Yahoo News reports that the first shuttle to take tourists into space is built and will soon be ready for customers. Its specific purpose is to take those curious people with an extra $200,000 floating around in their pockets on an ephemeral, yet magnificent journey to into space. The private spaceship is built and owned by Virgin Galactic, a reliable airline company.
Last Sunday the company completed its first solo flight with the rocket SpaceShipTwo designed for private passage into space. It achieved safe entry through the stratosphere and into the mesosphere, the second and third major layers of the earth’s atmosphere. In doing this, Virgin Galactic is one step closer to fly its paying passengers. This major milestone will make the program to become the world’s first manned commercial space vehicle.
SpaceShipTwo is carried to an altitude of 45,000 feet by its “mothership,” a larger plane, and is then released. After its separation, SpaceShipTwo will use rocket boosters to fly into space. It is manned by two pilots, and can fit six passengers. The spacecraft will glide back to earth for a safe landing. At $200,000 a ticket, several hundred people are interested and can’t wait the day for liftoff. Even though it is still undergoing rigorous testing, there is already a long list of 370 paid customers with a total deposit of $50 million awaiting the day to experience space not through television, internet, or telescopes, but through their very own eyes. Imagine 40 years ago, a street vender looking up into the heavens. He would never think that he himself could be up there viewing the enigma of space. Of course he might have to obtain a higher income, but eventually he might make it there. It is an amazing journey and an incredible step into the modern world of humankind. 
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