Billionaire Dennis Tito became the first space tourist in 2001 and space tourism may someday become the norm. Just as people plan vacations to various destinations around the world, space exploration advancements may have people planning trips outside the world.
Advanced rocket and spacecraft designer, manufacturer and launcher, SpaceX, tested its reusable rocket Monday. The rocket, called the Grasshopper Vertical Takeoff Vertical Landing (VTVL) vehicle reached a record height of 820 feet during SpaceX's test.
Earlier this year, billionaire Dennis Tito announced his plans send people on a flyby of planet Mars in 2018. He calls it "an historic journey" to the Red Planet and wants to send a middle-aged couple out into space due to the high risk of exposure to radiation.
Although there are risks involved, many people may want to go ahead and have an out-of-this-world experience, literally.
"We have not sent humans beyond the moon in more than 40 years. I've been waiting, and a lot of people my age, have been waiting. And I think it's time to put an end to that lapse," Tito said about humans going into outer space.
Researchers recently discovered two "super-Earth" planets in the star Kepler 62's habitable zone, one of which may be similar to Earth.
"This is the first one Kepler has found in the habitable zone that satisfies this small size. Kepler 62f is the smallest size and the most promising distance from its star, which by these measures makes it the most similar exoplanet to Earth that has been found by Kepler," associate professor of astronomy at the University of Washington, Eric Agol said.
Agol is the co-author of the paper published in Science Express which documents the discovery.
British billionaire Sir Richard Branson founded Virgin Galactic in 2004 and tests are underway on its SpaceShipTwo, offering private trips to space for $200,000.
SpaceX, the private space rocket company not only wants to make space travel affordable, but also plans to colonize other planets someday.
Unlike most rockets, the Grasshopper VTVL lands safely in the same position from which it took off, designed to be reusable. Rockets typically burn once they descend into the atmosphere and the success of the Grasshopper would result in lower mission costs.
"We're hoping to do short hops at some point in the next couple of months, and then in terms of higher flights, I'm hopeful we can go supersonic before the end of the year. That's not a prediction. That's an aspiration," SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk Musk said about the reusable rocket.
If SpaceX is successful or if discovered planets prove to be habitable, space tourism and even colonization may be a possibility at some point soon.
