Sometime in the near future, would you believe that your vacation will consist not of a plane ride to a tropical beach destination but a shuttle ride to somewhere truly out of this world? While the “hotels in Earth orbit and lunar vacation packages” mentioned in “An Historical Overview of US Manned Space Flight,” may not be in the very near future, the prospects for suborbital space tourism are booming, and several “citizen astronauts” have already visited the International Space Station (Launius, 2008, p. 208). The Reagan administration promoted the idea that human spaceflight could continue more successfully through the private sector. Space tourism is counted as one of the “key initiatives” in in this endeavor.1
All of the current citizen space travelers purchased their tickets on board a Russian Soyuz spacecraft organized by Space Adventures for a trip to the International Space Station. As of 2009, there were seven tourists, each paying an estimated $20-$35 million. Adventures included in this multimillion dollar vacation are zero gravity atmospheric flights and orbital space flights to the International Space Station. For an added fee of only $15 million, the tourists can participate in a spacewalk. This consists of 1.5 hours of “walking” outside of the space station in a special suit. And of course, cosmonaut and spacewalk training is included in the price of the trip. However, if you were thinking of taking a trip to space for your graduation celebration vacation, you may be out of luck. As of 2010, Russia halted orbital space tourism due to an increase in the space station crew size. They do not plan to resume citizen flights until 2013.3
Citizen travel to the International Space Station has not been all fun and games. Many of the space tourists had 3rd party contracts to conduct research while in orbit. This represents one of the benefits of space tourism – the ability to continue to conduct research in space while using private funds. One passenger, Gregory Olsen, used his time in the space station to conduct tests on his company’s high sensitivity cameras. Another passenger, Anousheh Ansari studied the microbes that “made their home on the space station.” In fact five of the seven space travelers publicly objected to the label, “space tourist,” since they were conducting scientific research while aboard the space station. They prefer “private cosmonaut” or “private astronaut.”3
If a future trip to the International Space Station seems a little out of your price range, consider suborbital travel instead. Suborbital travel is defined as a “spaceflight in with the spacecraft reached space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so it does not complete one orbital revolution.” British billionaire, Sir Richard Branson, is the forerunner in developing what he calls “affordable” space tourism. While none of Branson’s so called “citizen astronauts” have taken flight yet, over 430 seats have already been sold at the price of $200,000 apiece. For this bargain price, Virgin Galactic offers to take you to 109.7 km high, for 2.5 hours while reaching Mach 3 speeds with 6 passengers per flight. That’s only $80,000 an hour. To add to the convenience of this trip, Branson has constructed a brand new state-of-the-art Spaceport America in New Mexico where passengers will only have to train for 2 or 3 days before take-off.4
Below is a picture of Spaceport America with SpaceShipTwo:
Branson teamed up with Burt Rutan, an engineer from the company Scaled Composites, who won the Ansari X Prize for designing SpaceShipOne. SpaceShipOne won the prize for being the first spacecraft to reach an altitude of 100 km which is beyond the internationally defined boundary between Earth and space. In winning the Ansari X Prize, Rutan “achieved what only three of the world’s most powerful nations had done before – he put a man in space.”6 Rutan used SpaceShipOne as the basis for SpaceShipTwo, the original shuttle to take “citizen astronauts” into space with Virgin Galactic.5
In order to promote and advertise for his new venture, Branson used several of the course concepts seen in Advanced Science Communications class. First of all, Branson tries to remove people’s preconceived notions that space travel is not possible or affordable for common citizens. Preconceived notions are mindsets that can be changed with new information. By using phrases like “citizen astronauts” and emphasizing the fact that ordinary people can be fit to fly with only two or three days of training, Branson is framing space tourism as an experience that Virgin Galactic will be able to “extend to people from all walks of life.” And while the $200,000 a seat price may seem extravagant, it really is inexpensive compared to previous space tourism costs of $20-$35 million.4
Branson also uses the precautionary principle. Of course space travel has risks. In John Logsdon’s, “NASA’s First 50 Years,” it is mentioned that spaceflight has a 1.6 percent fatality rate. According to Logsdon, the “risks associated with human spaceflight are among the highest of any human undertaking.” (Logsdon, 2009, p. 278). However, Branson uses the precautionary principle by moving forward even though uncertainty exists because the benefits are so great. In another advertisement video, “Virgin Galactic Presentation on Innovation,” he describes the flight in their technologically advanced spacecraft, the “safest possible experience” in space. He then goes on to assure that “safety and customer service are what Virgin is all about.” Even though space flight has proven risky in the past, Branson assures that the minimal risk is worth it once you see “views of our planet that will change your perception of life.”6
Another very powerful course concept that Branson uses is the Four Organ Theory of Communication introduced in Randy Olson’s, Don’t Be Such a Scientist. This theory says that there are more “organs” than just the logical brain that need to be satisfied. When watching and learning about space travel from the ground, the mind is being stimulated but the heart, gut and lower organs don’t feel much. These three “organs” deal more with emotion. One Virgin Galactic advertisement video uses a quote from astronaut John Glenn. He says, “To be able to float around in zero-G, I just wish everybody could experience this. The view is so hard to describe. It’s moving. It’s emotional.” You don’t get that kind of response from studying space travel while sitting at a desk. Branson describes the flight aboard SpaceShipTwo as the “most intense and wonderful experience that our passengers will ever have.” The video below shows a simulation of one of Virgin Galactic’s flights. During the video, the music and the visuals try to simulate the speed, and then the weightlessness, and then the amazing view of the curved Earth below. The video tries to show what you can only imagine in your mind while on Earth but what you could feel in your heart, your gut, and your lower organs when aboard the SpaceShipTwo in what Branson calls “Virgin Territory.”5
While space tourism is still not as common as a trip to the beach, it is becoming more and more within reach for common citizens. Space travel has inherent risks; however this new venture in the private sector could prove to be the saving factor for the human presence in space. Virgin Galactic’s techniques for promoting citizen space travel use many important course concepts from Advanced Science Communications to effectively stir excitement at the possibility of space travel for common people.
Sources:
1. 1. Launius, Roger. "An Historical Overview of US Manned Space Exploration." Controversies in Science and TechnologyVolume 2: From Climate to Chromosomes (2008): 205-236.
2. 2. Logsdon, John. "Fifty Years of Human Spaceflight Why Is There Still a Controversy?." NASA's first 50 years : historical perspectives 11 (2009): 274-285.
3. 3. "Space Tourism ." Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_tourism>.
4. 4. "The Sub-Orbital Space Experience." Park Avenue Travel. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. <http://www.parkavetravel.com/LocalResources/wwwparkavetravelcom/documents/Virgin%20Galactic%20Sub-Orbital%20Space%20Experiences.pdf>.
5. 5. Virgin Galactic: Let the Journey Begin. Richard Branson. YouTube, 2009. Film.
6. 6. New Virgin Galactic Presentation on Innovation. Richard Branson. YouTube, 2010. Film.
