Commercial Space Travel

1) Historical background: When did the idea of "space tourism" begin? How has it developed? What have been the hurdles and accomplishments? Start in the 1960's - present day.

-        On April 28^th in 2001, Dennis Tito was the first tourist in space. Paying a whopping 20 million dollars to the Russian government so they would take him to the international space station. That flight was 40 years after the first man entered space. With continuous developments in technology, air and space travel has become more and more safe; even though not 100% successful the odds are significantly better than they were. NASA tried to space this space tourism before Russia could launch a civilian into orbit. They said having an untrained person on board is a liability and could potentially lead to mission failure.

2) Give a brief summary of the rules and regulations that currently govern the commercial space industry. When and why were they developed? Start with the first rules developed in the 1980s. Do you feel that they are appropriate or that the need to be more or less restrictive?

-        The FAA has laid out a foundation of rules for the commercial space travel industry, stating things like the company providing the travel must have all of their passengers trained and briefed on the safety operations extensively. They also must inform them of their safety rights (or lack thereof). The first rules were developed as a result of Russia launching a business man with deep pockets into orbit. They decided to restrict these types of activities because Earth’s orbit is starting to get crowded and they want to make sure that each launch is tracked and moitored by the responsible state (i.e. the nation the launch is coming from)

3) Where do you see space tourism headed and in what time frame? I.e., do you think it will be accessible to the general public, not unlike the commercial airline industry? Do you think it will develop into a means of transportation or do you think that it will perpetually exists as a one-time, bucket list adventure? Why?

-        With SpaceX on the verge of creating automated, reliable, and affordable space vehicles. I think it would be silly to think that space vacations are out of reach. They have already discussed plans of creating a tour that launches from Earth, orbits the moon, and returns to Earth. This will most likely be the next space tour. SpaceX has also talked about colonizing Mars. For this reason, I think that a space flight will be as normal to buy as an airline flight; although significantly more expensive. I wouldn’t think that people would fly back and forth regularly unless they had literally too much money to spend or owned the business that transported people to a from Mars.

4) What are the qualifications to work in the space tourism industry - either from the pilot or the management perspective? This may require some research, perhaps even making a phone call.

-        Someone would most likely need to be a computer programmer or an engineer because the space industry is becoming more and more automated; for good reason. Even to be a “space flight attendant”, someone would most likely require a bachelor’s degree and least, and then a lot of space training.

Citations

Writer, M. W. (n.d.). First Space Tourist: How a U.S. Millionaire Bought a Ticket to Orbit. Retrieved February 21, 2018, from https://www.space.com/11492-space-tourism-pioneer-dennis-tito.html

FAA (2016). New Regulations Govern Private Human Space Flight Requirements for Crew and Space Flight Participants. Retrieved February 21, 2018, from https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/human_space_flight_reqs/