Space tourism is a very interesting topic for me. Space tourism has been evolving and evolving and has always gained interest ever since we put a man on the moon. And ever since then, the general public has been very interested in making scheduled flights into space happen. And personally I believe it will happen a lot sooner then later. Researching this topic online, I found a website that said, "The space tourism industry is officially open for business, and tickets are going for a mere $20 million for a one-week stay in space." Now I don't know about everyone else, but I should have started saving a long time ago in order to save up for a mere week in space. Although, it would be worth it, $20 million is a lot of money to be spending on going to space. According to the same article, "Despite reluctance from NASA, Russia made American businessman Dennis Tito the world's first space tourist." Since then, there have been few other people that have also been lucky enough to get into the space tourism world.
The rules and regulations that govern and very clear cut and concise. According to the FAA website, "The new rules maintain FAAs commitment to protect the safety of the uninvolved public and call for measures that enable passengers to make informed decisions about their personal safety." These rules include, " launch vehicle operators to provide certain safety-related information and identify what an operator must do to conduct a licensed launch with a human on board. In addition, launch operators are required to inform passengers of the risks of space travel generally and the risks of space travel in the operators vehicle in particular. These regulations also include training and general security requirements for space flight participants." These regulations were updated in 2007 and I believe that they are 100% correct. Obviously space flight is very dangerous and the regulations need to be very clear and very strict in order to keep people safe when attempting to do this.
As technology continues to advance I believe that space tourism will become more mainstream and continue to advance. More people will be able to able to access it and I believe it will happen in the next 10-15 years. As far as it becoming a regular form of transportation I don't see it becoming as popular as the airline industry I just see it becoming a once in a lifetime experience type of activity.
As far as the qualifications, the pilots must have a valid FAA and medical certification. Student pilots are not qualified to do this. As far as management side goes, its hard for people to start and create a viable business in something this large of scale. I can only imagine how much would be needed in order to create a business that would operate on such a large scale.
References
Bonsor, K. (n.d.). Retrieved September 28, 2015, from http://science.howstuffworks.com/space-tourism.htm
New Regulations Govern Private Human Space Flight Requirements for Crew and Space Flight Participants. (n.d.). Retrieved September 28, 2015, from http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/human_space_flight_reqs/
I read in an article that space tourism is expected to become more mainstream as well, as prices fall. If I remember correctly, price was expected to be somewhere around $10,000 a person, but this is due to a larger number of passengers. It wasn't specific about whether it would be larger numbers of passengers in one trip, or spread out over many. I think putting 50+ people into space (especially if there is only a "recommended" physical in place) in one aircraft/spacecraft is just asking for a lot of issues. I personally could care less about going to space, but there are plenty out there that would, and will, if it becomes affordable. Just my thoughts on the subject...
ReplyDeleteNice job! Your research indicates that we are closer to having space tourism become more mainstream. This is different from what I found, but I'm optimistic that this will be the case. I still think it will be reserved for the rich, but prices may fall if it becomes a thing of the norm. 10-15 years would be a nice time frame for space tourism to become a regularity.
ReplyDeleteI agree that space tourism can eventually become mainstream as well, but there does also have to be more restrictions on the flights that are taken into space. The FAA needs to think about safety first, this could potentially be one of the most dangerous industries in the world if it gets up and running. The fact that restrictions on space tourism are so lax is frightening to say the least. Action needs to be taken now rather than in the future so we can prevent any potential disasters.
ReplyDeleteI also think that space flight will not replace airlines. Even if it is faster I would imagine there would be more security procedures to go through and the cost would still be much higher than any airline. For the time being the market will probably just appeal to the rich and trill seekers.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that you believe that space travel will be mainstream in the next 10 to 15 years. You have to keep in mind that space travel is ridiculously expensive and we don'r even have a spacecraft that has proven to be reliable and efficient. I see space tourism as something specifically for wealthy individuals, and adrenaline junkies who happened to be rich.
ReplyDelete