Space Vacations: To Infinity And Beyond

By Kevin Fleming
[Travel]
Before you know it, your next vacation may be to the stars.  Kevin Fleming tells you how you could travel to space.
If you are a connoisseur of the news it is probable that you see a story or two every now and then about the latest in commercial space flight.  Recently, you may have heard of Virgin Galactic’s latest commercial space vehicle, “SpaceShipTwo.”  It used to be that only highly trained and qualified astronauts and cosmonauts ventured into space, but those days are slowly making their way into the history books.  With the advent of cheaper and more advanced space age technology, the realm of travelling to space is making its way to the commercial sector, which in turn will eventually lead to space flight for the average Joe.  Of course, if you have a lot of spare cash sitting around, you can book a flight to space right now if you want.  If not, here is the state of commercial space flight.

A Short History Of Space Flight

Not so long ago, human space flight was thought to be impossible.  Of course, that all changed in April 1961, when Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to ever leave the Earth, temporarily.  A month later Alan Shepard became the first American to enter space on the spacecraft “Freedom 7.”  From there it was a race between the Americans and Soviets to see who could successfully land a man on the moon.  As history tells us, the Americans won the race to the moon, with Neil Armstrong becoming the first human to ever set foot on the moon in July 1969.  Since then, America has visited the moon another five times.

The modern age of space flight began in April 1981 with the launch of STS-1, otherwise known as the space shuttle Columbia.  Since then the space shuttle has become the face of manned space flight, in both good and bad ways.  Besides Columbia, NASA has constructed five other space shuttles:  Endeavor, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and the Enterprise.  Unknown to many, the space shuttle Enterprise was constructed as a test vehicle, but never flew in space.

Yet, as many observers of manned space flight found out in the 1960s, it is not without its dangers.  The most high profile accidents that demonstrated how dangerous even modern space flight can be occurred in 1986, when the space shuttle Challenger exploded after launch and in 2002 and when Columbia exploded over Texas upon reentry.  But not even these accidents have deterred those in the commercial sector from exploring the possibilities of space flight for the common man.

Beginnings Of Commercial Space Flight

Some argue that American John Glenn, the third man ever to enter space in February 1962, was the first ever space tourist in 1998.  However, at the time, the 77-year-old U.S. Senator did not pay for his journey into space aboard the space shuttle Discovery.  Rather, the first ever space tourist was Denis Tito, who in 2001, spent $20 million (USD) to travel to the International Space Station.  Tito’s first ever civilian flight into space would spark the commercial space flight industry.

The first real leap forward in commercial space flight occurred in June 2004 with the successful flight of “SpaceShipOne” into space.  “SpaceShipOne” was the brainchild of Mojave Aerospace Ventures and was the first privately funded spacecraft in history.  Of course, “SpaceShipOne” did not have the capabilities of the space shuttle, but the point was made.  Today “SpaceShipOne” can be found in Washington, D.C. at the National Air and Space Museum.
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