BBC reporter Richard Scott has become the first journalist to be allowed inside the Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo and although it is very much a work in progress with the craft still undergoing glide tests, it is nonetheless interesting to see the space where 2 pilots and 6 paying passengers will be occupying in the next two years.

Each paying passenger will have to shell out $200,000 (£120,000) for the privilege of flying up to the edge of Space and seeing the skies outside turn from blue to black, spending around 5 minutes ‘floating’ within the craft before a return to Earth once more.

A special note for any paying passenger concerned about the physical stresses this puts on the human anatomy, I happen to know of a very qualified specialist doctor who knows how to perform CPR in microgravity and who would be happy to accompany you on your voyage – just get in touch!

Click play on the video below to take a look.

Just a few short weeks after safely returning to Earth from her last mission STS-133 on March 9th 2011, the Discovery space shuttle is already going through the process of decommissioning before making her way to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum, in Washington DC, USA.

Technicians from Kennedy Space Centre’s Orbiter Processing Facility are presently pulling her to bits to make her safe for the general public to play with!

Pictures below show the removal of the front nose where lies the forward reaction control system (FRCS), or in layman’s terms an array of tiny little rocket engines used to control the precise movements and orientation of the shuttle in Space. As such, these tend to contain toxic explosive material and so it all needs a good clean out. The engines will also be removed and replaced with replicas, and the originals put into storage for possible use at a later date with a future spacecraft.

Only two more space shuttle flights now remain, with Endeavour  due to fly on mission STS-134 on April 19th 2011, to be followed in June this year by the last historic shuttle flight ever by Atlantis. 

Click on the images below to enlarge.