* Astronomy

In a gargantuan move, Dr. Chrinjeev Kathuria and Geoff Sheerin of Canadian Arrow have joined hands to form a new corporation, PLANETSPACE to fulfil their dreams of taking passengers to space on a commercial basis.
The company targets, according to Kathuria, to fly around 2000 astronauts in the first five years and generate USD $200 million. Space trotting would cost a miniscule of what it costs now as fares will start at USD $250,000 for a suborbital flight that would also cover a 14-day training.
“Eventually our goal is to make it a public company. Space should be open to all people, and all people should also have the opportunity to invest in the future of space travel”. - Geoff Sheerin, who would serve as the President and CEO of the new company.



“MirCorp was the beginning of the opening of space for the general public . . . PLANETSPACE will be the next leap, providing a range of opportunities from sub-orbital jaunts to possible weeklong journeys to the space”. - Dr. Chirinjeev Kathuria, the Chairman of PLANETSPACE.
Dr. Chininjeev Kathuria, an MD from Brown University who also holds an MBA from Stanford University was a founding director of MirCorp, the company instrumental in launching the world’s first privately funded manned space program.

Geoff Sheerin, currently the founder and President of Canadian Arrow, an Industrial Designer by training, is passionately committed to his vision of a passenger space flight industry. He is working relentlessly in developing a rocket capable of sub-orbital flight.
A panel discussion was held at the University of Chicago’s International House to announce details of the company’s plans along with the unveiling of the Canadian Arrow rocket with its new PLANETSPACE identity.
Two Canadian Arrow astronauts, Jason Dyer and Wayne Wong shared their experience and knowledge of the spacecraft and the procedures involved in the mission to the space.
They said that the participants would have to take a mandatory 14-day space exploration training at their facility to prepare for the journey to space.
“All safety precautions comparable to NASA would be taught”. - Jason Dyer.
The panel discussion was attended by students and faculties of the University of Chicago.
The Canadian Arrow rocket with its new PLANETSPACE identity was also unveiled on this occasion.

Kathuria has in the past tried to get an edge by being first at the starting line. He founded XTreme, a free ISP in the United Kingdom. Later, he was involved in a cellphone venture in India.
“Space is now the only untapped frontier. The Wright Brothers pioneered air travel barely a hundred years ago, and it’s very real that space travel is going to be a norm very quickly...When I was graduating from business school 10 years ago, we hardly used the Internet and now from the car we can send faxes and have Blackberries.” - Dr. Chrinjeev Kathuria.

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-- Edited by Blobrana at 20:50, 2005-05-25