BBC Knowledge Asia Edition - December 2014

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The capsule
has a bar
for serving
refreshments
during the voyage
In-flight Wi-Fi will
allow passengers
to share their
experiences online
Passengers are
afforded a 360 ̊
view through dual-
pane ‘viewports’
The capsule will
weigh around 4 tonnes

• twice the weight of a
  typical 4x4

A specially designed

ParaWing brings the

capsule gently back down

to Earth, guided by a pilot

with the support of mission

control. In the event of an

emergency, a back-up,

remote-controlled GPS-

guided landing system

does the job.

The capsule is outfitted

with state-of-the-art life

support systems,

designed to keep you

alive if there’s a leak.

PHOTO: WORLD VIEW ENTERPRISES X2, NASA, TREV M/WIKIPEDIA, COBATFOR/WIKIPEDIA, AVATAR/WIKIPEDIA, BOEING, RED BULL

The plans already have some high-

profile supporters from the space

community, including Mark Kelly, a veteran

of four Space Shuttle missions who now

works as World View’s Director of Flight

Crew Operations. Of course it’s not really

space. But as the former NASA astronaut

and president of the Commercial

Spaceflight Federation Michael Lopez-

Alegria says: “It’s pretty close and it is a

totally different experience,” he says.

World View Enterprises wants to take

passengers by balloon to around 32km (20

miles) up – not high enough to experience

weightlessness, but far enough to “be

above 99 per cent of the Earth’s

atmosphere” according to CEO Jane

Poynter. “When you are up there, the sky is

black. It demonstrates that we do live on

this planet,” she says. Passengers will also

get to experience something few humans

have ever seen – the so-called ‘thin blue

line’ of the Earth’s atmosphere as the Sun

sets or rises.

The project is about giving people the

chance to see the Earth from as high as

possible, something previously the

preserve of an elite few. And that

experience is already reflected in the type

of passengers. “We have a lot of space

enthusiasts signed up,” says Poynter. “But

also a lot of Earth enthusiasts; people who

want to go to space to be able to observe

the planet.”

Proven technology

So although you won’t be travelling the

100km (62 miles) up to cross the Kármán

line, and be officially deemed to have

gone ‘into’ space, World View offers a

completely new type of spaceflight

experience, albeit with old technology.

For starters, unlike other spaceflight

companies, “all the technology has

already been tested,” says Poynter.

NEED TO KNOW:

WORLD VIEW

“When you are

up there, the

sky is black. It

demonstrates we do

live on this planet”

Jayne Poynter, CEO of World View Enterprises

The World View capsule

suspended beneath

its ParaWing and

helium-filled balloon

SPACE TOURISM