Have a look at what space travel might be like through the eyes of visionaries, and learn about some of the most audacious projects ever. Space is an unforgiving environment. The journey to space equally so. Tiny errors of manufacture or judgement are hugely amplified in the marginal corridor out of Earth’s atmosphere. This should not be in any way an obstacle to progress and exploration – the ‘shuttlecock-style’ return-to-Earth system of SpaceShipOne has the lowest-energy impact of any space transport system currently in service. It has been possible to book a flight on SpaceShipTwo for the last four years. Virgin Galactic already has hundreds of advanced bookings from a surprisingly diverse mix of people (mixed in the sense of having access to $200,000 for the price of a ticket).
