WEBVTT - Will space tourism become a reality?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brainstuff from house storks dot com where smart happens. Hi,

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<v Speaker 1>am arest brain with today's question, will space tourism ever

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<v Speaker 1>become a reality? And if so, when might that happen?

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<v Speaker 1>For decades, space travel has been the province of nations.

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<v Speaker 1>A nation like the United States would select a handful

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<v Speaker 1>of people, train them extensively, anoint them as astronauts, and

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<v Speaker 1>send them into space at very great cost. That model

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<v Speaker 1>changed slightly in two thousand one, a businessman named Dennis

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<v Speaker 1>Tito paid twenty million dollars or so to become the

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<v Speaker 1>first person to pay for a ride into space. Mr.

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<v Speaker 1>Tito can therefore be called the first space tourist. His

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<v Speaker 1>flight took him to the International Space Station, where he

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<v Speaker 1>stayed for seven days. Mark Shuttleworth was the second space

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<v Speaker 1>or is to travel to the International Space Station in

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<v Speaker 1>two thousand two. So far, seven people have flown to

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<v Speaker 1>the International Space Station in this way, and they are

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<v Speaker 1>the only members of the elite group of space tourists

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<v Speaker 1>on planet Earth. But that exclusive club is about to

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<v Speaker 1>gain many more members. In two thousand and twelve, if

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<v Speaker 1>all goes as planned, the first regularly scheduled flights into

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<v Speaker 1>space should begin on Virgin Galactic, and several other competitors

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<v Speaker 1>should follow shortly thereafter. Let's take a look at how

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<v Speaker 1>the space tourism industry may unfold in the years to come.

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<v Speaker 1>Some people might not consider the Virgin Galactic flights to

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<v Speaker 1>be truly worthy of the title space flight. The first

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<v Speaker 1>Virgin Galactic missions will not orbit the Earth. Space tourists

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<v Speaker 1>on these flights will instead travel about a hundred kilometers

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<v Speaker 1>or sixty two miles high, and then return to Earth

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<v Speaker 1>just after a few minutes of weightlessness. A flight on

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<v Speaker 1>Virgin Galactic will initially cost about two hundred thousand dollars.

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<v Speaker 1>These flights also will look nothing like the traditional space

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<v Speaker 1>mission that people have become familiar with by watching NASA

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<v Speaker 1>flights on TV. There will be no huge, monolithic rockets

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<v Speaker 1>sitting on a launchpad, for example. Instead, passengers will board

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<v Speaker 1>a small airplane like space vehicle that holds six people.

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<v Speaker 1>This vehicle will be strapped underneath a much larger airplane.

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<v Speaker 1>That larger airplane will take off from a traditional runway

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<v Speaker 1>and fly to an altitude of fifty thousand feet. The

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<v Speaker 1>space vehicle will then detach and fire its rocket engine

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<v Speaker 1>to go from fifty thousand feet to three hundred and

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<v Speaker 1>forty thousand feet or so, which is a hundred kilometers up.

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<v Speaker 1>Once the rocket engine burns out, passengers will experience weightlessness

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<v Speaker 1>and we'll be able to see the blackness of space

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<v Speaker 1>with the Earth curving off down below. The whole experience

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<v Speaker 1>will require two days of training and the actual flight

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<v Speaker 1>will last approximately to an a half hours. Why won't

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<v Speaker 1>these Virgin galactic flights go orbital? Why do they go

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<v Speaker 1>up and then immediately come back down. It has to

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<v Speaker 1>do with the size and complexity of the spacecraft and

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<v Speaker 1>therefore the cost of the flight. On Virgin's first generation spaceship,

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<v Speaker 1>the maximum speed is MOCK three, or roughly two thousand

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<v Speaker 1>miles per hour. To go into orbit, the ship would

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<v Speaker 1>need to reach seventeen thousand miles per hour. This requires

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<v Speaker 1>much more fuel for the launch, and orbital speeds also

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<v Speaker 1>require a heat shield for re entry. Orbital flights could

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<v Speaker 1>be available in the not too distant future, at least theoretically.

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<v Speaker 1>In December two thousand and ten, a company called SpaceX

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<v Speaker 1>demonstrated one possible scenario, launching its dragging capsule atop a

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<v Speaker 1>Falcon nine rocket and safely bringing it back to Earth

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<v Speaker 1>after several orbits of the planet. SpaceX has received a

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<v Speaker 1>NASA contract to ferry cargo to the International Space Station

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<v Speaker 1>and could conceivably earn into space tourism as well. Once

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<v Speaker 1>space tourists are in orbit, they'll need a place to go.

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<v Speaker 1>Bigelow Aerospace may provide the first destination with its orbiting

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<v Speaker 1>commercial space station. Bigelow has already launched two prototypes called

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<v Speaker 1>Genesis one in Genesis two. These are inflatable modules with

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<v Speaker 1>thick skins that provide shielding, insulation, and structure. If everything

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<v Speaker 1>goes as planned, the inflatable space station itself will launch

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<v Speaker 1>in several pieces starting in or So. Perspective clients include

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<v Speaker 1>nations and corporations interested in microgravity research, as well as

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<v Speaker 1>individuals looking for space tourism opportunities. Assume that this all

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<v Speaker 1>goes as planned. As early as or So, we may

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<v Speaker 1>see normal people. I'll be at rich ones in orbit

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<v Speaker 1>and staying in space hotels on a regular basis. The

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<v Speaker 1>tickets will be expensive, true, but they will still be

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<v Speaker 1>in reach of many people from there. The hope is

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<v Speaker 1>that prices can fall and demand can increase to the

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<v Speaker 1>point where space tourism becomes routine. Be sure to check

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<v Speaker 1>out our new video podcast, Stuff from the Future. Join

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