The sky has always attracted man’s attention and dreams. The first living being in space was not a human, but the Russian dog Laika, of the Kudriavka race. In short, several animals were used in the early days of space exploration to test the effect of radiation, weightlessness, and outer space conditions on living organisms.
Space tourism has always surrounded our minds and big companies like SpaceX, Boeing, Virgin Galatic, Blue Origin and SNC have projects to make this dream come true. Those, not astronauts, who can and want to pay for the space trip will have an unforgettable trip in their lifetime. With the advance of science, the time to pack your bags for this trip seems to have arrived. And the development of spacecraft that can carry out this type of tourism does not stop.
What’s more, space tourism became a reality after Richard Branson was the first non-astronaut man to go into space on the 11th of this month. Followed, a week later, by Jeff Bezos .
Branson’s company, Virgin Galactic , has spent the last few years studying ways to make off-Earth travel a reality. And she has plans to get people to take that little spin in space in 2022.
Tickets began to be sold at $250,000 each. And impressively they are already sold out. In addition to Virgin Galactic, its rival, Blue Origin, also plans to enter the space tourism business.
Now that space travel is a possible reality for us, or at least for those who can afford it, some doubts arise. We answer here the main ones.
1 – Who can go to space?
Virtually anyone can go. The only point is to be able to pay the ticket. According to Blue Origin, travelers can withstand three times the pull of gravity for two minutes on the way up and five and a half times for a few seconds on the way down. And anyone who wants to go into space has to measure between 1.52 and 1.95 meters and weigh between 50 and 101 kilos.
According to Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, most people can travel on his company’s spacecraft. “If you can handle going on a roller coaster, you should be able to fly Dragon,” he said.
Virgin Galatic has no physical requirements for its future travelers. “We will completely prepare each astronaut, according to a program of medical check-ups and training suitable for each one”, informed the company’s website.
2 – How much does it cost?
The price of the trip depends. For example, flying to the International Space Station for a week on an Axiom Space-authorized flight costs $55 million per person. A portion of that exorbitant amount goes to NASA, which charges $10 million a week for private astronauts. In addition to lower rates of two thousand dollars for food.
The Virgin Galactic ticket cost $250,000 for people to experience a few minutes of microgravity. However, the company said that when ticket sales reopen, the price will increase.
Blue Origin has not announced its prices. However, the auction for a seat aboard New Shepard ended with a final bid of $28 million.
3 – What kind of training do you need?
Fortunately, the training needed to travel as a tourist is not similar to what NASA astronauts do. According to the Blue Origin website, training for their flights takes just one day. The day before the launch, you will learn everything you need to know to have your astronaut experience”, he informed.
For Virgin Galactic, the goal is to give its future astronauts “an incomparably safe and accessible journey into space without the need for prior experience or training and preparation.” And for that, they will have a three-day training at Spaceport America in New Mexico. There, they “will undergo a medical triage and flight preparation process, such as training in the use of communication systems, flight protocols, emergency procedures and training with the G-force.”
Axiom Space, which has a much more ambitious mission traveling to the International Space Station and staying there for a week, has a 17-week training run at facilities that are managed by NASA.
