Let's Travel Amazing Places!: A First-Rate Tourist Destination

Friday, May 1, 2009

A First-Rate Tourist Destination

The International Space Station

If ever I would be going to leave this planet for another, it would only be for touring. Do you know that according to the book, “1001 Science Questions Answered”, each year the Russian Space Agency conveys one or two paying tourists for a week long stay in the International Space Station?

What is the International Space Station anyway? The International Space Station (ISS) is a research facility that the different space agencies in the world are currently putting together in outer space, the on-orbit construction of which has began in 1998. The space station is in a Low Earth Orbit and can be seen from Earth with the naked eye; it orbits at an altitude of approximately 400 km (250 mi) above the surface of the Earth, and travels at an average speed of 27,700 km (17,210 statute miles) per hour, completing 15.7 orbits per day.

The space station is a joint project among the space agencies of the United States (NASA), Russia (RKA), Japan (JAXA), Canada (CSA) and eleven European countries (ESA). The Brazilian Space Agency (AEB, Brazil) participates through a separate contract with NASA. The Italian Space Agency similarly has separate contracts for various activities not done in the framework of ESA's ISS works (where Italy also fully participates). China has reportedly expressed interest in the project, especially if it is able to work with the RKA,though it is not currently involved. To mark the level of cooperation that the project is fostering between nations, in 2001, the station received the Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation.

Anyways, an interested tourist must be physically fit and has no cardiac ailment. He would need to undergo at least six months training program to cope with life in outer space. The entire tourist package amounts to $22M or around P1.034B pesos. However, according to wikipedia, the previous space tourists have paid around $25M each or P1.175B pesos.

It seems crazy to spend that much fortune for a week long tour but if you can afford it, why not.

Info:
1001 Science Questions Answered
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Space_Station