Should regular people be able to go to space?
Recent events hint at the possibility of civilian space travel, space tourism, becoming available in the near future. Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, and SpaceX have been planning to take the first civilian crews to space. Of these, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic have already had successful first flights. It is likely that space travel will soon become much more common, however it is important to decide whether sending regular people into space, or “space tourism,” is right.
Seats on these space flights cost more than most can afford, and experts predict that prices will not decrease for several years. Questions of ethics arise as only wealthy people can afford to go to space, and there are limited opportunities for free tickets. Initially high prices may decrease after up-front costs like building rockets and creating training programs have been paid for, but prices in the future will likely still be high.
While some people have the opportunity to be space tourists, they are not astronauts by traditional standards. Although some companies consider their passengers “astronauts” once they pass into space, they are either untrained or have had minimal training, and are not educated to traditional astronaut standards. Merely entering space does not make a person an astronaut.
Earth’s health needs to be addressed before space tourism becomes common, as it could cause more environmental effects. Space travel requires an extreme amount of fuel, and could have a large environmental impact from the extra greenhouse gases. Although it will likely be a long time until many people are able to visit space, these are all issues that people need to consider.
How is civilian space travel different in different companies?
Each company has a different approach to space tourism, giving passengers different experiences depending on who they fly with. The SpaceX Axiom Mission planned for early 2022 includes an eight-day stay at the International Space Station (ISS). This is a private flight and is costing passengers $55 million per seat. This is very different from other flights, like Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, that are much shorter and are in a different class of space travel.
Both Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic have suborbital flights, which are still very expensive, although they do not travel nearly as far into space; a Blue Origin seat for their July flight that was auctioned off was sold for $28 million (Carter). This Blue Origin flight only lasted 11 minutes, while the SpaceX Axiom mission is planned to last 10 days and passengers have the opportunity to stay on the ISS.
Previously, Virgin Galactic was selling tickets for around $250,000 for flights beginning in 2022. There are plans to charge $40,000 per seat in the future, although this might be challenging as flying to space is very expensive.
There is a contest to win Virgin Galactic tickets on Omaze, which is the only way that most people could secure a seat on a space flight. It is predicted that more tickets will be given away in the future. Although this could lead to people who cannot afford a ticket being able to go to space, flights will mostly be full of wealthy people, which brings up ethical questions. As mentioned later, prices could decrease after the initial cost of building the space shuttles.
What are the costs of going to space? Is it ethical? Shouldn’t we be focused on saving the Earth?
It is estimated that a ticket to go to space may cost $100,000 in a decade, (Carter) but there are many other costs that people might not appreciate when they purchase a ticket.
Completing numerous, fuel intensive trips to space could be a burden on Earth’s environment and atmosphere. On a typical NASA space shuttle, the rocket boosters use 11,000 pounds of fuel every second while the shuttle is taking off, “That’s two million times the rate at which fuel is burned by the average family car,” (“NASA Space Shuttle Propulsion Trivia”). Although space tourism vehicles are much smaller than NASA space shuttles, they still use large amounts of fuel to get to space. Performing these flights often could have great environmental effects,
People might do better focusing on saving the Earth or developing clean fuel instead of creating space tourism and more pollution. The Earth is more important than a money-making venture to get people to space, and people need to be more eco-friendly before they worry about travelling to space.
There could also be human health tolls if people begin staying in space for prolonged periods of time, like might happen on trips similar to the Axiom Mission. With the possibility of space settlements discussed later, people would have to adapt to living in harsh environments like space. Astronauts living on the ISS experience muscle loss and other effects from spending extended time in space, which could become prevalent once space tourism or settlement is widely used.
Should people travelling to space be educated about space travel, even if they aren’t trained as astronauts?
It is controversial whether people travelling to space should be required to learn about space travel before their flight. Blue Origin claims that their crew became astronauts when they crossed the boundary into space, however the crew did not go through traditional astronaut training, “The crew …all officially became astronauts when they passed the Kármán Line,” (Ferociter). This is controversial because astronauts trained by NASA work for many years to get the opportunity to go to space, and must endure years of flight training often in the Air Force, along with NASA’s own training. Can anyone become an “astronaut” merely by entering space?
Virgin Galactic is approaching space travel and passenger education differently. One of the objectives of their recent flight was to test the five-day training program that they plan to use before future flights. This will give passengers a baseline knowledge about space flight, but it is impossible to become a skilled astronaut to NASA’s standards in only five days. The Astronaut Readiness Program gives passengers a basic knowledge of space travel to prepare them for their trip.
A similar preflight program may keep people safe as they take their flights, but it is not enough to give them the “astronaut” title, which should be reserved for trained professionals. All companies should implement a training program to prepare their passengers for flight, however this will not make them astronauts upon entering space.
At the moment, a very small number of people can afford a seat on a space flight. Will this change? Is it right for only wealthy people to get to go?
It is predicted that ticket prices will decrease as space tourism becomes more common, but it is likely that for the first several years of civilian space travel, most of the passengers will be wealthy and have paid full price for their tickets. As mentioned before, there is a lottery to win Virgin Galactic tickets, but these tickets will not be available on a large scale. Some company leaders have goals of making space travel affordable for everyone.
After the success of Virgin Galactic’s first fully-manned flight, there are already plans for expanding their space program. Once testing is complete, they plan to execute a commercial service to bring tourists to space. Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Galactic, commented on one of the company’s main goals, “Our mission is to make space more accessible to all… I want the astronauts of tomorrow to look forward and make their own dreams come true,” (“Virgin Galactic Successfully Completes First Fully Crewed Spaceflight”). Although this is Virgin Galactic’s goal, purchasing a seat on a space flight will likely continue to be extremely expensive.
The initially high flight prices could potentially cause a decrease in later prices as there are large up-front costs to space flight. Many of the current space tourism vehicles, like those used by Virgin Galactic, are reusable, and can therefore decrease future flight prices. Reusable rockets are much more eco-friendly than those used in the past that could only withstand one flight. Reusable shuttles will cut down greatly on waste and make space tourism more realistic, however there are still many other factors
Will space tourism lead to the colonization of space in the near future?
Advances in space tourism will not necessarily lead to the colonization of space in the future. Because of the continued success of the ISS, future space settlements are likely already in development, but are not furthered by space tourism. It is likely that any new space settlements will be built and visited by trained astronauts before there is a chance for any civilians to visit them. The ISS has been in operation for over 20 years and the first commercial space tourists will soon be travelling there on the SpaceX Axiom Mission.
Creating a settlement in space would be extremely expensive, labor-intensive, and time consuming. Training would be required for those involved in building, and unless the habitat is almost fully built on Earth and pieced together in space, people would have to endure the harsh and dangerous conditions of space for extended periods of time. It may not be cost effective to create a new settlement in space in the near future, while a Mars colony is already in discussion. Although the ISS is beginning to become technologically outdated, it is probably best to keep using it until it is truly unusable.
People involved in building or assembling a new space settlement would have to be educated professionally as astronauts and not merely space tourists. This would require rigorous training and preparation, but is necessary to settling in space until new technology is created to remove humans from dangerous work like this.
There are many benefits and drawbacks to civilian space travel, and it is an unbeatable experience for those who have the opportunity. There is no definitive answer to whether it is right or not, but all effects and potential downsides of space tourism must be considered.
Unfortunately, the ability to fly to space will not be available to most, perhaps for many years, because of the extremely high prices being charged for seats. Some trips range from just 11 minutes, like Blue Origin’s trip, up to 10 days on the SpaceX Axiom mission. There is a vast difference in price between the trips, and it is predicted that prices will decrease after several years of civilian space travel.
Issues other than flight prices need to be considered, however. There could be extreme environmental tolls from completing commercial space flights often, which may outweigh the benefits of people getting to experience space. More focus should be put on resolving environmental issues before more stress and pollution is introduced to the atmosphere. This could prevent further climate change and protect the Earth to keep it healthy and able to sustain life for as long as possible.
There is some controversy as to whether civilians who travel to space should be considered “astronauts.” Although they technically entered space, they did not go through the rigorous training, if any training at all, that traditional astronauts had to complete. Civilians who enter space are not qualified astronauts, and should be considered space tourists instead of “astronauts.” However, it is advisable for companies to require preflight training for their passengers to ensure safety, especially if an emergency were to arise.
With the introduction of space tourism, it is likely that there will be more accessible space travel and settlement in the future, although there are few specific projects planned. The SpaceX Axiom mission is the first overnight civilian space trip, and could be the first of many. It is likely that these trips will not become common anytime soon, however, because of the limited capacity of the International Space Station and its increasing age/outdated technology. If people do get the opportunity to travel to space in the near future, those opportunities should be taken, but we also need to focus on taking care of the Earth and making those opportunities available to everyone.
Works Cited
Carter, Jamie. “How Much Is a Ticket to Space? $100,000 If You Can Wait A Decade-but Here’s How to Pay Nothing.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 20 July 2021, www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2021/07/19/how-much-is-a-ticket-to-space-100000-if-you-can-wait-a-decade-but-heres-how-to-pay-nothing/?sh=571a38e8734a.
Ferociter, Gradatim. “Blue Origin Safely Launches Four Commercial Astronauts to Space and Back.” Blue Origin, 26 July 2021, www.blueorigin.com/news/first-human-flight-updates.
Keeter, Bill. “Space Colonization.” NASA, NASA, 4 Dec. 2018, www.nasa.gov/centers/hq/library/find/bibliographies/space_colonization.
Platt, Carrie Anne, et al. “Public Perceptions of Private Space Initiatives: How Young Adults View the SpaceX Plan to Colonize Mars.” Space Policy, 2020, www-sciencedirect-com.ezproxy.proxy.library.oregonstate.edu/science/article/pii/S0265964619300098.
“Space Shuttle Propulsion Trivia.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Apr. 2005, www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/113069main_shuttle_trivia.pdf.
“Virgin Galactic Successfully Completes First Fully Crewed Spaceflight.” Virgin Galactic, 11 July 2021, www.virgingalactic.com/articles/virgin-galactic-successfully-completes-first-fully-crewed-spaceflight/.
