Craig Curran Interviewed by WHAM Channel 13 on ABC

Local Agent Selling Space Travel

October 24, 2011 - First off, it’s true.
A groundbreaking in the New Mexico desert last week is taking the dream of space travel from science fiction to reality – in about two more years, and a Rochester travel agent is connected to the project.

“I’ve seen the spaceport, I’ve seen the runways, and I’ve met the astronauts,” says Craig Curran of the DePrez Group of Travel Companies based in Brighton. He hands out a card that says “Galactic Experiences by DePrez”. The small print reads: "'The art of space travel."

The Spaceport is a futuristic hangar, training center and runway near Alberquerque. The planes that will take off and land there will leave the earth’s atmosphere and carry ordinary civilians into space.

“It’s not just a ride for rich people,” explains Craig Curran. “This is the birth of a new industry.”

Space Ship Two is a smaller aircraft about 60 feet long. It carries six passengers and two pilots. It is launched horizontally from a larger twin aircraft with a wingspan of 140 feet.

“When they’re at altitude, Space Ship Two will be decoupled from the mother ship and drop,” Curran explains. Asked about his terminology he said, “I think a lot of folks can’t grasp that this is already happening and not 23rd century technology."

Space Ship Two has a rocket-fueled engine which kicks in at three and a half times the speed of sound, allowing the ship to break through the atmosphere to an altitude of 5,000 feet.

Then everything stops.

“The rocket ride is a minute and a half or so. It’s like nothing else you have ever done,” according to a video on the website. “When the engine shuts down and the vibration ends, you get this sense of weightlessness.”

Video animation shows how passengers then release their seatbelts and experience zero gravity. They float about the cabin and to large windows completely surrounding the vessel.

From the window planet earth is visible. “All you will see for 1,000 kilos in either direction is the earth,” says Curran. “And you’ll see this thin ribbon around the globe of the atmosphere.”

The ride takes just over an hour and a half. It reaches into the sub-orbital range which means it’s below the earth’s orbit. It is the next step toward hypersonic travel which could take passengers around the globe in four hours.

The founder of Virgin Airlines Sir Richard Branson is the force behind Galactic Travel. He says the technology is here. “I’m going and I hope you will join me,” he says.

There is still one obstacle between you, and space. The journey for now costs $200,000. For that price, civilian astronauts get a three to five day adventure including training for g-force and zero gravity.

“We do have people from our area signed up,” says travel agent Curran, though he did not name names. “I’m also on the list but I’ll have to sell a lot of seats before I can afford to go,” he adds.

Galactic Enterprises can handle about 500 passengers a year. Four hundred thirty have already signed up. Before the flights can take off, the government must decide how to regulate the fledging industry.

The first flights are expected to launch in 2013.

For More Information Please Contact:
CRAIG CURRAN , ASA
Galactic Experiences By DePrez, DePrez Travel Bureau, Inc.
585-442-8900 X224