Posted on October 27, 2008 - by CDS, 1 Comment

Fishbowl Spacecraft from Armadillo Aerospace

More space stuff…. This is one of the craziest concepts I’ve seen yet. It’s another prototype for space tourism. The fishbowl is supposed to give tourists a 360 degree view of space. My first thought was, “How will they overcome reenty in something like that”? I don’t know… maybe since it’s suborbital it doesn’t go up high enough to burn up on reenty? The state of New Mexico and Armadillo Aerospace plan to have a manned launch in 2010! I’ll be watching for the end result of this experient. 

Armadillo Aerospace Fishbowl Spacecraft

The state of New Mexico hopes to collaborate with two firms to create suborbital vehicles for space tourists. This illustration is one concept for the ship, which will afford passengers a 360° view of space. Armadillo Aerospace plans to build an initial prototype of the vehicle in 2009 and is aiming for crewed suborbital flights in 2010. The reusable vehicles will take off vertically from Spaceport America near Las Cruces, New Mexico. The ships can take two passengers at a time, and tickets will cost an estimated $100,000. Rocket Racing Inc, which is developing a NASCAR-inspired rocket racing league, will fund the effort. (Illustration: Rocket Racing Inc)

Source: New Scientist