Six Flags over Mars?

Space Tourism - A Viable Industry?

     “The Cosmos is all that is or was or ever will be. Our contemplations of the Cosmos stir us. There is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation, as if a distant memory of falling from a height. We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries.” - Carl Sagan

     Since the dawn of time, man has gazed upwards to the stars in awe of their beauty and their mystery. He has striven for knowledge of his surroundings and the world around him. Leonardo Da Vinci was one of the first to dream of escaping the bounds of gravity and to fly among the birds. He even went so far as to design machinery to help him attain his goals. Although nothing came from the designs at the time, they were a revolutionary step of forward progress for aviation. A few centuries later, in the 18th century, the Montgolfier brothers made the next great step for aviation when they ran manned flights using large balloons filled with the lighter-than-air hydrogen gas that had been recently discovered. For the first time in history, flight was possible, and real life applications were being created every year for the new technology. The most recent large revolution in the aviation world was made by the Wright brothers, when they successfully completed the first manned, powered, and sustained flight in a heavier-than-air craft of their own design.

     Now we are on the verge of the next revolution in aviation. We have already sent research missions to our Moon, and we have sent pressurized vessels up to travel around the Earth in low level orbit. We have sent probes to Mars, and satellites beyond the reaches of our own solar system.

     The next step is here. Flying to Orlando is so 2000. We now have the technology to efficiently and affordably (the term is used very loosely here) monetize space travel. We can take a vacation to space. Companies like Virgin Galactic and XCOR Aerospace have begun popping up as leaders in the forefront of sub-orbital space travel. For the low price of $95,000, you can get a seat in the Lynx, a suborbital vehicle that will take you up to the very edge of space to stroke the beard of Zeus for a few hours before returning to the Earths surface. Other platforms have been designed to allow for longer flights and more passengers.

     For a measly $20 Million, you can even buy yourself a stay aboard the International Space Station for a few days. Although only 8 private citizens have paid this amount since 2001 when Dennis Tito made the first trip to the ISS, parent company Space Adventures is confident that this number could increase over fifteen-fold by 2020. If this trend holds true, how long will it be until space travel is affordable to your average family of 4?

     So far, not much Federal regulation governs private space travel, but what little there is can be found in the Federal Register 14 CFR Parts 400 - 460.53. For the most part right now, there is little physical demand that must be met for a private space traveler, as well as little to no organized training and familiarization with the effects of zero G environments and other issues that may arise during space travel. Several different companies and organizations have their own personalized training courses, but the lack of a federally established standard of training may cause real problems down the road. However, with the growth of the industry, I fully believe we will see more of a federal based regulation as the popularity of transport grows and as the technology becomes more affordable to the average family.

     All revolutionary forms of travel started off as exclusive to the super elite (think railroad, cruise ships, and aviation). If we maintain this course of space travel already being affordable to the super rich, how far down the line are we from an affordable weekend in space? 20 years? 40 years? 80 years? No one can say for sure, but what can be said for sure is that space is the travel destination of the future. Soon enough, we will have space cruise ships, space hotels, and space tourist traps.


Sources:

Office of Commercial Space Transportation. (2015, September 18). Retrieved September 29, 2015, from https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/regulations/

Carminati, G. (2014, March 27). "Doctor, Doctor, Can I Go?" Medical Rules, Standards, and Guidelines for Suborbital Space. Retrieved September 29, 2015, from http://www.spacesafetymagazine.com/spaceflight/commercial-spaceflight/doctor-doctor-medical-rules-standards-guidelines-suborbital-space/

ECFR — Code of Federal Regulations. (2015, September 25). Retrieved September 29, 2015, from http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=1770e95721d79b34e67dbdf70ab6cb40&mc=true&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title14/14chapterIII.tpl

Introduction

     My name is Jeffrey Phillion, and I am in my Senior year here at Eastern Michigan University. My pathway to the aviation world is an unlikely one and an interesting one. I grew up bouncing between Michigan and North Carolina, and have always wanted to be an automotive Mechanical Engineer. From a very early age, I have been fascinated with cars, racing, and all things grease monkey. I had always viewed flying and planes as a cool occupation and a nice dream, but only ever just that; a dream. It wasn't until 2 years into my college career that I uncovered an aviation career as an attainable and desirable goal.

     I graduated high school in 2010 from Northern Guilford High School in Greensboro, North Carolina. At the time, all I wanted to do was become an automotive mechanical engineer and join a race team. However, I also wanted to get out of North Carolina really badly. Thankfully, a grant was available to me through Michigan Technological University that allowed me in-state tuition, despite coming from out of state. I elected the ME route through Michigan Tech.

     Plans changed after 2 years at Michigan Tech, however, mainly due to the supplemental 2 summers I spent in an automotive engineering internship. Learning what the real world application of mechanical engineering was proved to me very quickly that I did not want to become an automotive engineer at all, especially given the low chances of actually getting on a race team that would pay me anything sufficient. After swallowing this tough pill, I found Eastern's Aviation program on a Google sidebar ad (believe it or not) while searching for new potential schools, and finally began to realize just how attainable an aviation career could be.

     Now in the final year of my Aviation Flight Technology degree here at Eastern Michigan, I have high hopes for these last two semesters of my college career, as well as my progress in the cockpit. I look towards the future excited to earn a living and realizing a dream of mine all at the same time. Although I haven't given an actual career a ton of thought beyond wanting to start out as a Flight Instructor, I would love to end up flying a 'fun' job that doesn't necessarily require plug and play IFR, plane-flies-itself routes. Doing something like Bush piloting supplies into rural Alaskan villages would be an amazing job that I would love to do, as I already love the outdoors, and I love the thrill of not ever being fully in control.

     As far as guest speakers go in this class, I'm excited to see all of them and experience just how diverse the aviation industry is. If I had to pick though, I would love to hear from someone who does something like agriculture, bush piloting, aerobatics, or other flying jobs along those lines. Someone in specific that I feel would be a blast to hear talk would be guys like Sean D. Tucker, Kirby Chambliss, Paul McLeod, etc. Hearing from someone who makes a paycheck doing something that people don't always think of when they think of aviation could be eye opening for even our class, as it seems like the most common end goal is "Delta Captain". I don't disagree that this is a wonderful goal to have, but I feel like there is so much more to aviation, and we, as the next wave of students to graduate, are in the prime position to explore it all.