Jan. 14, 2009 -- There's a new customer lining up for rides aboard commercial spaceships being designed to ferry passengers into suborbital space -- NASA. No, the U. S. government isn't looking to break into the space tourism business -- at least not yet. But the agency is interested in what science can be done during the three- to five-minute suborbital hops. That's how much time experiments -- and tourists -- would spend in microgravity during rides being offered by aspiring space launch services firms including Virgin Galactic, XCOR Aerospace and others. "You have this whole community of scientists who have been passionate about space their whole lives," said John Gedmark, who oversees the Washington, D.C.-based Personal Spaceflight Federation, a trade group for the fledging industry. "All of a sudden, they're going to get to go fly in space," Gedmark said. "It's not just going to be astronauts." Related Content: Get the Latest in Science and Tech News From Discovery First Commercial Spaceport Gets Green Light How Stuff Works: Space Tourism NASA is reviewing 20 proposals from scientists interested in participating in the program. The agency has about $400,000 to fund up to eight study grants, said Jonathan Rall, with NASA's Planetary Sciences division at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C. "This is a neat opportunity to get something into the near-space environment," Rall told Discovery News. "The cost is many of orders of magnitude less than flying on a (Russian) Soyuz or the shuttle." The fares, which so far range from $95,000 to $200,000 depending on the service provider, also are far less costly than flying experiments on small, one-time-use launch vehicles known as sounding rockets, added project manager Lisa Chu-Thielbar at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif. "On a sounding rocket, you may have as long as 20 minutes (in weightlessness), but those experiments cost close to $1 million and you may or may not get your payload back," Chu-Thielbar told Discovery News. Also, not all experiments are suitable for sounding rockets. Get More NewsSpiders, Scorpions Among World's Oldest CreaturesMany creepy crawlies have been on Earth much longer than previously believed.Blood-Sucking Vampire Bats Sing DuetsWhite-winged vampire bats "harmonize" with separated roost mates.Oldest Hebrew Writing Possibly FoundAncient inscriptions on a 3,000-year-old pottery shard could make history.Rare, Prehistoric-Age Reptile Found in N.Z.A tuatara has been spotted on the New Zealand mainland for the first time in 200 years.Iceman Has No Living RelativesOetzi, the 5,300 year-old frozen mummy, left no living genetic legacy.SLIDE SHOW: Landscapes of TerrorWhat makes a place feel scary? There are scientific explanations.It's Official: People Are Warming the PolesHumans are conclusively to blame for polar warming, say scientists.Eight-Armed Animal Preceded DinosaursWhat may be one of Earth's first animals was no bigger than a coaster and had eight arms.Phoenicians Live on in People's GenesOne in 17 Mediterranean men may be descended from ancient Phoenicians.Pesticides, Fertilizers Linked to Frog DeclineA pesticide is found to promote parasites among amphibians.Hubble Telescope Taking Photos AgainThe Hubble Space Telescope is once again snapping stunning photos of the universe.Andean Mummy Hairs Show Hallucinogen UseScientists find direct evidence of hallucinogenic drug use among ancient Andeans.Opals on Mars Reveal Planet's Long Wet PastOpals found on Mars suggest the planet has been wet for much longer. |
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