After the Apollo missions, many expected Moon bases, manned Mars missions and, of course, floating wheel-like Space Stations. However that future has not yet transpired. So when will Joe and Jane Everyman get into orbit? In the years following the Apollo space program, a gradual evolution of
NASA (and otherworld space agencies and programs) has been in progress. What started out as a politically motivated space race has now evolved into a slow, steady outward expansion and consolidation of government and commercial space activities. From the multibillion dollar data, voice, television, GPS navigation satellite services to privately developed expendable rockets and space cargo, the private sector has commercialized many aspects that were once the sole domain of government space agencies.
News / Tourism (None)
19 September 2000 by Patrick Collins
NASA's Approach to RLVs Shown To Be Totally Misconceived
NASA has recently admitted that the
X-34 project, touted with the
X-33 as the route to reducing launch costs, is at an impasse. Readers will remember that in 1995, as a result of the great success of the
DC-X reusable rocket funded by the Defence Department,
NASA announced its own
RLV program - with the
X-33 and
X-34 reusable rockets as its centre-pieces. Both were to start a series of progressive demonstration flights in 1999, leading on to low-cost launch vehicles.
Online / Tourism (None)
23 August 2000 by Peter Wainwright
The Argonauts profile John Spencer
Just to prove that Mike
Kelly, CEO of
Kelly Space & Technology, isn't the only one getting a little press attention lately (GQ Magazine, September 2000), founder of Space Renaissance Inc and the
Space Tourism Society
John Spencer has recently been
profiled by The Argonauts, a web magazine focussing on adventure travel.
Announcements / General (None)
2 May 2000 by Peter Wainwright
Win for commercial ground station network
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 2, 2000
Media / Tourism (None)
3 February 2000 by Patrick Collins
Spreading into the mainstream...
A surprising number of "special reports" on the 21st century published in newspapers and magazines fail even to mention the possibility of space tourism - which shows just how blind they are. That's because the growth of space tourism is going to be a "core change" in human society through the 21st century, as the spread of air travel world-wide was a core change of 20th century society. (It would be an interesting project for a student (perhaps studying the history of technology?) to survey and record how inaccurate these turn-of-the-century articles were.)
Events / Vehicles (None)
28 February 2000 by Peter Wainwright
Space Tourism on the agenda
A workshop on Human Space Transportation and Exploration is taking place from February 28-March 1st in Galveston, Texas.