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