When it comes to commercial space tourism, suborbital flight are the first frontier. But what are the risks? Are there health requirements? What should you know before taking such a way-out trip?
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard is raised into a vertical position on the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A.
NASA/Bill Ingalls
SpaceX’s launch of astronauts to the International Space Station will make it the first private company to launch humans to space. The effort has ramifications for NASA and spaceflight in general.
Episode 3 of the To the moon and beyond podcast takes a look at who some of the key players are in the 21st century space race and what they are competing for.
Perhaps in 50 more years we will be sick of hearing stories from people who have travelled to the moon and back.
tdlucas5000 / AAP
In the future we might get sick of hearing people tell their stories about going to the Moon. Perhaps the Moon will just be like thinking about today’s Antarctica – a remote but accessible place.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, US, May 2019.
NASA Kennedy
This are looking up when it comes to launching things into space from Australia. The rules on what can be launched are currently under review and open for comment.
With any type of human exploration, there are risks as we push boundaries, and there are inevitably mishaps and fatalities as a result. Space tourism is no exception.
A statue of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in Moscow, Russia.
Shutterstock/VLADJ
In the early 20th century a Russian scientist – regarded as the father of rocketry – made some novel predictions on where we would be in space in the 21st century. So how accurate was he?
Medical data from space tourists will be fascinating, but is it ethical?
Rick Guidice/NASA
Space terrorism and testing of space tourists are theoretical problems today. But let’s have conversations right now to make sure they don’t become real problems in the future.
NASA’s Orion spacecraft will be able to take humans further away from Earth than ever before.
NASA
The turbocharged capitalism of private space flight is strangely at odds with the brotherly, generous global consensus that built the legal framework for extra-terrestrial travel.
Not thrilling enough for some.
EPA/Virgin Galactic
The recent accident involving Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo – and the tragic death of one pilot and critical injury of another – highlights the dangers inherent in any type of space flight. It has also…
This image was captured moments before SpaceFlightTwo exploded and crashed to Earth.
Reuters
This week, I can predict with a high degree of accuracy that more than 50,000 car accidents will occur in the US, over 500 of which will involve fatalities. Last week was no different. Is social media…
Success never comes without sacrifice. And frontiers are never crossed without some type of loss. We are seeing with brutal clarity that the frontier of successful space travel is one which has not yet…