composites   space   space flight   space travel   Virgin Galactic  

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