Last week, Arizona-based World View broke a record for the world’s highest parafoil flight. This is a major step towards bringing tourists to the edge of space.

A parafoil is a large, wing-like parachute. The key is the downward flight of the parafoil. The plan is to have passengers on board a capsule for a slow float skyward, enabled by an enormous balloon. After a two-hour climb to an estimated 100,000 feet, the descent will rely on the balloon first, followed by the parafoil.

This system will allow a much more leisurely trip than using rockets to reach those heights. The trip doesn’t quite take you into space, but it comes close. Unfortunately, this pleasure ride is expected to cost around $75,000. These trips won’t start until at least late 2016.

For most of us, this doesn’t have any immediate impact. Still, advancements like this usually can be expected to eventually lead to other advancements that will benefit the masses.

— John Wroblewski, online contributor