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.
