FYI,

"21st-Century Pioneer - Astronaut Leroy Chiao achieved his ambition
for adventures in space. Now he's trying to open the skies to his
fellow dreamers back on Earth"
USA Weekend Magazine
http://www.usaweekend.com/08_issues/080113/080113astronauts.html

: Since then, Leroy Chiao's preoccupation with the heavens has led to
: his becoming a leading member of two of the most elite and
: exclusive groups on Earth: NASA astronauts and, now, one of many
: pioneers in the frontier of commercial space flight.

: This new quest to bring space travel down to earth, so to speak, so
: that anyone can book a flight to the stars has captured the
: imagination of a new generation of private entrepreneurs.

: In many ways, the ambitious Chiao exemplifies this handful of
: dreamers determined to commercialize space. The most famous is
: British billionaire Richard Branson, who is selling $200,000 seats
: to space in 2009.

: But as a highly experienced former astronaut, he has one of the
: most impressive resumes in the history of space travel -- as well
: as a populist notion of space travel.

: "We are on the edge of the barn-storming era of space flight," says
: Chiao, 47, who lives in Houston with his wife, Karen, and their
: 13-month-old twins. "There are several companies racing to make
: commercial space travel a reality sooner than most people think."

: After President Bush signed the Commercial Space Launch Amendments
: Act in December 2004, intended to promote the development of U.S.
: commercial space flight, Chiao felt the challenge: He decided to
: move from astronaut to space entrepreneur.

: "I had done all I could do in a flying career," he says of his
: decision to leave the space agency. For Chiao, "the real future of
: space travel and exploration was in the private sector."

: Chiao's Russian experience helped lead him to Excalibur Almaz space
: company, a private, international space venture planning to operate
: its own spacecraft and space stations commercially. "We hope people
: will be able to travel as easily on a spacecraft in the same way
: they do on an airline," says Chiao, who's in charge of Excalibur
: Almaz's space operations, which include training potential
: passengers.

: The private sector has long had access to space, however,
: communication satellites piggybacking on government rockets is a
: long way from what's hoped for. To date, only five "tourists" have
: flown to the International Space Station, and they were on Russian,
: not American, capsules.

: Chiao claims that "in the next few years," Excalibur Almaz will
: offer week-long flights that deposit tourists at modernized,
: Russian-designed space stations. His mission is to make sure such
: journeys are safe and economically efficient. The price of a seat
: is still up the air.

: "We're going to take things further and faster by using proven
: technology and spacecraft, which will ultimately bring down costs
: and make space flight available to more people," Chiao insists.
: "This [is] a chance to enter a new, exciting and growing area that
: [allows] me to share my amazing experiences with other people."

: Now, that opportunity is available -- if you have $40 million to
: spare. That's the price of a ride to the International Space
: Station in a Russian Soyuz space capsule. (Only a handful of very
: wealthy people have taken the trip, becoming the world's first
: "space tourists.")

: The rest of us are still dreaming, but affordable space travel is
: getting closer. In 2004, SpaceShipOne, built by famed aircraft
: designer Burt Rutan, claimed the$10 million Ansari X Prize for
: innovation. It is the first commercially built manned craft to
: reach space.

: Now, Virgin Galactic, the company founded by British billionaire
: Richard Branson that's behind SpaceShipOne, is selling tickets. For
: only $200,000, you can experience weightlessness, get a view of the
: Earth from space and, we hope, enjoy one heck of an in-flight meal.
: Possible departure date: as early as 2009.

: Several other companies also are planning spaceship flights, with
: the cost for passengers expected to be roughly in the same price
: range.

: Of course, a trip that costs as much as a starter home is still far
: from making space travel available to the masses. More affordable
: space voyages may be as little as 10 years away, when prices could
: fall to $30,000, Virgin Galactic's Rutan has estimated. That's
: about the price of a well-outfitted Toyota Camry. Start saving
: today.

Excalibur Almaz wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excalibur_Almaz

Mark Reiff