Since technology has opened up the opportunity to bring humans to space that experience has been limited to professional trained astronauts. Visits to space have been discovering journeys for scientists but now space is being looked at as a new market place. The term space tourism is being used more and more frequently like it is in the near future. That near future could be closer than ever now with some companies already offering seats costing up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Space tourism is for people who want an out of this world experience. Wealthy businesses have already started setting up commercial space tourism services.
The ideas of space tourism have had a lengthy history beginning with the Space Race lasting from 1955 to 1975. On April 12, 1961, a soviet cosmonaut named Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space. He made a 108-minute orbital flight aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft. After the first man in space, the race to space became even more competitive with the US sending a man to space shortly after Gagarin and in 1962 John Glenn became the first man to orbit the Earth. The rivalry between the US and the Soviet Union intensified the pressure of technological developments. President Kennedy proposed sending an Astronaut to the moon and in 1969 Neil Armstrong took the first steps on the moon. This event led to the end of the Space Race, but it was not the end of sending people to space.
Space flight is possible and there have already been a few cases. On April 28, 2001, Dennis Tito paid his way onto a Russian Soyuz spacecraft making him the first space tourist. He paid a hefty amount of 20 million for his seat. Since Tito only seven people in 19 years have shared the same encounter. The hefty amount Dennis and his fellow space tourist paid showed entrepreneurs the opportunity to make massive profits from space tourism. Companies and NASA have been proposing plans to make this a reality. NASA is focusing on testing low Earth orbit for lunar exploration plans. These low Earth orbits would be the ideal tourist commercial spaceflight journeys. The international space stations are making a priority to manufacture and promote commercial services and products to further push the space economy. 2020 is just the start of the future where astronauts are sent to the ISS to perform commercial activities. NASA’s main goal is to purchase services from independent and commercial low Earth orbit destinations. This will change how we see space economy and how mankind can reach beyond Earth’s atmosphere.
NASA has granted more than 50 companies a change to conduct commercial research and development on the space station. Reports released by the US National Laboratory on the International Space Station have shown significant progress in promoting more commercial travel. NASA has installed more than 14 commercial facilities on the space station to make regular commercial flights a reality.
Since there is a big price tag and you haven't heard of people taking space vacations, that means better technological advances are still needed to keep the cost down and keep people safe. SpaceX is an aerospace manufacturing and space transport services company. They teamed up with a space tourism company to organize a trip into Earth orbit. Sometime in 2021, four paying customers can board SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft. The trip will consist of orbiting the Earth for five days, reaching an altitude twice the orbit of the International Space Station. Examples such as SpaceX and other companies have made efforts, but have not promised anything concrete. Hints of these projects appeared as early as the early 2000s, and this led to some doubts.
The Virgin flights were another company offering ticket of $250,000 to experience only six minutes of weightlessness but for $5,000 you can experience zero gravity from other cooperation flights that does not have to break Earth’s atmosphere to reach. These manifests doubt that space tourism is too much of a risk and has a cheaper and safer competitor. Space tourism is possible but many people question how reasonable that statement is. This doubt has had effect on the timeline to get space tourism up and running, but it has not come to a close and they still are multi billionaires ready to make it a reality. The hope in this journey comes from wealthy entrepreneurs, who have the capabilities to invest in this market are bringing back the ambition for man to enjoy the offering from space. These entrepreneurs are billionaires: Jeff Bezos founding Blue Origin in 2000, Elon Musk founding SpaceX in 2002, and Sir Richard Branson founding Virgin Galactic in 2004. Their aspirations are for not only space tourism but settlements on the moon and Mars. All this money, being invested in created space crafts, lets aerospace engineers become creative and purposeful with their creations.
There have been quite a few spacecraft design developments. An example of a spacecraft that could be used is a design from the Roketplane Limited company. They converted a learnjet into a space plane. This plane would be powered by jet engines in pods located at the back. In addition to that they would have a rocket engine in the tail. The rocket engine would shoot the pilot and two other passengers out to the boundary of outer space. The craft would be tight and not much room to move around but you would get the opportunity to experience zero gravity.
Commercial space flights are becoming more of a reality. It is predicted that the first few commercial space flights will be suborbital meaning the trip will last no more than a few hours. The G forces the paying participants will experience during the launch phase and re-entry are unlike any feeling you can experience on Earth (Law, 68). One of the few ever space tourist Richard Garriott came back to Earth with a new realization. Garrot says “unquestionably, there is something that I had never heard of until after my flight called the overview effect. The overview effect is a shift in perspective, a surreal sensation by seeing the planet as nothing but a speck. That’s the difference between space tourism and experiencing zero g in our own backyard. Taking a trip to space will not only leave you knowing what it feels like in zero gravity, but also gaining a new perspective on how humans and Earth are part of something much more.
Traveling to someplace so unknown like space can take a psychological and physical toll, especially if that person has not had the necessary training. Garriott’s new perspective had a great toll on him and that’s probably because he did not have the same training as astronauts. Astronauts study years and years to do what they do. They need to be ready to experience the unknown especially if there are still so many risks. That’s why NASA and other space companies have been pushing to make heath their number one priority. Jennifer Law, Charles, H. Mathers, Susan R. E. Fondy, and a few more colleagues have taken upon themselves to advance commercial spaceflight by using NASA’s Human System Risk Management Approach also referred to as HSRM. This program compiles and experiments with data relating to human health performance in spaceflight. Their mission is to figure out a way they can provide safety to paying customers who do not have the experience of an astronaut. The HSRM has worked with many other medical programs to find the number of risks and possible concerns about the passengers and crew. The preliminary knowledge collected by NASA will be used as a foundation for medical planning for commercial spaceflight.
It is more important than ever to follow guidelines and safety procedures. When a person decides to become a tourist and it’s not only the money they have to work for, but they have to make sure of their health. Months of training will be needed before they take upon this journey, however the amount of money and amount of time used for this trip will be worth it to every passenger. 20 million dollars was how much the first ticket for a tourist to go to space cost. The amount has dropped to a couple hundred dollars. That price is still over average what anyone could afford but the amount it has dropped in about 15 years gives hope that if we wait a little longer going to space might be as easy as buying a plane ticket.
Taking a quick trip to space for now is quite exclusive to most, but that won’t always be the case. As technology advances and cost come down more and more people will have a chance to go to space. In the next few years, we will see some of the largest developments we have ever seen. To some space is the next step for mankind but the idea has not been ideal for many so with future advances space tourism will need to look at the general public for acceptance. Space is unknown, and to many unknown is dangerous, that's why entrepreneurs are looking at space as the hotel in the heavens. The ideal trips now are only experiencing the view in a small spacecraft but many entrepreneurs are looking ahead and one day hotel in the heavens, where vacationing can be like on earth but instead of beaches and nature as views the Earth will be our view.