Introduction:
Space tourism is getting a lot of
attention in the media. With this interest comes concern about the possibility
of misuse and abuse of space travel. People want to know what space tourism is,
how it works and how it can be abused. You are probably wondering why people
are so interested in space travel and space tourism — if it were just about
novelty, then it would never take off.
Have you ever thought of traveling
into space? You might have considered this before, but I'm guessing that space
travel doesn't get your pulse racing as other things do. So, here we are in
2018 and are still asking "what is space tourism?!" Space travel
affects us on so many levels — from science to technology to entertainment —
space travel has everything!
It’s
not just for the wealthy.
Space tourism is a growing industry
for those willing to shell out the big bucks to travel into space. But it's not
just for the wealthy, according to Chris Hadfield, who was the first Canadian
astronaut to fly in space and has been promoting space tourism through his
follow-up books.
"If you're rich, you can do
it," he said in an interview with The Globe and Mail. "But if you are
not rich, there are ways that you can still do it."
He said that people of all ages
should be able to go into space because "it's something that everyone
should experience."
Space tourism is the idea of
visiting space without going there in a spacecraft of any kind. It's not just
for the wealthy, either. Anyone with a couple of million dollars could fly to
space at some point.
The first tourists to fly into space
will probably be those who've won the lottery. The first space tourists will be
people who are wealthy enough to be able to afford it: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos,
Richard Branson, and maybe even Stephen Hawking.
Space tourism is a huge economic
opportunity for humanity to realize that we can live on other planets if we
want to, but we have to first get there. The technology needed to make this
possible is already here; the only thing holding us back is the finances.
It’s
safer than you think.
You might think that space tourism
is out of reach, but it’s not. In fact, it’s safer than you think.
The biggest risk Rocket science is
hard and risky. A rocket doesn’t just take off with its payload; it has to be
assembled in the right way and then launch at the right speed. It also needs a
lot of fuel to get up into space, which means that the rocket needs to be built
carefully and tested repeatedly before being launched.
The process of building a rocket is
complicated, but it doesn’t have to be expensive. A company called SpaceX has
already made headlines by sending its Falcon 9 rocket into space twice — and
that was after just one failed attempt! This year it will launch another Falcon
9 rocket from California with a satellite attached.
SpaceX uses technology developed by
NASA for developing rockets, so you can be confident that any problems
encountered during testing will be fixed quickly and safely.
SpaceX is not even the only company
offering space tourism flights today — Virgin Galactic plans to send tourists
into space two years from now, while Richard Branson has plans for a tourist
flight by 2015 (on his own Virgin Galactic fleet).
It’s
cheaper than you think.
Space tourism is a far-off dream
that only the wealthy can afford. But as people start to spend more time
outside the planet’s atmosphere, space travel may not be so far off.
The first commercial spaceflights
are still many years away, but there’s already one company that’s working on
them. Virgin Galactic, founded by Sir Richard Branson, is preparing for its
first trip into orbit with its SpaceShipTwo spacecraft in 2016.
It will offer suborbital flights at
around $200,000 per person — significantly cheaper than other space ventures
which charge up to $250,000 per person for trips lasting just an hour or less.
The biggest hurdle is the cost of
the rocket. The price per seat for a space flight can range from $20 million to
$100 million. But that’s just for one person. If you want to send two or three
people up together, add another $10 million or so per seat.
The launch vehicles used by private
companies are also expensive, but they’re getting cheaper every year thanks to
new technology and materials. In fact, the cost of sending humans into space
has dropped more than 50 percent since 2000, according to NASA’s Armstrong
Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.
It’s also important to note that
these companies are only able to send their passengers into orbit — not deep
space — because they don’t have a space shuttle or other vehicle like NASA
does. So while they may be able to get you into orbit around Earth at a
fraction of the cost of NASA, we wouldn’t recommend going beyond that unless
you want your trip cut short by the Earth’s atmosphere and gravity pulling you
back down again (which would happen even if you went far enough away).
It
could help cure cancer.
Space tourism could be a way to cure
cancer and other diseases.
Space tourism would allow scientists
to visit places that are too dangerous or difficult to reach by other methods,
such as space vehicles or astronauts.
Scientists say that one of the main
benefits of space tourism is that it would allow them to conduct experiments in
outer space with only minimal risk of harm to people on Earth.
This could help cure cancer, which
currently has no cure at all. The National Cancer Institute estimates that
there will be more than 1 million new cases of cancer this year alone.
Space tourism is a new concept that
has been in the works for years. It's still a long way off — and it might not
even happen at all. But it could help cure cancer or at least make it easier to
treat.
"What we're talking about is
not just going into space but going into deep space," said NASA astronaut
Scott Kelly, who has spent over 340 days in space on six missions, including a
record-breaking yearlong stint aboard the International Space Station.
Kelly said he's seen firsthand how
medical technology has improved during his time on board the ISS. In addition
to monitoring astronauts' health through testing and scans, researchers are
also able to experiment with how drugs work in zero-gravity environments.
While this technology is still in
its infancy and not ready for human trials yet, it could help doctors treat
cancer patients who live far away from hospitals where research can be
conducted safely. Researchers can test new treatments without having to worry
about radiation exposure or other issues that come with treating patients back
on Earth."
Conclusion:
Space tourism is a concept that has
captured the imagination of many people; it combines the idea of travel and
adventure with visions of space exploration. However, only a select few will
ever have the opportunity to experience space tourism in person.
If you want to see space tourism
develop, the most important thing to do is show that it's a viable business. By
purchasing an actual ticket and partaking in the experience, you're doing just
that. By taking the trip, you're helping to make space tourism to the next
level. We hope that our calendar helps you answer this question, but there's
one even better way: go have the experience for yourself!