Good news for people who want to have a space wedding or drink some Martian mineral water: Virgin Galactic, the space tourism venture co-sponsored by British mogul Sir Richard Branson and aerospace designer Burt Rutan will unveil their ship White Knight Two tomorrow. Over two hundred people have already plunked down $200,000 to take Virgin Galactic’s rockets to space when the program begins sometime after late 2009. White Knight Two will carry the rockets 50,000 feet in the air before releasing them. After disengaging from White Knight Two, the Virgin Galactic spaceships will fly to a maximum height of 363,033 feet. Though White Knight Two will be ready to present to the public tomorrow, the spaceships are still being kept under wraps and Virgin says they are only about 70% completed.

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Falling under the conditions of the human condition, we’re born explorers. Sure, we’d love to seek out all of the hidden nooks of the world, but rather it be work or money, there’s always an excuse holding us back from traveling. GeoSim is launching their first complete city tour, starting with Philadelphia, which might one day lead to a whole new form of tourism.

There’s a whole sub-culture of tourism known as the “armchair traveler”. People who drift into travel books in the comfort of their own homes without lifting more than a finger to turn a page. GeoSim has completed a rendering of the city of Philly (where we hear Vince Veneziani Will Smith was  reportedly born and raised, though has been known to frequent the playground on most of his days), down to the current storefronts, architecture, even placements of trash cans.
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