“This is the most unique thing a human can do — to get out of this world,” Edwin Sahakian, 54, told The Post. “Nobody can one-up you in terms of altitude and speed.”
He hopes to soon have the bragging rights himself. Sahakian, owner of a trucking company in Los Angeles, has shelled out $200,000 to reserve an outer-space trip on one of the first civilian-passenger rockets.
Earlier this year, media mogul Richard Branson blogged that his Virgin Galactic ship would “hopefully” take off this year, after having completed a key flight test in January. Meanwhile, Tesla tycoon Elon Musk announced in 2017 that his SpaceX would fly people around the moon in late 2018; however, that may be delayed as he’s turned his attention to building a new craft called the “Big F – – king Rocket” (BFR). Blue Origin, backed by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, is said to be eyeing a 2019 launch.
And while Virgin Galactic’s future manifest is star-studded, with names including Russell Brand, Brad Pitt and Justin Bieber, there are plenty of regular folks ready to blast off — more than 600 of them. Some, such as Sahakian, have been waiting since 2006, when the company first sold fares. (Tickets now cost $250,000.)
Sahakian, an Armenian ex-pat who anticipates being the first of his countrymen in space, initially anticipated a 2009 departure. Of the delays, he said, “It’s a little disappointing, though I’m willing to wait as long as it takes. I think it will happen, but unfortunate things came up, including a [2014] accident that caused a vehicle to crash” — the co-pilot died in the incident and the pilot was injured.
He acknowledges the inherent risks. “Of the astronauts who have gone into space, 3.3 percent have been killed. That is not insignificant,” Sahakian said. “We are going high and fast, into a harsh environment. My wife [who is not going] will medicate herself [on flight day]. Before going up, I’ll have my trusts set and insurance paid. You want to be prepared for not coming back.”
Passengers have also signed waivers absolving Virgin Galactic. “It basically states that whatever happens, I can’t go after them,” Sahakian added.
Dan Durda is scheduled to earn his wings in the name of science. A principal scientist in the space studies department at Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo., he also signed up in 2006 and had his $200,000 fare covered by his employer. Durda will track his vitals before, during and after the trip. “Almost all the data we have [on space travel] is with very healthy astronauts. We want to see what happens to ordinary paying passengers,” he said.
The Virgin Galactic journey is expected to start with three days of final medical checks (passengers will have advance physicals a few months earlier and receive refunds if they fail), safety training, and microgravity and high-G simulations.
The flights are all slated to launch at Spaceport America, in New Mexico. Six riders will be strapped to their seats in a cylindrical 12-foot-long spaceship cabin at the bottom of a carbon-composite carrier aircraft.
“At around 50,000 feet, the spaceship gets released,” said Stephen Attenborough, commercial director for Virgin Galactic in the UK. “Rocket motors fire and the nose pulls up into a 3.5G vertical climb” — basically equaling the gravitational force of the Kingda Ka roller coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ.
“Once in space, we’ll have around four minutes of microgravity,” added Attenborough. “Passengers will unbuckle and leave their seats; I expect most will float to the large windows for stunning views of our beautiful planet from the black sky of space.”
‘It’s a little disappointing, though I’m willing to wait as long as it takes.’
There will follow a “brief 4 to 5G re-entry to the Earth’s atmosphere,” Attenborough said. “At around 70,000 feet, the spaceship glides back for a runway landing. Then it’s on to the presentation of astronaut wings.”
Sahakian, a self-confessed “aerospace nut,” has already experienced zero-gravity via a cargo plane that flew up and then down at the speed required to create weightlessness. But he thinks nothing will compare to the real thing.
“For some it will be a religious experience,” he said. “I’m doing it for the thrill. Seeing day turn into black sky will be crazy.”
And while the price is out of this world for many, at least one future passenger said it was worth it. Mark Rocket — an Internet entrepreneur who legally changed his last name in 2000 from Stevens — will travel from New Zealand to New Mexico when Virgin Galactic is ready.
“If you look at this as an hour-and-a-half flight, it’s expensive,” Rocket said. “As an investment in the space industry, it is not.”
Here’s three ways you can get out of this world:
Virgin Galactic:
- Mogul: Richard Branson
- Cost: $250,000
- Estimated launch date: Branson has said they’ll be ready this year. “But I won’t give a date,” said the company’s UK commercial director, Stephen Attenborough.
- Passengers in waiting: More than 600
- Wow factor: Enter space for 90 minutes in a rocket blasted off from a jet.
SpaceX:
- Mogul: Elon Musk
- Cost: Estimated to be well into the millions
- Estimated launch date: Late 2018, although the voyage may be postponed for the development of a new craft.
- Passengers in waiting: Two, neither of whom have been identified.
- Wow factor: The multiday trip will take passengers around the moon.
Blue Origin:
- Mogul: Jeff Bezos
- Cost: Not yet announced
- Estimated launch date: 2019
- Passengers in waiting: Tickets are not yet on sale.
- Wow factor: Vertical blastoff, similar to that of a NASA rocket.