I think I now want a ticket aboard Enterprise even more than I did before.

They're performing just one song, rumored to be either Gold, True or I'll Fly For You (surprising news to anyone who thought they had just two songs) if Spandau Ballet guitarist/saxophonist Steve Norman is to be believed. With only six passengers and two pilots allowed on that first Enterprise flight, the five Spandau Balleters will make up almost half the human weight. Although judging by the looks of Tony Hadley these days, maybe it'd be more like 50/50. [The List]

Trance "act" Above & Beyond DJed in the Mojave desert yesterday for Branson's SpaceShipTwo event, and are so desperate to see space, they've asked if they can join the ride. Hailing from the UK, Above & Beyond certainly sound space-nutty, sampling Buzz Aldrin in one of their tracks.

Boasting to NME, one of the trancers, Jono Grant, said:

"We're big fans of all things space-related and so in terms of dream gigs, this is up there alongside our performance in Rio to one million people"

Branson, how about forgetting the whole 'space passenger fights' thing and turning SpaceShipTwo into an intergalactic anti-Noah's Ark? [Above & Beyond NME via TechRadar]

As a bonus: Enjoy Sir Richard Branson with his blonde wig—come on, nobody can have such perfect hair, and be so dashing—and the legendary Burt Rutan and his even-more-legendary muttonchops. These guys, my friends, are making history right now. And I'm talking about taking humans to the stars, not hairstyle history. Sure, it's suborbital fight, but you have to start somewhere. These people are the ones really pushing the envelope forward.

Check the still pictures here.

What's especially great is the half-assed trustworthiness of the ad: The creator worked on it for 40 years! He's a scientist! He uses words like "fuselage!"

My secret space craft is the result of my professional experience and imagination while serving the U.S. military in advanced aeronautics as a scientist. The craft harnesses a revolutionary propulsion system and its fuselage is fabricated with the most advanced material. While considerably safe, I am certain you will make it safely to Titan but there will not be enough fuel to get home. This is for someone unique that has always wanted to see the universe first-hand and has perhaps a terminal view on life here at home. Here's your shot at romantic history.

Unfortunately, this is a Laika-style journey: You ain't coming back from this one. That is, if you actually get off the ground. [CNET]

"Most people think it's a spaceship," Schaller said of his silver creation that measures 56 feet long, 20 feet wide and 17 feet tall. "It was originally designed to be a hovercraft. Now it looks like it's going to end up as a houseboat. I won't live long enough to get enough money to make it a hovercraft - not unless I went back to work full time; and then I wouldn't have the time to work on it."

Much of the vessel is constructed out of found materials—like a travel trailer he found in the woods, a former acid dipping vat from the Piper Aircraft plant and an old satellite dish. It's brilliant—like a free association sculpture from a genius engineer. Seriously, this guy built his first solid-fuel jet engine in a high school shop class. I built a toolbox. Advantage: Schaller. [TCPalm via Fark]

A cursory search through taobao.com (the ebay of China) proved fruitless, but I did come across a Chinese site reviewing our stellar little handset. The Shenzhou VII mobile phone includes a 2MP camera, MP3 and MP4 capabilities, a microSD slot, USB, and—bet you didn't see this coming—astronaut themes. If anyone knows where to get this, please give me a holler! I don't want to end up looking like a space cadet in front of my boss. [Shanzhaiji]

The architectural expression for our proposal is inspired by the surrounding desert and mountain landscape. This concept provides for an infinite variety of naturally shaded, intimate and protected spaces, around which the multiple uses associated with the development are woven. The undulating architectural landscape is resolved in a dramatic landmark tower marking the main gateway plaza. This 200 m high tower will be the setting for a 5 star plus hotel affording panoramic views across the emirate, to the gulf and mountains beyond.

[Dezeen]

What's the training like?
The program has yet to be announced, but we know it's a combination of real flight, simulated flight and centrifuge training.
What's the difference between your Virgin Galactic and Virgin America rides?
The different flight profile of each, but in some ways it flies like any jet...although some portions of the launch of SpaceShipTwo's reentry is glider-like. These planes also do +6Gs.
Is it like a Rollercoaster?
Well, a rollercoaster is more of an inverse G. [So, it's not similar]
What qualification did you need to become a Galactic pilot?
3,000 hours of flight time, and a variety of plane experience, since we also have to fly Gulfstreams to sometimes take customers to and from the spaceports.

Rich, you are a lucky bastard.
[Giz at Virgin Galactic Launch]

Given the time frame, the planners on the Orion had even built in defense systems meant to retaliate against the Russians. This project was the first contract funded by DARPA. In this video, George also steps through passenger acceleration profiles, emergency plans if Orion failed to clear the atmosphere and the not so cool 700 rads of radiation you'd get while riding it. George's final take? If an asteroid headed for our planet, an Orion type ship is one of the only emergency plans that NASA could depend on, "off the shelf." And that's why NASA bought roughly 1700 pages of the notes he collected on Orion from him.

George has a book on Orion, but unfortunately, it's on Amazon for 80 bucks, used. [TED, Amazon]

A cooled hollow superconductive shield is energized by an electromagnetic field resulting in the quantized vortices of lattice ions projecting a gravitomagnetic field that forms a spacetime curvature anomaly outside the space vehicle. The spacetime curvature imbalance, the spacetime curvature being the same as gravity, provides for the space vehicle's propulsion. The space vehicle, surrounded by the spacetime anomaly, may move at a speed approaching the light-speed characteristic for the modified locale.

Patent [via DefenseTech]