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for Space Tourism  Preparing for a trip to space with Virgin
Galactic.  At 60,000 feet, we have reached Mach 2.5 and are
still climbing. The sky has turned dark blue, and the earth
below is distinctly curved. At 75,000 feet, the sky is black,
and a translucent-blue hue hangs over the curvature. By God,
that is the entirety of the atmosphere, I think. I’m astonished
by its thinness. I take photos of the marvelous view—and vow to
come back.  This is part of my MiG-25 training flight to the
edge of space. We topped out that day at 16 miles, about a
quarter of the way to what is considered outer space (62 miles).
To go the remaining distance and become an official astronaut, I
have purchased a ticket from Virgin Galactic, which, if all goes
according to plan, will start its commercial space-flight
program in 2013.  A ticket isn’t cheap. Prospective
astronauts—close to 500 of them now—are paying $200,000 a pop.
The unofficial list (Virgin does not publ