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.