SPACE TOURISM

SPACE TOURISMSpace tourism is the recent phenomenon of tourists paying for flights into space. As of 2009, orbital space tourism opportunities are limited and expensive, with only the Russian Space Agency providing transport. The price for a flight brokered by Space Adventures to the International Space Station aboard a Soyuz spacecraft is US$20–35 million.

On April 28, 2001, Dennis Tito became the first "fee-paying" space tourist when he visited the International Space Station (ISS) for seven days. He was followed in 2002 by South African computer millionaire Mark Shuttleworth. The third was Gregory Olsen in 2005, who was trained as a scientist and whose company produced specialist high-sensitivity cameras. Olsen planned to use his time on the ISS to conduct a number of experiments, in part to test his company's products.

SPACE TOURISM

2001: A Space Adventure2001: A Space Adventure

Dennis Tito (US)Soyuz TM-32, Apr 2001Dennis Tito (US)Soyuz TM-32, Apr 2001

Greg Olsen (US)Soyuz TMA-7, Oct 2005Greg Olsen (US)Soyuz TMA-7, Oct 2005

Mark Shuttleworth (S. Africa/UK)Soyuz TM-34, Apr 2002

Mark Shuttleworth (S. Africa/UK)Soyuz TM-34, Apr 2002

Anousheh Ansari (Iran/US)Soyuz TMA-9, Sep 2006Anousheh Ansari (Iran/US)Soyuz TMA-9, Sep 2006

Charles Simonyi (Hungary/US)Soyuz TMA-10, Apr 2007

Charles Simonyi (Hungary/US)Soyuz TMA-10, Apr 2007

Richard Garriott (UK/US)Soyuz TMA-13, Oct 2008Richard Garriott (UK/US)Soyuz TMA-13, Oct 2008

US company Space Adventures forms agreement with Russian Space Agencyfor space tourism trips to International Space Station. Cost $20-30 million US company Space Adventures forms agreement with Russian Space Agencyfor space tourism trips to International Space Station. Cost $20-30 million

Most recent….

Space tourist Nationality Year Duration of flight

Guy Laliberté Canadian 2009 9 days (Sept 30 – Oct 11) Launch: Soyuz TMA-16 Return: Soyuz TMA-14

SPACE TOURIST

In December 2005, the U.S. Government released a set of proposed rules for space tourism. These included screening procedures and training for emergency situations, but not health requirements.Under current US law, any company proposing to launch paying passengers from American soil on a suborbital rocket must receive a license from the Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Commercial Space Transportation (FAA/AST). The licensing process focuses on public safety and safety of property, and the details can be found in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 14, Chapter III. This is in accordance with the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act passed by Congress in 2004

LegalityUnited States

SPACE TOURISM

10 Space Tourism Facts You Need to Know

1. As of 2008, only Russia is offering civilian tickets into space. Consider remortgaging your house before you leave; tickets are currently on the market for a sweet $20 million, and they’re full until 2009. There is a rumor that EasyJet are going to be offering free flights to the Sea of Tranquility, with the booking fee estimated around the $10 million mark, or $80 one way. Plus taxes.

Sputnik - Russia’s most advanced Satellite.

2. Space Ship One was the first private vehicle to fly above the Kármán Line in 2004. The Kármán Line is where the Earth’s atmosphere ends and outer space begins. The line was devised by Theodore von Kármán and is the altitude at which traditional plane wings don’t work anymore, sheer speed being all that keeps you in the sky. The Space Ship One is capable of travelling at Mach 3, which is roughly equivalent to very, very fast. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No - it’s a

business opportunity.

Virgin Galactic: SpaceShipTwoVirgin Galactic: SpaceShipTwo

SpaceShipTwo/WhiteKnightTwo6 passengers & 2 pilots to 100km+Tickets $200,000 per seat

First test flights: summer 2008First commercial flight: 2010?

SpaceShipTwo/WhiteKnightTwo6 passengers & 2 pilots to 100km+Tickets $200,000 per seat

First test flights: summer 2008First commercial flight: 2010?

3. Virgin Galactic aims to be the first commercial venture to fly civilians into space, allowing them to experience weightlessness for up to six minutes at a time.

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4. There are a variety of Space Tourism websites on the internet, all with horrendous colour schemes. If the spacecraft engineering is as bad as the website design, there will be many, many fatalities. A quick Google image search reveals the chilling truth that space tourism is still mainly based on cartoon diagrams.

Space drawings look suspiciously like a Lear Jet.

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5. The first space tourist was Dennis Tito (not he of the Jackson 5) who flew to the International Space Station on 2001, powered entirely by his own sense of self-satisfaction. Tito asked not to be called a tourist but an ‘independent researcher’.

• 6. Getting there is indeed half the fun, but what about accomodation? If you’re planning to stay in space for a long weekend there is, literally, only one place to go: the International Space Station. Still under construction, this high-rise hotel offers the latest in amenities, including the thrilling Multipurpose Laboratory Module, the heart-pounding excitement of Node 3, and the small, yet comfortable Mini-Research Module 1.

The International Space Station, still more spacious than a Travel Inn.

7. Apart from Virgin Galactic, there are several other parties who have expressed interest in venturing into the space tourism market, including Space Adventures, Space Island Group and Bigelow Aerospace. Owned by Robert Bigelow, the company aims to provide affordable space stations for corporations. Another cracker is Armadillo Aerospace.

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8. The aforementioned Space Ship One was the winner of the Ansari X-Prize, which offered $10 million to anyone who could build a spaceship that could carry three adults to a height of 100km and return to Earth safely. This last point was quite important, and included stipulations that there could be no broken bones or severe damage incurred. The winning spacecraft also had to complete a second identical flight within two weeks, using the same craft.

The Ansari X-Prize & SpaceShipOneThe Ansari X-Prize & SpaceShipOne

Ansari X-Prize:

$10 million for first vehicle to carry 3 people (or 1+equivalent mass) to 100km and back twice in two weeks.

Winner:

Scaled Composites SpaceShipOnedesigned by Burt Rutan.

Programme cost $25-30 million

Technology licensed to Virgin Galacticfor passenger-carrying service.

9. While the above companies are mucking about with getting us ordinary folk into space, NASA are currently finishing off plans for Orion, the successor to the Space Shuttle. Unlike the Shuttle, Orion will consist of two different vehicles, one intended to take people into space, and one intended to take people and payloads into space. The craft is intended to provide transport to the Moon, something which the Shuttle was incapable of. Both vehicles will be so big that a human being will be shorter than the US flag NASA is planning to paint on the side of them.

The Orion - The Space Shuttle’s Successor.

10. Before it’s even properly begun, Space Tourism has a society called… the Space Tourism Society. Based primarily in California, its goal is to encourage as many people as possible to head into space.

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A day in the life of a Space Tourist

Many people think that Space tourists have a very nice and relaxing trip. That is correct in some ways and incorrect in others.

How to prepare

• Before you take your Flight into space you are required to pass a physical to make sure you can handle the stressful conditions of space flight. All space Tourists who want to take a flight to the ISS in a Soyuz taxi mission must go through a thorough medical exam before taking off.

• Space tourists should begin training several days to a few weeks before the tests. A regular exercise program is mandatory as part of a space tourists preflight training. A proper diet is also necessary to pass the preflight medical check-up. Excess alcohol and caffeine should be avoided. Smoking should also be avoided.

These people can’t be space tourists:

• Minors • People with physical impairments or disabilities that

may prevent them from safely evacuating a space station or ejecting from an aircraft

• People with serious heart problems • People with serious coronary artery disease • People with major diseases affecting their organs • People with severe vertigo or claustrophobia

• Space Tourists have to have a basic understanding of astrodynamics. Astrodynamics is the motion of objects in space. Space tourists should know:

• What is an orbit • What is gravity • What is escape velocity • What is weightlessness (microgravity)

Other than passing a physical exam, space tourists have to learn about some “elementary scientific topics.”

In a classroom a space tourist also learns about the four major types of rockets and spacecrafts used to send

space tourists into space. They are:

• Expendable • Reusable Launch Vehicle or RLV • Vertically launched • Horizontally launched

Space FoodSpace food is food that is made for

conditions in space, mainly gravity-less food that is non-perishable, some foods like salt and pepper are available but they are not available in their rocky form, in space they

are made into a liquid so they will not get in the way of the astronauts.

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The first space food was very unappetizing. Most of it was squeezed from tubes like toothpaste, or made into freeze-dried bites. John Glenn, the first American to eat food in space, also found the menu was very limited. The astronauts complained that the freeze-dried foods were hard to rehydrate and they had to keep crumbs from ruining their instruments, so the space scientists improved their food. Astronauts could eat apple sauce and even butterscotch pudding.

Categories of Food• Rehydratable (R) Foods - During the flight, water is added back to food just

before it is eaten.• Thermostabalized (T) - Foods are heat processed to destroy harmful

microorganisms and enzymes.• Intermediate Moisture (IM) - Food items that are preserved by restricting

the amount of water for microbial growth yet, giving the food a soft texture.

• Natural Form (NF) - Ready to eat foods such as nuts, cookies and granola bars.

• Irradiated (I) Meat - beef steak• Condiments - liquid salt and pepper, ketchup, and mustard.• Shelf Stable Tortillas - Tortillas that have the oxygen removed to prevent

the growth of mold on them.• Fresh Foods (FF)- normal hydrated foods that need to be eaten within the

first two days of flight to prevent spoilage.• Beverages (B) - drinks

Rehydratable Food

• food where water is removed from the food making it easier to store, before the food is eaten again, water is re-added to the food before it is eaten

Thermostablized Food:

• food which can be placed in room temperature and are placed in cans, some foods that are thermostablized are tuna fish and fruits

Intermediate Moisture Food:

• food where water is taken out but enough water is left to preserve the softness of the food, some foods like these are dried peaches, beef jerky, and pears

Natural Food Form:

• food where it is ready to eat and packed in flexible pouches or bags, some of these foods are nuts, granola bars and cookies

Irradiated Food:

• food where it is wrapped in foil pouches and the food is then sterilized by ionizing radiation (forming everything into ions)

Frozen Food:

• quick frozen to prevent large ice crystals and to make sure that the texture and quality of the food stays the same

Fresh Food:

• food that is fresh like we have on Earth

Refrigerated Food:

• foods that need cold or cool temperatures to make sure that it will not spoil

• The Apollo astronauts were the first to have hot water and the spoon bowl, a container you eat out of with a spoon. Soon astronauts had a dining hall, table, a large storage area, and the first space freezer and refrigerator. Plus they could hold themselves down by the table with footholds.

• An astronaut’s food is prepared on Earth. Diets and meals items are made to have the right amount of vitamins and minerals needed in space. Shuttle astronauts now have a large list of food items and can even design their own menus. The shuttle contains a water dispenser for rehydrating food and an oven for warming foods to the proper serving temperature.

• In a space meal, a meal tray is used to hold food containers, and can be strapped to a wall. The meal tray is rather like an airplane tray, and some airplane food containers look like space ones. Astronauts use the same utensils we do: a fork, spoon, and knife. The only odd utensils are scissors for cutting open plastic seals. Most menus and food items an astronaut wants can be set up in about 5 minutes. Heating rehydrating foods can take about 20 – 30 minutes.

• The Space Station food system is very different from shuttle food system. There is no extra water in the Space Station and the power source is solar panels. Unlike shuttle food, the Space Station food is frozen, refrigerated, or thermostabilized so as not to use up any water to make them ready. Most beverages, however, are in dehydrated form.

Space language

• The Space Tourists also have to learn “language training.” Language training is not a space tourist having to learn a whole other language, but a space tourist having to learn certain words from the language that will be used in space. For example, if a space tourist speaks English fluently, but is flying on a Soyuz, they will need to learn some Russian words so they can communicate better.

Space suit…

• Space tourists must also undergo spacesuit and equipment training. Space tourists who are going to the Space Station are required to wear a special suit during launch and reentry called the Sokol. The Sokol SK-1 is designed just for space tourists and it has 5 main functions

They are the following:

• Protection from loss oxygen • Protection from loss of cabin/capsule pressure • Protection from frigid air and water

temperatures • Protection from extreme heat and flame • Protection from blood pooling caused by

weightlessness

Life in Space

• Life in space is very different from life on Earth. A space tourist can find a lot of things to photograph, here are just a few.

• The Great Wall of China • Mount Everest • The Amazon River • The Bahamas • Hurricanes • Volcanic Eruptions • Lightning Storms • The Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis

Sleeping….Sleeping in space can be difficult because the spacecraft is orbiting the Earth every 90 minutes; this makes it so that the craft is never completely in darkness for very long. Also the lights may be on because the crew works in shifts. Motion sickness and warming rays of the sun may also disrupt a Space tourists sleep. A space tourist gets a sleeping mask to keep out most of the light. The sleeping quarters of a space tourist vary on the spacecraft they are in. A space tourist will probably sleep in a special sleeping bag that is attached to the wall. Without the attachment, the space tourist would float freely around the cabin bumping into things and possibly getting hurt.

What is a space station?

• A space station is where experiments are conducted in outer space . It is a place for astronauts to live in while they conduct these experiments. It can be in space anywhere from a day to many years.

What are some space stations in use today?

• Some of the space stations include the Salyut stations, Skylab, Mir, and the International Space Stations (ISS).

Space Station Missions : Salyut 1-7

• Salyut- the Salyut

space station

program was a

program launched

by the Russians in

the 1970's, in the

Salyut space station

missions, each

Salyut from 1-7 had

a specific purpose

Space Station Missions :Skylab 1-4

• Skylab- the Skylab

space station was the

first American space

station to be launched

into orbit, the main

objectives of the Skylab

missions was for

humans to live in space

and expand our

knowledge of the solar

system

Space Station Missions : Mir

• Mir- a space station that

was originally made by

the Soviet Union and then

was later transferred to

the Russians, it is the first

long term research

station, thanks to much

team work, astronauts

and cosmonauts of many

different countries got to

use this space station

Space Station Missions : The ISS • ISS- the ISS (International Space

Station) is a combination of

efforts from five space agencies,

the National Aeronautics and

Space Administration (The United

States), the Russian Federal Space

Agency (The Russian Federation),

the Japan Aerospace Exploration

Agency (Japan), the Canadian

Space Agency (Canada) and the

European Space Agency (Europe),

currently the only permanent

astronauts on the ISS have come

from Russian or American space

programs.

Environmental Impact of Space TourismEnvironmental Impact of Space Tourism

Carbon footprint

Toxic pollution

Effect on wildlife

Noise pollution – sonic boom

Emissions in upper atmosphere

EPA spaceport

assessment

Debris hazard from in-flight accidents

FAA vehiclecertification

Benefits of Space TourismBenefits of Space Tourism

Personal experience – the ‘overview effect’

Variety of technical approaches (not “one true way”)

Incremental development (“build a little, test a little”)

Safer and more robust spacecraft

Much easier access for space science experiments

Cheaper, more routine access to space

MONEY TO FUND FUTURE DEVELOPMENT!

The FutureThe Future

“Kankoh Maru”Design study for VTVL SSTO byJapan Rocket Society50 passengers to orbit

“Skylon”UK design for HTHL SSTOusing airbreathing rockets

60 passengers to orbitTickets “less than £50,000”

From far underground to way in the sky, a space hotel actually allows you to orbit the earth as you enjoy an amazing experience in outer space. Although there currently are no space hotels available for guests, there are a couple different companies that expect to have their space hotels available in 2012. Of course, before you can spend the night in one of these hotels, you will first need to undergo some space training. That way, you can be safe in space while also getting the absolute most from your outer space adventure.