Technologies of the Frontier (TDF), an Italian space advocacy group, is holding their second conference on June 7, 2008 in Belgirate on Lake Maggiore, Italy. Speakers include astronomers and professors, and lectures will be held in both Italian and English.

Right now, there are two types of people who go to space, astronauts and tourists. They're easily differentiated in one respect: tourists pay for their journey. But when you consider how hard these tourists have to work before merely setting foot on the International Space Station ( ISS), you realize the word “tourist” is an oversimplification of the process that these adventurers currently undergo.

According to an article in The China Post Roskosmos chairman Anatoly Perminov says Russia will be halting their space tourism programme after 2010. Because of the expansion of the International Space Station ( ISS), the seats available for tourists will go to permanent crew.

Richard Garriot will be boarding the International Space Station in October after spending months in training, as well as millions of dollars.

Throwing the first pitch of the baseball season is an honor typically reserved for dignitaries such as presidents, mayors, baseball hall-of-famers, and, um, Lillian Carter.

by Alan Breakstone

The International Astronautical Academy (IAA), the research arm of the International Astronautical Federation ( IAF), is holding its first conference on private human space flight from May 28-30, 2008, in Arcachon, Bordeaux, France.

By Carol Pinchefsky

By Marco C. Bernasconi

by Carol Pinchefsky