You don’t have to be an astronaut to travel in space

You don’t have to be an astronaut to travel in space with WORLD VIEW.

Following on from the exploits of Felix Baumgartner and Alan Eustace who successfully broke the world free-falling records (39km and 41km respectively) jumping from a helium balloon, the WORLD VIEW project suggests a more “affordable”* way to visit space, by being attached to a high-altitude balloon.

Different stages of the journey*

The promotion website demonstrates how the 6-man capsule rests in it’s support frame, whilst the ground team inflate the balloon with helium.

After a gentle lift-off, the capsule reaches an altitude of 30,000m in about 2hrs, and the edge of earth’s atmosphere. Once at this altitude, the vessel navigates in the stratosphere for about two hours whilst the passengers enjoy the view.

For the return journey, the pilot then provokes a descent by releasing helium from the balloon. The pilot will then free the capsule from the balloon, which will be recovered for recycling. The “Parawing” then takes over for the remainder of the flight, travelling gracefully towards it’s predetermined landing zone, where the pilot will deploy the vessel’s struts for a gentle landing.

From lift-off to touchdown, the experience should last 5-6hrs, and the distance covered between the two could be anything up to 300miles, depending on the wind speed.

* This description comes from the website but there is no indication about the control of the capsule for the final approach …

DISCOVER

– worldviewexperience.com