Space Tourism and Experiential Travel
Space exploration is a globally unifying topic and expands our minds to consider a world beyond borders. At a time when political tensions are high on earth, astronauts from rivaling countries live together, laugh together, and discuss The Pale Blue Dot together aboard the International Space Station.
As the topic of space becomes popular again, companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin are gaining public interest and expanding a profitable market. Neil Degrasse Tyson, a well known astrophysicist, portrays space as a solution to bring economic stimulation to America. The 1950’s and 1960’s proved that the public’s attention on space exploration could grow beyond war and enrich the imagination of many. Automobiles were designed to mimic spaceships and television shows pioneered the universe. Space exploration contributed to the economy in many ways. Developing and manufacturing was, and still is, an entryway to making space a permanent part of our global marketplace. However, true public adoption of space exploration will be through travel. People are naturally in favor of space travel and I believe this traces back to a primitive drive found in all humans — our innate desire to explore.
Space tourism is for the rich, for now
Space tourism is currently a high risk, expensive hobby that’s only available to those with a lot of disposable cheddar. Tickets run around $250,000 dollars per seat, includes three days of training (mostly psychological for sensory overload), and one earth-friendly barf bag. Over 500 humans have gone to space and that number will continue to grow exponentially. Public interest in space travel will reach a new level when celebrities begin sharing their experiences through social media. Imagine Justin Bieber shooting his next video tumbling through the ether, or DJ Khaled getting lost on a space-ski. While this hype pumps new ideas into earth, the cost of space travel will slowly decrease and more people will take part in the great ascent. Soon, traveling to the moon or nearby satellites will be no different than the international trips we take now.
The allure of being the first in space may have faded but everyone’s waiting for the inevitable moonshot — experiential space travel.
Imagine you’re on a space yacht orbiting the earth for a week and every cloudless sunrise is better than the last. Dinner in the grand hall with a faux-Sinatra singing Come Fly With Me is a dream that those on Earth could never fathom. Your grinning cheeks still hurt on day four as a new bottle of bubbly arrives — extracted from the hidden geysers of the Moon.
Experiential space travel
As flashy as space yachts and four minutes in low earth orbit may be, it’ll take hundreds of years until true experiential travel is embraced. Experiential travel relies on an established local culture to provide intimately immersive experiences. People who prefer this type of travel over Eiffel Tower postcards and ceramic souvenir shops seek to engage the location’s culture, history, shopping, food, nature, or social life — unique experiences in established settings that few travelers have embarked on.
Experiential space travel won’t be a reality until we have well established outposts and colonies within our solar system. A refueling station on the moon, a distant cousin who solar surfs the asteroid belt, or a skyscraper on Mars — it’s all possible. After many steps, barring human extinction, experiential space travel is inevitable. Humans seek to explore the unknown and after thousands of years of looking down and kicking rocks, people are peeking through the window looking up.
