Astronomy Cast - Ep. 214: Space Tourism

This episode of Astronomy Cast focuses on the prospect of civilian space travel, or "space tourism," a topic of great interest for me. Space tourism is, of course, currently not a highly developed industry to say the least. The hosts talk about how 0-g flights are probably the closest thing to space travel that untrained space tourists can hope for today. These flights consist of a plane that flies in a parabolic path so that on the way up gravity feels intensified, but on the way back down passengers experience the sensation of weightlessness. Also, Space Adventures, the company that offers these 0-g flights, also has a program that allows prospective space travelers train alongside astronauts (for a large sum of money). This allows them to actually go into space in the International Space Station for upwards of 10 days. Looking towards the future, however, there are several projects in the private sector being worked on with the goal of allowing regular people to experience sub orbital flight (and eventually, orbital flight) for a reasonable price. The most prominent of these projects is the one headed by Richard Branson and and his Virgin Enterprises, which has already had successful test flights. I think what's interesting to imagine is what opportunities might be available in the future, especially with the talk of an outpost on the moon. I certainly hope that this industry will see much more development in my lifetime.