Read the text to learn some facts about space tourism.

Agnieszka Sękiewicz‑Magoń One Return To The Moon, Please

Space tourism is a niche segment of the aviation industryaviation industryaviation industry, which has been on the rise in recent years. It offers tourists an opportunity to experience space travel and become astronauts, if only for a short time. According to some sources, such as the Space Tourism Guide, it may also include activities we can do here on Earth, such as watching a rocket launchrocket launchrocket launch, going stargazing, or travelling to a space‑focused destination. Generally, however, the meaning of the term involves leaving the planet. There are three types of this form of tourism: orbital tourismorbital tourismorbital tourism, suborbital tourismsuborbital tourismsuborbital tourism, and lunar space tourismlunar space tourismlunar space tourism.

The differences lie mainly in the speed, length, and destination. When you take an orbital flight, the spacecraftspacecraftspacecraft must achieve orbital velocityorbital velocityorbital velocity, that is the speed an object must keep in order to stay in orbitstay in orbitstay in orbit around a planet. Such a flight is technically extremely complex, so as a result it is very expensive (from $55 million up) and usually lasts several days, a week, or even longer. Suborbital flight, in contrast, requires much lower speeds, as it never makes it into orbit. It’s merelymerelymerely a leapleapleap to a certain height and then a return to the ground. Consequently, such flights are cheaper (between $125,000 and $300,000) and usually last only a couple of hours. Even though the flight is relatively short, passengers in a suborbital spacecraft are able to experience a few minutes of weightlessnessweightlessnessweightlessness when they are at the top of their flight arc. Lunar space tourism obviously involves tourist flights to the moon and back, but for the time being, it is still at the stage of planning. This would be the most expensive type (around $150 million for a seat), but at the same time it may pay offpay offpay off tremendously. However, the first commercial flight around the moon and the first return to the moon by humans since the last Apollo mission in 1972 are yet to happen.

Since 1961, when the first man travelled into space, less than 600 people have done so too. This number is likely to increase rapidly in the near future, as space tourism becomes commonplacecommonplacecommonplace and more and more people can afford to travel into space. At present, the major companies offering or planning tourist flights to space are: Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin, SpaceX, Boeing, Axiom Space and Space Perspective. While the first two concentrate on suborbital flights, Axiom and Boeing are preparing projects connected to orbital missions, and SpaceX founder Elon Musk famously has his sights set onhas his sights set on [have one’s sights set on]has his sights set on Mars.

What drives people to pay exorbitant pricesexorbitant prices [exorbitant price]exorbitant prices for the seats aboard a spacecraft? There are many reasons, but the most often cited motivational factor behind space tourism is to experience the vision of Earth from space and see what a zero‑gravity statezero‑gravity statezero‑gravity state feels like. Some people have this unique experience on their bucket listbucket listbucket list or want to experience super high speed travel, but there are also those for whom scientific contribution is important. Many scientists are excited at the prospect of using commercial suborbital vehicles for microgravity researchmicrogravity researchmicrogravity research. Such tests would be far less expensive than sending experiments and people to the International Space Station onboard a space shuttlespace shuttlespace shuttle.

With a steadily growing interest in space tourism, this area is soon expected to become a multimillion dollar industry. At the moment, it is a part of adventure tourismadventure tourismadventure tourism, but it will continue to develop as it increasingly becomes economically affordable. However, the realisation of this projected expansionprojected expansionprojected expansion will heavily depend on the safety of the flights.

1 Źródło: Agnieszka Sękiewicz‑Magoń , licencja: CC BY-SA 3.0.