Company Offers First 'Practical' Jetpack

March 10, 2010

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March 10, 2010

A New Zealand company is selling a 500 pound gadget that will shoot you a mile high. In the Martin Jetpack, you can fly around for 30 minutes on a full tank of gas. It costs $90,000.

STEVE INSKEEP, host:

And today's Last Word in Business is about achieving a great human dream, a dream as old as Icarus, the character in ancient mythology who tried to fly toward the sun. It's the dream to make some device that people could strap on their backs and fly through the air.

Jetpacks have starred in movies and science fiction shows for decades.

Unidentified Man #1: How do I look?

Unidentified Man #2: Like a hood ornament.

INSKEEP: There he goes. And now you can blastoff for real. A New Zealand company is selling a 500 pound gadget that will shoot you one mile high. Its the Martin Jetpack; you can fly around for a half an hour, we're told, on a full tank of gas. It cost you $90,000. The Spandex jumpsuit and super hero masks are optional, and presumably, so is the insurance.

That's the Business News on MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

RENEE MONTAGNE, host:

And I'm Renee Montagne.

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