BEEEEER IIIIIIN SPAAAAACE!

You read that right!  There's a third serious attempt at space beer being launched.  This one seems quite a bit more serious than the last two (a NASA study and a company that brewed beer using ingredients grown as part of spaceflight experiments), as this third one is geared directly toward the growing space tourism market.

A group called Austronauts4Hire is planning on conducting tests on a beer that is being designed for consumption in space.  The beer is being developed by an Australian brewery called Australian 4 Pines and an organization called Saber Astronautics Australia with a goal of eventually marketing it to space tourists.  Astronauts4Hire will test the beer in parabolic plane flights run by Zero Gravity.  Goals include getting the flavor, texture, and container just right for drinking in space.

I've said it before, and I will say it again: as soon as space tourism becomes commonplace, just about every earth-bound activity will find its way into space.

Trip to Space

Progress: 6.47%  Flight Time: 0:09:42

Solar Array

Progress: 6.47%  Power: 65W

The First Repeat Space Tourist Launches

That's right, in a world first, a paying passenger has traveled to space twice.

That passenger is Charles Simonyi, and he traveled to the International Space Station aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule. He launched on March 26 and arrived at the station on the 28th. So now, he has been in space eight days.

He of course payed his millions to do so to Space Adventures in their partnership with the Russian government. One of the ways Simonyi has been spending his time on the space station is using a HAM radio to communicate with amateur radio operators on the ground. That's right, if you're a HAM radio operator and are in the right place at the right time, you too can pick up transmissions from the first repeat space tourist!

Kinda makes me wish I knew someone who has one.

Progress: 3.93%  Flight Time: 0:05:54

Virgin Galactic Takes its Name Seriously

Well, I mentioned recently that it was inevitable. Somehow, somewhere, and sometime soon, some couple is going to find themselves going at it... in the weightlessness of space. And a few details of this milestone nearly became official.

However, it wasn't to be. An unidentified party came to Virgin Galactic with an offer of $1 million to charter a flight for the purpose of filming a movie. Yes, a porn movie. It appears, however, that Virgin Galactic takes their name seriously enough to have rejected the offer. This means that you still have a chance to be the first to join the sixty-mile-high club.

Yes, I went there. Sue me.

Progress: 4.03%  Flight Time: 0:06:05

Rocketplane Announces Space Weddings

Well, it was inevitable, but now it's official. Rocketplane Kistler, creator of the upcoming Rocketplane XP spacecraft, has announced the availability of space weddings.

The cost of the weddings will be about $2,200,000, and will include everything from the reception to the wedding dress to a ride into space. Because the "space" part of the flight only lasts a few minutes, most of the ceremony will be held on the ground, with the final vows being completed during the flight. The first space weddings are expected to take place in 2011.

And on the space honeymoon front? Well, a NASA adviser has a few things to say about that. Yes, that is inevitable too.

Progress: 4.03%  Flight Time: 0:06:05