Make your
reservations now. The space tourism industry is
officially open for business, and tickets are going for
a mere $20 million for a one-week stay in space. Despite
reluctance from NASA, Russia made American businessman
Dennis Tito the world's first space tourist. Tito
flew into space aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket that
arrived at the
International Space Station on April 30, 2001. The
second space tourist, South African businessman Mark
Shuttleworth, took off aboard the Russian Soyuz on
April 25, 2002, also bound for the ISS.
Lance Bass of 'N Sync was supposed to
be the third to make the $20 million trip, but he did
not join the three-man crew as they
blasted off on October 30, 2002, due to lack of
payment. Probably the most incredible aspect of this
proposed space tour is that
NASA was in favor of it.
These trips are the beginning of what
could be a lucrative 21st century industry. There are
already several space tourism companies planning to
build suborbital vehicles and orbital cities within the
next two decades. These companies have invested
millions, believing that the space tourism industry is
on the verge of taking off.
Photo courtesy
Space Island Group
Space hotels might be
popular vacation spots in 20 years.
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In 1997,
NASA published a report
concluding that selling trips to
space to private citizens could
be worth billions of dollars. A
Japanese report supports these
findings, and projects that
space tourism could be a $10
billion per year industry within
the two decades. The only
obstacles to opening up space to
tourists are the space agencies,
who are concerned with safety
and the development of a
reliable, reusable launch
vehicle.
If you've ever
dreamed of going to space and
doing what only a few hundred
people have done, then read on.
In this article, you'll learn
about the spacecraft being
designed as destinations for
space tourists, and how you may
one day have a chance to cruise
through the solar system.
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