U.S. space tourism is rapidly approaching. In fact, people can hitch a ride to outer-space as early as 2014. Will you be one of the ones going? Obviously a lot of people will go because the FAA expects space travel for regular people to top $1 billion. Wow.
The FAA's George Nield said, "Based on market studies, we expect to see this type of activity result in a $1 billion industry within the next 10 years. This is a new and growing industry. If you look at the last 25 years, almost all the launches were for the same basic purposes - to launch a satellite, such as a telecommunications satellite, to orbit - and that level of business for that part of the industry is continuing today. But there are several new segments that we see just on the horizon." The new flights will carry these objects into orbit, but there will be other reasons for the space travel as well.
In fact, Space Exploration Technologies plans to fly to the International Space Station on April 30. True space tourism is possibly just months away. Can you even imagine? Of course, the first flights for customers will likely just be orbiting around the Earth, but that is the beginning. Can you imagine going to the moon or the space station yourself in the future?
This is just the beginning of what could prove to be a major way to travel, conduct experiments, and a host of other interesting possibilities just over the horizon. Of course, it may be awfully expensive for regular people, but in time, that price will probably go down too.
Like this article? See more by Kate James at Gather.com
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