Jose Mariano is an MIT-trained aerospace engineer from Spain, a father of two children and an avid badminton player. In the year 2002 he authored a paper named “The role of balloons in the future development of space tourism”. He is bringing us that future now.
I had the pleasure of meeting Jose in Sofia, Bulgaria during the Space Tourism & Travel Trends Summit. Talking with him and hearing about bloon was captivating, and the idea of traveling beyond Earth will trigger your imagination as well..a reality in the very-near future.
What is the dream behind bloon?
Seeing with one’s own eyes that the Earth is round, blue and immersed in a black sea of stars.
How does bloon work exactly?
By lifting to the right altitude a closed pod where up to 6 people fit. The altitude is about 36km. To reach it we use the simplest means possible, that is the gas balloon. Then, after 2 hours enjoying the beauty of our blue planet, the pod separates from the balloon and falls back to Earth on a guided parafoil.
You get asked all the time what could go wrong, so, how safe is bloon?
We aim for the same safety as a small airplane or hot air balloon flight. Simpler systems are easier to make safer. Our solution is dramatically simpler than any guided missile modified to carry people. In bloon, there is no rocket, there is no high speed re-entry. We have no catastrophic failure modes. Just like on commercial airplanes, when something goes wrong, there are several redundant systems, for instance we carry 2 back-up parachutes in addition to the nominal parafoil.
How much does a bloon ride cost and when will the first travelers go up?
110,000 Euro for 1 person. We expect the commercial flights to start sometime between 2013 and 2015. I find it more prudent not to provide a specific date.
What motivates you personally to make bloon a success?
I was privileged to have a astronomer father and marvel at the beauty of the universe and our planet since I remember. I want to share that with as many people as possible. And I believe that if most decision makers, role models and other powerful people got to see the Earth from bloon and felt one with the planet, the world would be a better place.
Looking into a crystal ball, where does the technology behind bloon go – what could be next?
We humans have been flying for a very little time. Most of our flying vehicles are modified weapons. I’m sure human creativity, given the right incentives, will out-innovate our current WW2 legacy technology and come up with flying solutions that are cleaner, safer and more capable. To me bloon is just a step in that direction.
Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my questions Jose, I look forward to the day that we can all look back down at our precious planet. You can learn more about bloon and zero2infinity on their respective websites. I also encourage you to follow zero2infinity on Twitter and on Facebook as well.
I actually had an invite to go to this conference but couldn’t make it. So glad you did and shared this info with us. Surely must be the ultimate travel experience!
You know what they say – the final frontier! The conference and Bulgaria was such a wonderful experience all around. I was very fortunate to chat with Jose as well about something that has always been a dream of mine – since the first time I ever watched Star Trek 😉
Sounds like it’d be amazing. Will be interesting to see how it competes with Virgin Galactic.
I really like the serenity of the balloon aspect, though it will be interesting to see where both travel services go.
Hmmm, this one is going to take me a while. Barbara’s obviously excited by it. If Bloon does come to fruition, I think I’ll let millions of others go before me – oh, and maybe the price will have come down a bit by then, too. 🙂
Julia
I think in 10 years the price will be significantly lower but maybe they can make some room for bloggers in space?
My feet are staying firmly put on planet earth. I will look up and wave at the rest of you!!
Deal, we’ll take some twitpics though and be sure to post them. I hope they have wi-fi in space 😛
Hi Anil and thanks for the good words about the summit in Sofia. Our next summit will be September 25-27 and Jose will be with us again along with other interesting and dynamic speakers. Hope you will be able to join us as well!
Hi John, my pleasure and thanks again for inviting me. I’ll do my best to attend in September, although I’ll be at the tail end of what (hopefully) will be the world’s longest continuous train ride. Depends on how fast I can get to the finish line 🙂
This is such a great idea. I hope I can take advantage of this technology one day!
You’ve got an 8 year advantage over me, so even more likely 🙂
ah, the advantages of YOUTH mwahaha :)))
Really fascinating concept and interesting man. Although, once I read the price tag I balked! This kind of travel is not cheap, but I suppose the idea is to dream big?
I look at it like computers or even the iPhone. The prices will drop very quickly I think, and can imagine in 10 years from now, prices to be something along the lines of a first class airplane flight.
A guess and a hope 🙂
must be awesome to see earth from a distance, like maybe from the moon but 110,000 Euro is abit pricey for now… hehe (singing: i wanna be a billionaire…)
Just think about how much the first touch screen cost originally…though I’m ready for a moon colony as well. I’m counting my pocket change at the moment, Flip, you in?
Would be great to go into space one day, do hope it gets a bit more affordable. What happens with the balloon after the pod has seperated? Dont think it would be such a great idea to create more space junk out there.
I believe there are plans to recover the balloon, so they can be reused, which would also cut costs considerably as I recall Jose mentioning. I can forward this to him though to get you the details if you’d like.
If you could forward the question to him, then that would be great 🙂 The project itself looks awesome, it just got me thinking about where the balloon goes after the pod itself falls back to earth.
Sure thing, I’ve sent your question Jose’s way…
Hey Tijman,
That’s a great question! I totally agree that we have do keep the environment clean, it’s at the core of our vision. The balloon has a transponder (a device that broadcast its position) and a radar reflector. That way it can be tracked after it separates. It also has a valve that lets most of the helium escape. Helium is a noble gas and does no harm. Then it gently falls back to Earth and a chase team picks it up, rolls it, tests the electronics and recycle the balloon film. This is how we start and how these balloons routinely fly all around the world with robotic payloads. There is no debris nor waste.
Space junk only comes from rockets and is orbiting is way above, at at least 200km of altitude.
That sounds like a great solution having a transponder with the ballon to track and pick it up later 🙂 Thanks for the explanation
I am dying to go to outerspace!!!!!!!!!! I would prefer a trip to the moon, but I think the bloon would suffice for now.
Time to start saving money!!
I want to know when they will start having competitions for trips to space? I would make the best video ever to win that competition! 🙂
That would be so cool…and I would love to see that video, you know I’m a huge fan of your skills!