by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
If you attended the Jacksonville Film Festival and saw the documentary “In the Shadow of the Moon” about America’s Apollo astronauts, you might have left the theater wishing you could screw on a helmet, strap yourself in and blast off in a spaceship.
The fact is that’s not entirely out of the question.
The screening was sponsored by Suzanne Perritt, a travel agent with Valerie Wilson Travel in Ponte Vedra Beach. She is one of only 47 “accredited space agents” in North America authorized to book passage on Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo.
“You can book your seat for $200,000 – which is quite a bargain when you look at the Russians’ price,” said Perritt.
She has been a travel agent for 20 years and said she specializes in planning high-end travel to Europe, the Middle East, South Africa and Asia.
“With Virgin Galactic, I’ve extended my territory to outer space. These trips are literally out of this world.”
Sir Richard Branson, the London-based entrepreneur who started his Virgin empire almost 40 years ago with a mail-order record business, is behind the private spaceflight venture. Branson has partnered with Burt Rutan, whose SpaceShipOne earned the $10 million “Ansari XPrize” by successfully completing two suborbital flights in 2004. Rutan’s company has built a prototype and Perritt said it has already been flown three times at low altitude.
“The ships are being built right now and should roll out early next year,” she said. “They will be test-flown for about 18 months, then the flights will begin sometime in 2009. There have been more than 200 seats booked world-wide.”
SpaceShipTwo will take off on a conventional runway carried by a larger craft to high altitude, where it will be jettisoned and fire its rockets to complete the mission into space. The craft will reach a maximum altitude of 68 miles where the private astronauts on board will be weightless for about five minutes before returning to the runway on earth.
“At first there will be one flight a week, but as the demand increases, more ships will be put in the fleet. Eventually, the company will be able to offer really fast long-distance service to destinations all over the world,” said Perritt.
Virgin Galactic expects its flights will one day take off from a commercial spaceport that is to be built in New Mexico. The facility will be funded in part with a $100 million state appropriation and through a gross receipts tax increase referendum that was narrowly approved last month by voters. The site was chosen for its sparse population and generally favorable weather, but it won’t be ready for takeoffs and landings until at least 2010.
If the New Mexico project were to fizzle out for any reason, the Jacksonville Aviation Authority knows a good place where Virgin Galactic could land – Cecil Field.
Director of External Affairs Michael Stewart said while the process for certifying commercial spaceports is fairly new, JAA has applied for a license and recently cleared the first hurdle with the Federal Aviation Administration. He expects the former U.S. Navy Master Jet Base will easily meet all the requirements.
“We have a running start. Cecil Field already has a 12,500-foot runway built to military specifications. That is a multi-billion-dollar asset. Late this year or early next year, we could have a commercial spaceport license. After we get the license, anything could happen,” said Stewart.
“You never know what could happen in the next 10 years,” commented JAA Community Relations Administrator Debbie Jones. She said ventures like Virgin Galactic might be more evolutionary than revolutionary.
“At one time, air travel was only for the rich and famous. Private space travel might completely change the industry again and we want to keep Cecil Field on the cutting edge.”
It’s customary in the travel business for agents to go on complimentary cruises and tours in order to become familiar with the products available to consumers. Does that mean Perritt will be heading off to the wild blue yonder anytime soon?
“With only six seats available per flight, it will be a while before any travel agents get to go, but I’ll be ready,” she said.