Move over, Blue Origin.
Stand aside, Virgin Galactic.
Cool your jets, SpaceX.
There’s a new commercial space flight start-up in town.
What’s it called?
They had no trouble finding passengers willing to pay the exorbitant price of a kilo of catnip for a seat on the maiden voyage. Everyone had their reasons.
The big day came, and blast off went without a hitch. Well, almost. The ship had a little trouble at the Kármán line, the boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and space. You know how cats are. First it wanted out, then it wanted in, then it wanted out again, then in. Finally it broke free...
Everybody got to experience weightlessness...
… and the wonders of astronaut food.
They also got to play around in the cryo chamber, which the proprietors bought for a song at a movie studio auction and is only good for chilling a six-pack or two — but who cares? It looks cool.
Finally it was time for reentry and that special moment when space travelers gaze upon Earth and are awed to their core by the beauty and fragility of our planet as seen from space. Unfortunately, at that precise moment their collective eyes happened to fall upon the distant planet Mars.
Uh oh.
I wonder how that’s going to turn out.
Months later...
.