Up until today I thought that the idea of Americans (who were not professional astronauts) going into space was quite far-fetched. It seems however that space tourism may be rolling in a little sooner than we had thought. Today Boeing, who has been the global leader in designing and building spacecrafts, has announced that they would be entering the space tourism business, I have accessed this information from an article published today on The New York Times website. Boeing and Bigelow Aerospace out of Las Vegas, Nevada have been granted an $18 million dollar contract for the development and testing of a seven passenger capsule. NASA’s current guidelines call for four crew members to be on board, leaving room for three passengers.
Up until now there have only been seven Americans who have "vacationed" in space since 2001. All of the missions have been through the Russian Space Agency arranged through the Virginia based company, Space Adventures. who also offer an array of experiences including, lunar missions, zero gravity simulation flights, orbital spaceflights, and flights to the space station. One of the most famous clients of the company is Guy Laliberte, creator of Cirque Di Soliel. Guy reportedly paid a sum of $35 million for his adventure where he spent a total of 12 days in space, including a nine day stay at the International Space Station.
This topic relates to the theme, making the impossible possible, because before the new millennium most of us could only ever dream of the day that we would be able to travel into outer space.
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ReplyDeleteI think this is a great topic!I did a sort of similar post on the subject. I think the concept of vacationing in space is pretty crazy and all the information included in your blog was informative and new to me. Overall a very interesting thing to research. Its something i will want to learn more about in future especially since it probably will affect our futures.
ReplyDeleteVacationing in space will probably be one of coolest things anyone could ever do. If somehow it become as cheap as a cruise you can sign me up because going into space would be the highlight of my life. As far as your research goes you did a great job preparing the information and I also enjoyed you picture selection. Overall this was a very interesting post.
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed you brought up some information I had no idea was even possible. I knew we were on the edge of space tourism, but I was in the dark about the fact Russia had been involved in the long before us. $35 million is a little steep for me.
ReplyDeleteGoing into space in the past usually meant that you were one of the brightest people in the world, but to see it slowly evolving into a vacation spot for everyone is very exciting. Even experiencing zero gravity would be a real treat for a lot of people, however, looking at how much Laliberte paid for his twelve day experience, I imagine it will be extremely expensive while this vacation idea is still in its early stages.
ReplyDeleteAlthough this is really exciting its kind of a shame that this will never effect most of us. With such a steep price it would be hard to even imagine gathering that money. Like Colby said if they could lower the price over time to something reasonable then it would offer so much to the normal traveler.
ReplyDeleteReally cool! Its amazing to think that some day I could possibly be in outer space. As time goes on it will definitely become cheaper. Maybe even senior class trips to outer space!
ReplyDeleteIt will definitely be interesting to see how space travel will evolve through out our lifetimes. As people have mentioned before, it will be cool to eventually see space travel drop down into a more affordable price range. Like Ian said, 35 million is a little steep.
ReplyDeleteVirgin Galatic...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa99dY9qUaM
I think outer space vacations are a great idea, hopefully if it becomes possible. I would love to live in a world where traveling to space is as easy as traveling to another country
ReplyDeleteThis makes me wish I had 35 million dollars because going to space would be awesome. The New York Times article was really interesting, as well as the idea of the Russian Space Agency being affiliated with a company in Virginia called Space Adventure's. Sounds like a cool company to me.
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome hopefully Boeing gets good at this and eventually makes space ships that can fit more people so this business can become more commercialized instead of it being available for only the rich.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Lance Bass from NSYNC also go into space?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I heard that being in space decreases you bone density. Is a vacation really worth that?
Yes, yes it is.
ReplyDeleteIt seems as though it would cost quite a lot of money to travel into space, but it would be an amazing experience to be able to brag about after. I wonder if we will eventually be able to create an entire society in space and it will become just another place to go on vacation.
ReplyDeleteThirty-five million dollars is definitely one of those sums that I cannot even begin to fathom, but having said that, I can't imagine a more incredible way to spend your money. The hospitality student in me has to wonder what the level of service is like up there now... And the possibilities of where it could end up!
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ReplyDelete35 mil is a pretty mega amount of money to pay for anything. With the development of the new 7 passenger shuttle do you think they will still charge that? With room for three I feel like you shouldn't have to pay $35,000,000. Maybe they'll have a three for one deal. Very cool post!
ReplyDeleteThat's crazy, as cool as that sounds I think I'd get bored spending 9 days at the space station. What do they do when they are up there?
ReplyDeleteIf things keep going the way they are going, we could set up space colonies on the moon! However, just thinking of such a thing makes me think of cast systems, as only the rich will be able to afford a villa on the moon. This also makes me wonder if anyone would want to live on the moon, considering it takes a couple of years to get there and back. That would be quite a commute.
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