High Flyers

For those who crave a taste of space exploration, Russia leads the world in offering the general public extreme adventures at its space facilities. A number of Russian and foreign companies now arrange visits to the legendary Star City cosmonaut training base near Moscow where, for a generous fee, you can sample various aspects of the training. Medical and some prior security screening are required in most cases.

Companies offer cheek-rippling rides on centrifugal force simulators for $700-5,500.

Another favorite is zero-gravity flights, also part of the cosmonaut program run from nearby Zhukovsky military aerodrome. A series of 25-second spells of weightlessness are achieved by diving three kilometers in a converted Ilyushin-76 cargo plane, sending passengers spinning freely in the padded cabin. Prices for the two-hour trip range from $2,000-5,000, depending on your group size and booking company.

Cosmonaut survival training on land and at sea is also available. Some operators, like Florida-based Incredible Adventures (800-644-7382), offer complete certified cosmonaut training but no mission in space. Price: $179,000 dollars.

Closer to earth, several firms (including Incredible Adventures) offer the next best thing to actual space travel: a flight on a MiG-25 “Foxbat.” Traveling at up to 2800 km/h, the trip takes you to an altitude of 25 kilometers, beyond 99 percent of the Earth’s atmosphere. Terms vary, but expect to pay $9-11,000 dollars for a 30-45 minute trip to the edge of space. With only blackness above you, the blue-white curvature of the planet opens up beneath.

“It’s a beautiful spectacle,” said British banker Michael Cottrell, 40, after his MiG-25 ride with Russia’s Atlas Aerospace company in May. “You don’t feel the speed at that height, the feeling is of complete stillness and silence, because you’ve gone through the sound barrier – this was too good to miss.”

In view of difficulties that may arise obtaining Russian travel visas, most of the companies also help deal with this and other extreme bureaucratic adventures that can accompany a trip to Russia.