If you've always wanted a personal souvenir from space but have no friends in
NASA's astronaut corps or can't afford to spend millions
of dollars getting into space yourself, then a new service from startup
company ZeroG may be for you.
ZeroG
will send small personal items into space starting at $49. The company's
first launch will take place on May 20th from the new Southwest
Regional Spaceport in New Mexico.
"There are
very few people who have anything in their possession that has been to space
and back. If you're interested in space, it's exciting," said company
co-founder Tom Gonser.
"Unless an
astronaut has already carried it up there, you can legitimately say that any
type of small item put on this rocket is the first time the thing has been in
space," said ZeroG spokesperson Mark Benhard.
The company
sells titanium rings and small boxes which can be used to carry trinkets into
space. Customers are also sending in their own items, Gonser
said. Many have sent in business cards; a school is sending film as part of an
experiment to study cosmic rays; some have sent in pictures of loved ones,
stamps, even ashes; Gonser's wife is sending up her
wedding ring.
The items
will be packed into an aluminum
capsule and launched into space aboard a sub-orbital rocket developed by UP
Aerospace. The rocket will blast off from New Mexico's Southwest
Regional Spaceport at 4,000 mph (6,400 kph) and
reach space in less than 2 minutes. The rocket and its payload will be
weightless for approximately 7 minutes before falling back to Earth, where the
payload will be retrieved.
Following
each trip, items are returned to customers, along with detailed information
about the flight and a certificate of authentication. People who send items
will also have their names entered into the International Space Registry as
having successfully delivered items into space.
ZeroG's first
payload is currently 60 percent full and the company is still taking request.
Another launch is scheduled for the fall and the company expects to perform 2
or 3 launches per year after that.
More
information can be found here
at ZeroG's website.
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