WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THIS WEEK’S EPISODE
In Episode One, Season Three, Jane Poynter joins CF’s Founder, Sheena Bhattessa to discuss her compelling career to date. Examining her interest in space exploration, from early sparks to her latest venture, Space Perspective – ‘a human spaceflight company committed to fundamentally changing people’s view and perception of Earth’ –, Poynter’s journey is an extraordinary one; some might even deem it ‘out of this world’.
To listen to Episode One, Season Three, in full, visit iTunes or Spotify.
Growing up, Poynter had permission to think big. As big life/career moments go, her two-year stint living in Biosphere 2 – a scientific research facility located in Arizona, designed to emulate Earth’s environment – was a seismic one. The experience effectively inspired the rest of her career in space. After leaving Biosphere 2, Poynter went on to found Paragon Space Development Corporation, along with former fellow biospherian, and now husband, Taber MacCallum. The company’s primary focus: creating life support systems to take people elsewhere, be that to space, underwater, the moon, or Mars.
Leaving the company in the very capable hands of Grant Anderson to start another business, Space Perspective, Poynter and MacCallum’s latest venture is set on reimagining space flight and making it more accessible. Space Perspective’s first flight for the public is currently scheduled for 2024; the price of a ticket, $125,000.
Offering individuals and groups of up to eight people the opportunity to embark on a six-hour journey onboard Spaceship Neptune – ‘a capsule that is propelled at a leisurely 12 mph by a high-performance, state-of-the-art spaceballoon the size of a football field’ – ‘no advance training, special clothing, or equipment’ is required for your journey. Expeditions are deemed to be as ‘effortless as boarding a commercial aircraft’. Passengers can soak in 360-degree views of planet Earth at a gliding altitude of 100,000 feet, and since the capsule is pressurised, travellers can walk around freely and even get a drink at the bar (while also hooking up to WiFi as they wait for their beverage).
With such happenings merely years away, this episode explores the future of space tourism, and expounds on whether or not ‘space’ will become a bucket-list destination (in Poynter’s view, it already very much is). It seems the future potential of commercial space travel is set to be stratospheric. Tune in to this week’s episode to learn more.
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