Oct 29 1985
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(New page: Society Expeditions, which specialized in offering exotic vacations, announced at an October 29 press conference that on November 15 it would begin taking reservations for regularly schedu...)
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Society Expeditions, which specialized in offering exotic vacations, announced at an October 29 press conference that on November 15 it would begin taking reservations for regularly scheduled spaceflights, the Washington Times reported.
Society Expeditions scheduled its first flight for October 12, 1992, the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's discovery of the new world. A flight would cost $50,000, and there would be a $2000 charge for a three-day orientation. T.C. Swartz, president of Society Expeditions, said more than 3,500 people had already expressed interest in traveling in space and 350 had signed letters of intent and deposited $5,000 to confirm space on the rocket.
He explained that his company signed a five-year $280 million contract to charter the first two commercial reusable spaceships built by Pacific American Launch Systems. Pacific American's president Gary Hudson said it would cost more than $200 million to develop and build a 57-foot long rocket and that each launch should cost about $1 million.
A flight on Pacific American's PHOENIX E, a rocket powered launch and landing vehicle, would begin somewhere in northern California, circle the earth five to eight times, and return to the launch area.
Before certification for commercial use, PHOENIX E would undergo at least 50 test flights and face vigorous examination by the Department of Transportation, Hudson said. Asked if he would be on one of the test flights, Hudson said, “We think it's the ethical responsibility of the designers to go up before the public. But we won't be on the first flight. That's why there's test pilots.” (W Times, Oct 30/85, 1B)
The U.S. House Appropriations Committee deleted $7.2 million in FY 86 funds requested by the Air Force to initiate a $350 million program to refurbish Titan II ICBMs for use as space boosters, Defense Daily reported.
The committee warned that the Titan II launchers could “only have a further impact on the Shuttle and result in a less efficient use of Shuttle facilities” and pointed out that the Air Force had “not been able to demonstrate why the expensive Titan II refurbishment program is critical to the defense of the nation.” The Committee also noted that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration dropped its plans to launch some payloads on the Titan II in favor of launching them on the Space Shuttle [see Space Transportation System/Revenues Feb. 25 and Oct. 18], “bringing into question whether Titan II is cost-effective on a per launch basis,” the committee said. It also cited classified reasons for its action. (D/D, Oct 29/85, 305)
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