World View Enterprises

World View Enterprises, Inc.
Private
Industry Aerospace and Space Tourism
Founded October 2013
Headquarters Tucson, Arizona
Key people
 Jane Poynter (CEO)
Taber MacCallum (CTO)
Alan Stern (Chief Scientist)
Mark Kelly
Website www.worldviewexperience.com

World View Enterprises, Inc., or World View, is a private American near-space exploration company headquartered in Tucson, Arizona, that plans to use high-altitude helium[1][2] balloons to gently lift people and scientific payloads twenty miles (approximately 32 kilometers) above earth for the purposes of space tourism, scientific research, and a wide range of other commercial applications.[3]

World View plans to offer private citizens views of the curvature of the earth amidst the blackness of space from inside a pressurized space-rated vehicle suspended beneath a high-altitude balloon. The space-rated capsule, which will hold six passengers and two crew members, will ascend during a nominal flight profile to an altitude of 100,000 feet (20 miles, or 32 kilometers) above earth.[4]

During a test flight in June 2014 World View successfully deployed and remotely navigated a parafoil back down to earth from an altitude of 50,000 feet.[5]

An October 2015 test flight brought a 10-percent scale passenger capsule to over 100,000 feet altitude; a full-scale test is anticipated to follow.[6]

World View is planning to operate its commercial flights from Spaceport Tucson beginning in 2017.[7]

History

Key people

Taber MacCallum and Jane Poynter of World View Enterprises at the Pima County Board of Supervisors meeting, 19 January 2016

Jane Poynter, co-founder and CEO, was one of the original eight Biosphere 2 crew members. After two years inside Biosphere 2 (a three-acre, hermetically-sealed environment in the Arizona desert,) she went on to co-found Paragon Space Development Corporation, which designs and manufactures life support technologies rated for extreme environments, including outer space.[8] Paragon has supplied hardware to more than 70 spaceflight missions, including ones to the International Space Station and Mir.[9]

Taber MacCallum, co-founder and CTO, was also one of the original Biosphere 2 crew members and went on to co-found Paragon Space Development Corporation alongside Jane Poynter. Taber MacCallum was named Popular Science Inventor of the Year in 2008 for a toxic water diving suit that helps hazmat divers safely navigate contaminated waters.[10]

Alan Stern, co-founder and Chief Scientist, was appointed NASA's Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, essentially NASA's top-ranking official for science, in April 2007. In this position Stern directed a US$4.4 billion organization with 93 separate flight missions and a program of over 3,000 research grants.[11] He is also the principal investigator of the New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Chief Scientist at Moon Express.[12]

Mark Kelly, World View's Director of Flight Crew Operations, is a retired NASA Space Shuttle Commander and U.S. Navy Test Pilot. During his tenure with NASA, he piloted two Space Shuttle flights and commanded two others, including Space Shuttle Endeavour on its final mission.[13]

Ron Garan, Chief Pilot for robotic flight operations and upcoming human spaceflights, a retired NASA astronaut and fighter pilot.[14][15]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "World View's Balloon-Based Space Tourism to Lift Off in 2017". Space.com. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  2. ↑ Sarah Cruddas, for CNN (5 March 2015). "Balloons could be your $75,000 ticket to space - CNN.com". CNN. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  3. ↑ Wall, Mike (2014-07-28). "World View to Loft Experiments on Balloon Test Flights This Year". Space.com. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  4. ↑ Lydia Dishman (2014-09-02). "Why This Company Wants To Take You On a Balloon Ride To The Edge Of Space | Fast Company | Business + Innovation". Fast Company. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  5. ↑ "World View tests scale model of its high-altitude balloon system « NewSpace Journal". Newspacejournal.com. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  6. ↑ Wall, Mike (28 October 2015). "Watch This Amazing World View Test Flight for Balloon-Based Space Tourism". space.com. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  7. ↑ Wall, Mike (2016-01-20). "Spaceport Tucson: World View's New Home for Balloon Tourist Flights". Space.com. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  8. ↑ "What Lessons Came Out Of Biosphere 2?". NPR. 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  9. ↑ "Jane Poynter, cofounder of Paragon Space Development". Website. FastCompany. 1 April 2010. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  10. ↑ "A Sewage-Proof Suit | Popular Science". Popsci.com. 2008-05-13. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  11. ↑ "Alan Stern". Fsi.ucf.edu. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  12. ↑ "Dr. Alan Stern named Chief Scientist for Moon Express | Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute". Lunarscience.nasa.gov. 2015-03-03. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  13. ↑ "NASA Astronaut Mark Kelly Named Director of Flight Crew Operations for World View Enterprises’ Human Flights to the Edge of Space". Reuters.com. 2013-12-12. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  14. ↑ World View Enterprises (2016-02-23). "Astronaut Ron Garan Joins World View as Chief Pilot". Retrieved 2016-02-23.
  15. ↑ Clash, Jim (24 February 2016). "Extreme Ballooning: Astronaut Ron Garan Takes Pilot Slot For World View Experience". Magazine/Website. Forbes. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
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