Have you ever wanted to travel to space? Did you know that you can actually do it without earning an astrophysics degree and working for NASA? Oh, and it will cost you roughly around $25 million.
For the billionaires reading this, you probably didn’t bat an eye, but for the rest of us–our dreams might’ve been broken with that last sentence. But don’t give up hope space cadet, your wanderlust can still stretch beyond the planet earth!
In 2001, Dennis Tito became the first person to achieve “space tourism” at the price of $20 million. His vacation lasted a total of eight days orbiting his way to the International Space Station as he saw the universe unfold in front of his eyes. It wasn’t the easiest vacation to plan, though. NASA wasn’t exactly thrilled to send a “tourist” on a front row seat into space. You see, when one ventures off into space, the proper training needs to be completed first. Most astronauts train for two years before even becoming qualified to be launched into space, so you can understand why NASA had their hesitations.
Fortunately, Titto completed eight months of training outside of Moscow, ultimately, not knowing if he would get to fly. Luckily, his wish came true on April 28, 2001 when he flew into space on Soyuz TM-32, becoming the 415th person ever to reach space and the first person to fly filed under the reason of: tourism. Of course, Titto was also accompanied by professional astronauts.
Since Titto’s legendary flight, six other “tourists” have journeyed to space and back. Some orbiting space for up to two weeks! So while it’s still going to be a hefty vacation to prepare for, many companies are projecting new innovations to help space tourism become a reality for many, and easier to achieve.
Interested in checking “space travel” off of your bucket list? Click here for more information and make your wildest dreams come true.