| Greetings,  You already know I'm high on travel! Now, I'm even
higher. In space, in fact. Well, not me, yet, but I'm honoured to be
able to put you there!
Virgin Galactic has appointed Virtuoso as their exclusive retail
travel group in North America, promoting commercial space tourism to
the North American market. From all the applicants, only a very
select group of Virtuoso's elite members ( only 5 in Canada) was
chosen. We have gone through a comprehensive training program with
Virgin Galactic to become "Accredited Space Agents." I am proud to
be among the first travel consultants in the world endorsed to
reserve seats on Virgin Galactic spaceflights. I'll be devoting this newsletter exclusively to the Virgin
Galactic experience. Read on, Dream, and call me if you have any
questions (or are ready to book!). Let me make your next travel experience truly Out of This World!
Roger Kershaw
E- mail:
[email protected]
| What is Virgin Galactic? |
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Virgin Galactic was established by Sir Richard Branson's
Virgin Group to undertake the challenge of developing space
tourism for everybody. It will own and operate privately built
spaceships, modeled on the history-making SpaceShipOne craft.
These spaceships will allow affordable sub-orbital space
tourism for the first time in our history. Virgin Galactic will run as a business with the sole
purpose of making space travel more affordable to people
throughout the world. |
| When will the flights begin? |
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First, recognize that VG will not commence commercial
spaceflight operations until entirely satisfied it is safe to
do so. Any times and dates are subject to change for this
reason. The design and build of SpaceShipTwo (SS2) and
WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) is on schedule at Scaled Composites in
California. If things continue as smoothly as they have, we
anticipate that the first SS2 and WK2 will be rolled out in
spring 2008. Twelve to 18 months of test flights will follow,
meaning that the inaugural flight should launch sometime
toward the end of 2009 or in the first half of 2010. Test
flights could take less or more time, so these dates are in no
way guaranteed.
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| How many flights will operate and how many
passengers on each? |
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Each SS2 carries 6 passengers and 2 pilots. During at least
the first year of flight operation VG will operate just one
flight per week. This means that Founders and Pioneers should
be able to fly within this first year of operation; Voyagers
will being flying in the second year. Five SS2's and two WK2's have been ordered for delivery
within the first 2 years of operation, with plans to operate
at least one flight per day by the end of the second year of
operation.
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| How much does it cost? |
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The full flight cost is USD200,000. Founders are the first
100 people to fly commercially and pay the full USD200,000 up
front. Founder seats are available by invitation only.
Pioneers will be the next 400 to fly with deposits ranging
from USD100,000 to USD175,000, depending on flight priority.
Voyagers will fly after the first 500 and currently pay a
deposit of USD20,000 to secure their seat. In most cases deposits are fully refundable, however Virgin
Galactic reserves the right to charge a handling fee equating
to 5% of Voyager deposits and 10% of Pioneer deposits.
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| Referrals welcome! |
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The highest compliment my clients can give is the referral
of their friends, family and business associates. Thank you
for your support.
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Feature Destination |
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Space . . . Almost.
Your Invitation to an Otherworldly Vacation. While you may have to wait till 2009 to visit outer space,
Virtuoso Discoveries presents an exciting prequel: zero
gravity flights aboard G-Force One, a specially modified
Boeing 727-200 aircraft that simulates weightlessness. Enjoy
an experience described as "amazing" by physicist Stephen
Hawking (above), "exhilarating" by Apollo II astronaut Buzz
Aldrin, and "unbelievably cool" by SpaceShipOne aerospace
designer Burt Rutan. This exhilarating adventure is the centerpiece of an
exclusive two-night (Aug 17-19, 2007) vacation at the
Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. I'm pleased to offer you this
exciting package for only USD4,199 per person/double (single
and flight-only rates available). And, I'll even be there to
offer you a famous Lemon Drop Martini at the Bellagio's
Baccarat Bar when you return! I hope you'll take advantage of
this unique opportunity presented by Virtuoso Discoveries.
Please click
here to view a PDF with the details, and do feel free to
call me with any questions. Zero Gravity Corporation (Zero-G) is the only FAA-approved
provider of weightless flight to the general public. The
flights about one hour, with 10 controlled parabolic
maneuvers, one at lunar gravity (1/6-gravity) and nine at zero
gravity. The interior of the plane has padded floors and walls and a
video camera to record the event. You get to keep your flight
suit as well as photographs and a DVD of your encounter with
microgravity.
Zero-G Adventure
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