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Zero-gravity flights for tourists

Late this summer, a company called Xero AB begins offering the first zero-gravity flights from Kiruna, Sweden, 200 kilometers (124 miles) north of the Arctic Circle.

The flights will give tourists another reason to visit Kiruna besides Sami handicrafts and — depending on the season — the summer midnight sun, or dogsledding and a night in the famous sub-zero Ice Hotel.

Xero AB, founded in 2002 by Walter Allvin, will offer a series of four flights, scheduled two or three times a year, with 12 passengers on each flight.

Passengers will have a chance to defy gravity about 15 times during the 90-minute trips.

The flights will take place aboard a Russian-built Illuyshin 76MDK, used to train cosmonauts. The plane’s interior will be lined with soft, inflatable padding.

But the flights aren’t cheap. A weekend package in Kiruna, including a zero-gravity ride, dinner with the pilots and technicians, a personalized DVD of the flight, and visits to local attractions like the Ice Hotel, starts at 65,000 kronor (U.S. $9,615, euro7,180) and up, depending on amenities.

A Swedish dance theater will later this year start filming a "weightless" dance project onboard the Russian aircraft. The dance group, e=mc2, has dubbed its planned film "The Ballerina Lost in Space."

posted by: kyawoo at 09:00 | link | comments |
space science

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