Have you ever wanted to visit space? Did you ever think a balloon would be the way you’d get there? Well, that might be true sooner than you think, as World View, a luxury flight capsule (which is powered by a balloon), in an estimated four years, will be able to take people 100,000 feet up into space with five-hour long tours through the Earth’s atmosphere.
World View comes from the Paragon space Development Corporation, which is an Arizona-based company that has been attempting to find ways to take civilians to space for years. For the design of the World View luxury balloon, Paragon consulted Priestmangoode, a British studio that focuses on transportation design and has provided numerous airlines, such as Thai Airways and Malaysia Airways, with new class cabins, along with also inventing a concept for a high speed rail.
“You’re going 100,000 feet above the earth’s surface,” says Nigel Goode, director of Priestmangoode. “You’re seeing the curvature of earth, the blackness of space. It’s such a life-changing experience. This is what it’s all about.”
Goode’s plan is to have the World View flights start before dusk. It takes the balloon that provides the power for the capsule around 90 minutes to get to 100,000 feet, and then World View can then simply drift into orbit for four or five hours. The spacecraft has four circular windows, which permit two of the six passengers on board (along with the two crew members) their own personal front row seat to near space.
Goode and company also want the interior of the World View to be something special. The luxury balloon is expected to feature a bar, a snack area, and a bathroom. There will four pairs of seats to face each of the four windows, but six of those eight seats will need to swivel, according to Goode, so to ensure that all passengers can look out at the direction travel as the World View takes off and lands.
“It’s got to look as though you’re traveling to space,” he says. “Every element is so the passenger feels like one of the chosen few, sitting in an environment that won’t be familiar for them.”
There has not be an official price set yet for trips on the World View. However, Goode believes that they will cost under $100,000.
Here are some other pictures:
Photos via Wired
