When they were little, a lot of boys were dreaming of becoming astronauts and be space tourists. Spending a weekend or vacation on the Moon, Mars, or just above the Earth’s atmosphere seemed like just another SF movie. But those scenarios will be possible soon.
Even since he founded SpaceX eighteen years ago, the billionaire Elon Musk had some very ambitious plans regarding its space agency. The ultimate goal is the colonization of Mars. But until then, SpaceX offers regular people the chance to become space tourists while being on a Crew Dragon spacecraft.
You can become a space tourist by 2021
SpaceX and Space Adventures teamed up to launch a Crew Dragon spacecraft into orbit that will be carrying up to four passengers. If all goes according to the plan, the tour will be possible until 2021, and it will last for a maximum of five days.
SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell revealed more about the future mission:
This historic mission will forge a path to making spaceflight possible for all people who dream of it, and we are pleased to work with the Space Adventures team on the mission,
Eric Anderson, the chairman of Space Adventures, spoke in a statement about how special the tour will be:
Honoring our combined histories, this Dragon mission will be a special experience and a once in a lifetime opportunity — capable of reaching twice the altitude of any prior civilian astronaut mission or space station visitor,
Therefore, for the moment, you should forget the idea of humans traveling to Mars and creating a colony there. Such a project takes decades or maybe even hundreds of years. Instead, SpaceX has a special offer so you could plan yourself a vacation on the Earth’s orbit. Being at high altitude and admiring the stars closer than you’ve ever seen them has to be very tempting.
