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Incredible Adventures
Feb 21, 2005 22: 08 EST
Incredible Adventures, a Florida-based company, offers programs giving astronaut-wannabes a chance to get to space.
The edge
One program will take you from Moscow to the “edge of space”. In a MIG-25 “Foxbat”, a “supersonic, high-speed interceptor” that’s capable of getting to over twice the speed of sound, you will fly with one of the Russia’s top pilots to where you get a view of planet Earth.
One former passenger, David Lubin, described his experience:
“It began with the high-speed, high-altitude interceptor MiG-25 Foxbat-C flight with Vladimir Loginovski. Vladimir, a Hero of Russia Award recipient for his 3,000 hours of fighter piloting in over 30 aircraft, had me soaring at Mach 2.4 (1,600 mph) up to an 81,000-foot ceiling, where the sky was black above and the Earth was curved below. The power of the 50,000 pounds of thrust by these two afterburning turbojets combined was breathtaking as we passed through the sound barrier in what seemed like seconds.”
The real deal
Another program offered by Incredible Adventures is the “Orbital Space Flight” adventure. The program allows customers to participate in an actual Russian Cosmonaut training program to train you to go to Space. You even have to learn Russian. The training is as rigorous as it is for real cosmonauts and consists of four major steps:
Step 1
The first step is what Incredible Adventures calls, “the most intense medical examination of your life”. Everything from past drug history to a feces analysis is taken into account. You have to be in good shape to go to Space.
Step 2
After passing the medical examination, the next step is the beginning of crew training. Here you’ll start learning Russian, training on a Soyuz Simulator, an ISS Simulator, medical and scientific training, and learning how to eat, drink, and use the toilet in zero gravity. The total time will be around 1100 hours to complete this step.
Step 3
Now you will learn all about space flight theory and listen to a lot of lectures while training on various computer systems and learning more Russian. You’ll also travel back to the U.S. for additional training and lectures.
Step 4
This step is a continuation of step 3. You’ll continue your studies in flight theory as well as space medicine and more computer systems and Russian language study.
Tickets
Weightless Flight in Florida aboard ZERO-G’s Boeing 727 aircraft G-force one retails $3900.
Weightless Flight in Russia aboard Russian IL-76 MDK aircraft better known as the Flying Laboratory.
A full adventure package, complete with jet flights, luxury hotel, charter zero-g flight, VIP service, etc. retails for $179,000.
There is no guarantee you will qualify for the Official Cosmonaut Training Program. In fact, the odds are against you. Only a select few will meet the stringent physical requirements necessary to travel to the International Space Station. If you do, you'll pay between 15 and 25 million dollars.
According to their website, Incredible Adventures was started by an American businessman who was in Moscow recruiting programmers for his software company. He was offered a ride in a MIG aircraft and was hooked. He returned to Florida and started “MIGS, etc” in 1993. “For the first time ever, you could pull out your credit card and buy a flight in a high-performance military jet,” the website says.
The company grew and was bought by a venture capitalist. It was then expanded into a full-fledged adventure travel company offering many unique programs. “Today, Incredible Adventures offers fighter jet flights in four countries, space adventures at Star City, three different great white shark dives, military adventures around the world, and more”.
Image of a MiG-25 Foxbat, courtesy of the website.
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