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Space tourism
Posted Date: 07 May 2008 Resource Type: Articles/Knowledge Sharing Category: Travel & Tourism
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Posted By: Aromal Member Level: Gold
Rating:  Points: 1
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As of 2008, 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 now $20 million. Flights are fully booked until 2009.
Among the primary attractions of space tourism are the uniqueness of the experience, the thrill and awe of looking at Earth from space (described by astronauts as extremely intense and mind-boggling[citation needed]), the experience's notion as an exclusive status symbol, and various advantages of weightlessness. The space tourism industry is being targeted by spaceports in numerous locations, including California, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Florida, Virginia, Alaska, Esrange in Sweden and Wisconsin, as well as Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. Some use the term "personal spaceflight" as in the case of the Personal Spaceflight Federation.
All five space tourists flew to and from the International Space Station on Soyuz spacecraft through the space tourism company, Space Adventures:
Dennis Tito (American): April 28 - May 6, 2001
Mark Shuttleworth (South African / British): April 25 - May 5, 2002 - First African in Space
Gregory Olsen (American): October 1 - October 11, 2005
Anousheh Ansari (Iranian / American): September 18 - September 29, 2006
Charles Simonyi (Hungarian / American): April 7 - April 21, 2007
The following people have been named as possible future commercial passengers on Soyuz spacecraft to the ISS:
Richard Garriott (United States). Expected to fly on Soyuz TMA-13 in October 2008.Garriott is a developer of video games whose father, Owen Garriott was an astronaut with NASA.
Vladimir Gruzdev (Russia). Expected to fly in 2009.Gruzdev is a United Russia pro-presidential party member. The United Russia party may pay the estimated $25 million for the flight from the party funds. Gruzdev has had a medical examination and been given approval to begin the cosmonaut training program. Gruzdev previously participated in the Arktika 2007 mission, which placed a Russian flag on the seabed near the North Pole.
Additionally, as of November 2007 Virgin Galactic had pre-sold nearly 200 seats for their suborbital space tourism flights, according to the company's president.
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Responses
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| Author: Krishnan C 14 May 2008 | Member Level: Silver Points : 2 | ANY IDEA ABOUT THE TICKET FARE?
| | Author: Vidya 23 May 2008 | Member Level: Diamond Points : 2 | no
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