Holidaymakers can fly from London to Sydney in just two hours in a decade – but they’ll have to go via space
Vacationers can fly from London to Sydney in just two hours in a decade, but they’ll have to travel through space.
The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) funds medical studies into the effects of suborbital spaceflight, where travelers can be flung into space for a short period of time before descending to their destination much faster than an airplane.
Suborbital flights, such as those offered by Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, currently cost more than £350,000 per seat.
But regulators have predicted they will soon be less expensive and eventually become an intercontinental travel option that is “open to all.”
According to The Sunday timesa CAA-funded study found that most people coped well with the G-forces of suborbital spaceflight.
Holidaymakers could fly from London to Sydney in just two hours in a decade – but they’ll have to travel through space
Published in the journal Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance, it said: ‘Commercial suborbital spaceflights are now available for tourism and scientific research, and are expected to eventually evolve into extremely fast point-to-point travel, for example from London to Sydney in less than two o’clock.’
Flights from London to Sydney currently take around 22 hours.
The research, carried out in conjunction with King’s College London and facilitated by the RAF, found that those taking such flights need not be fit or young – and that older people may be better at handling space travel.
Suborbital flights, such as those offered by Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, currently cost more than £350,000 per seat
The CAA funds medical studies on the effects of suborbital spaceflight, in which travelers can be ejected into space for a short period of time before descending to their destination much faster than an airplane
Dr. Ryan Anderton, the CAA’s flight medical chief, said: “Physiological reactions are probably benign for most passengers,” adding that older people tend to have slightly “tiger arteries,” which would reduce the pooling of blood from the brain.
A failed attempt in January to launch satellites from British soil has not stalled plans to make Britain a space-shaping nation.
Spaceport Cornwall has signed a memorandum of understanding with US company Sierra Space to land spaceplanes at Newquay, while six other UK spaceports are under construction.
