$200,000 for 68 Miles

Upwards, that is. Commercial space travel will happen in my lifetime – exciting times…

Space… the final frontier

What you see on the left is the surface of planet Venus. On its surface it features as much atmospheric pressure as you’d feel 910m underwater, an atmosphere 50 times thicker then air and consisting mainly of carbon dioxide, temperatures of around 460°C and a view of beautiful sulfuric acid clouds in the sky.  Russia is planning to return to the Morning Star with the first (unmanned) mission since 1985, launching a “multi-front scientific assault on the mysteries of Venus with an orbiting spacecraft, multiple air balloons, a surface lander and – possibly – an innovative ‘wind-flyer’” [BBC News].

And since we’re talking space, something a little more far out: hyperdrive propulsion. The proposed spaceship drive uses particles flying at more than half the speed of light, which “deliver a specific impulse that is greater than [their] specific momentum”. Do I look like I could make this up? The MIT says so!