The prospect of space tourism has been in the news ever since Burt Rutan’s privately built and operated SpaceShipOne won the X Prize by flying a sub orbital flight. Rutan seems to have paved the way for larger, more advanced vehicles that shortly will take paying passengers on the flight of a life time. But actual space tourism is a few years away and when it does begin to be a reality, trips will cost as much as a small house. Still, there are ways to be a space tourist here on Earth, while one waits for private business to open up the final frontier for the ultimate adventure vacation.

National Air and Space Museum

The Mecca for anyone interested in space exploration or aviation is the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. Among the artifacts on display at the facility located on the Washington Mall are Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis, the Wright Flyer, the Bell X-1 rocket plane that Chuck Yeager flew to break the sound barrier, and the Apollo 11 command module that went to the Moon and back. An example of almost every aircraft or spacecraft is on display. The Washington Mall facility also has an IMAX theater as well as many other exhibits depicting the history of aviation and space exploration.

The National Air and Space Museum has an annex called the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles Airport which contains thousands of more aviation and space artifacts. The collection includes the fully restored space shuttle Enterprise orbiter that was used for drop and landing tests during the 1970s and an SR 71 Blackbird used for high altitude reconnaissance during the Cold War.

In the near future, Burt Rutan’s SpaceShipOne will be added to the National Air and Space Museum collection.

NASA Centers

Virtually every NASA field center has a visitor center and tours available. A few of the best are:

Space Center Houston

Space Center Houston is the official visitor center for the Johnson Space Center, where astronauts are trained and where space shuttle missions are controlled. Space Center Houston contains numerous exhibits, including a gallery of space suits dating back to the dawn of space travel, a collection of artifacts from the history of manned space flight from Mercury through the Apollo program, and a series of kiosks that contains simulations of space flights, everything from landing a space shuttle to planning and conducting a manned mission to Mars. Space Center Houston is also the venue of special exhibits, most geared toward children. Tours of the Johnson Space Center are available with stops at such places as Mission Control, and the rocket park (where a Saturn V is located). Summer day camps for children are also available.

Kennedy Space Center Vistors Center

The Visitors Center at the Kennedy Space Center is a sprawling place, on the edge of the vast launch complex where people have been launched into space for over forty years, several to the Moon. It includes two IMAX theaters, an education center for young people, a rocket garden, interactive simulators, live shows, and the Astronauts Memorial, commemorating those who died for the exploration of space. The Visitors Center is also the jumping off point for bus tours of the Kennedy Space Center. These generally end at the totally enclosed Apollo/Saturn V Center with artifacts and multimedia displays depicting the first expeditions to the Moon,

Public viewing of space launches, including that of the space shuttle, is possible. Contact the Visitors Center for details.

The Kennedy Space Center is about forty five minutes away from Orlando and is in easy proximity of other central Florida attractions such as Disney World and Universal Studios.

NASA Visitor Center – Space and Rocket Center Huntsville

Located in Huntsville, Alabama, this visitors center contains a museum and IMAX theater. The museum contains numerous artifacts and interactive displays depicting the history of space flight and rocketry. It is also collocated at the US Space Camp.

US Space Camp

US Space Camp, located next to the Visitors Center at the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, offers programs for both children and adults. The Space Camp programs will immerse participants in many aspects of space education and generally includes a simulated space mission.

Space Adventures

Space Adventures Inc. advertises itself as the one stop travel agency for a great variety of space tourism adventures. On the very high end, Space Adventures offers a trip to the International Space Station on board a Russian Soyuz space craft, cheap at twenty million dollars. These are the ultimate adventure vacations that were enjoyed by multimillionaires Dennis Tito and Mark Shuttleworth. For those whose wallets are a little lighter, Space Adventures offers cosmonaut training packages at Star City, in Russia, flights in various Russian jet fighters, and micro gravity flights on an aircraft similar to NASA’s Vomit Comet through Zero G. Corp.

Zero G. Corp

Zero G. Corp is the first American company to offer micro gravity flights for paying customers. People can now fly aboard a modified Boeing 721-200 cargo aircraft for a series of parabolas in one third Martian, one sixth lunar, and zero gravity, just like the astronauts do on NASA’s Vomit Comet. The package includes a training session with a veteran astronaut.

Virgin Galactic

In the near future, one can take a trip into space on board a sub orbital space craft, similar to SpaceShipOne which won the X Prize. This new adventure ride will be courtesy of Sir Richard Branson, who founded Virgin Airlines and has now started Virgin Galactic. The space craft that will accomplish this is being designed and built by Burt Rutan, who built SpaceShipOne. Hundreds have already paid the deposit on the two hundred thousand dollar ticket for a ride that won’t take place for another three or so years, including William Shatner of Star Trek and Sigourney Weaver of the Alien films.

The Future

Beyond trips aboard space craft of Virgin Galactic and perhaps some of its competitors, what does the future hold for space tourism? The next stage will be orbital trips on more sophisticated space craft than those envisioned by Virgin Galactic. In anticipation of this, Robert Bigelow, a Los Vegas Hotel magnate, has founded Bigelow Aerospace. Bigelow Aerospace envisions a kind of orbiting space hotel, made up of inflatable modules, where tourists and other space travelers can stay for extended periods.

Beyond that, will we see vacation resorts on the Moon and perhaps other worlds? In time, most certainly. Sir Arthur C. Clarke has said that even the most outlandish predictions after a while turn out to be laughably conservative. So, Club Med Luna may well be in our future.

External Links:

• National Air and Space Museum -
• Space Center Houston -
• Kennedy Space Center - Vistors Center -
• US Space Camp -
• Space Adventures -
• Zero G. Inc. -