Commentary: Guide for the future tourist on the International Space Station

COMMENT

In June 2019, NASA announced that astronomy-rich tourists would soon be able to visit the International Space Station.

Ten years later, a national publication sent a journalist specializing in high-altitude travel to present the equipment of the world's most popular luxury holiday destination.

The International Space Station is known for many things: high altitude, low crime and, of course, the extremely high admission price. What has not been known is his culinary scene. But that could change, with the opening of five culinary experiences aboard, including GraviTea, the casual health cafe, and Copernicus, a supernatural temple of molecular gastronomy that is the first restaurant in the space to be nominated for a James Beard award.

This is not everything. Encouraged by the investment of visitors willing to spend a lot of money, this once modest research center has turned into a real oasis in the heavens, offering exercise classes, accommodation Luxury and the best views you can find anywhere. Here's how to get the most out of your weekend in the space.

Day one:

After a six-hour flight to the station, visitors arrive on a Friday night. Attend a mandatory safety demonstration – do not touch any buttons! – and you will be welcomed on board for your weekend relaxing in the space. This is the perfect time to explore your digs and train yourself to weightless backflips. Once you have found your legs, navigate to the Harmony module, where you will be housed in a cupboard a little bigger than you: space is essential, with the pun intended, but with luxury facilities and toiletries, including Skin Care Products Le Labo. It may not be spacious, but it's mostly soundproof, so it's something!

Then head over to Laika, the retro-futuristic kitsch diner with raised dishes that deal with classic dehydrated astronaut food. Think of Tang cocktails and freeze-dried pizzas in the Jetsons-esque module designed by Norman Foster.

Bedtime falls around 9:30, but if you really want to enjoy your first night aboard, arrange a private concert with one of the local astronauts (US $ 4,575). He will serenade you with David Bowie's most spacious songs while scratching a guitar.

Day two:

Saturday morning is the perfect time to enjoy the fitness center of the resort. Astronauts work two hours a day to ensure they are always in optimal physical condition when they return from their orbit. Your trip may be shorter, but that's no reason not to have fun. Tie (literally: you do not want to float) to an exclusive NasaxPeloton bike and let a Neil Armstrong hologram guide you to the height exercise of your life. At US $ 600 / sitting (unlimited weekend pass for US $ 2,000), this is a giant step for fitness.

Life in space does not have to be tiring! "Living on a spaceship is the laziest life you can imagine," said Chris Hadfield, Station Commander since 2013. "You do not weigh all your weight! You do not even have to lift the small one finger to hold your head. "

And you really do not need to lift your finger – or recover a wandering space sock – if you turn to a private astrobutter ($ 25,000) that will meet all your needs. Jeev3s can hold a tasting of Ardbeg whiskey aged in space or a personal lecture on the astrophysics of Neil DeGrasse Tyson. It will also manage your presence on social networks and update your Instagram account so that your friends on Earth can follow your journey.

When "the afternoon" arrives, you may be wondering what is the meaning of time when you float in the space, anyway? When do you see 16 sunrise and sunset each day? Whatever the case may be, space yoga and realigning chakras are offered every Saturday at 3 pm.

In the evening, get ready for dinner at Copernicus, where a menu designed by Chef Wylie Dufresne (and performed by a team formed at both ElBulli and the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama) puts " 'astronomy' in perspective. gastronomy. A class can be a very deconstructed vichyssoise – the waiters will throw mashed potatoes of potatoes, leeks, cream and chicken broth that you can take in your mouth. For your entree, try Wagyu beef prepared under vacuum under gamma radiation. The compressed watermelon salad is thus found thanks to the vacuum forces located just outside the walls of the station. The dishes are made of lunar rocks. For dessert? A high-end riff on a bar in Mars, of course.

Day three:

Sunday morning, it will be time to make an exit in the wilderness. To prepare, you will have to spend an hour absorbing pure oxygen. While you're there, take the opportunity to customize your spacesuit with Swarovski crystals (price available on request). If you are going to float above the Earth, you might as well shine like the star that you are.

And then – oh, wow, it's exciting – while you're in your way out, a cloud of debris travels through most of the resort, depressurizing it instantly and probably killing almost everyone on board. Thanks to the heroic sacrifice of your astroguide, you can return to the airlock, but now your miraculously intact module is floating freely. Jeev3s does not respond to your text messages, but it does not matter. They will likely prorate service interruptions when you return home.

There is a machine in a wall that breaks down the water into breathable oxygen. His buzz is quite soothing. Yes. You are calm.

How long have you been here? Your module turns, turns in the dark. Sometimes you go to the porthole and the planet below takes shape. You can not tell it's getting closer or farther away.

The sun rises and sets, and rises and sets. You inhale and exhale. Skin Care The Lab, Compressed Watermelon and Peloton Bike are like memories of a different life. Was it a voice you heard in the murmur of the oxygen machine?

Time passes The sun goes down. The sun sets. The sun.

Trip planning details:

The International Space Station is located approximately 386 km above the surface of the Earth. The Kennedy Space Center in Florida is the nearest airport. Low-cost carriers may soon start serving the Vandenberg Air Force Base. Tickets start at $ 58 million.

The basic accommodation at the resort starts at $ 35,000, which includes private dormitories, water, internet, toilet use and, most importantly, oxygen. But for an additional $ 15,000, you can upgrade to the deluxe package, which includes a free breakfast (freeze-dried eggs Benedict one day, acai bowls with pieces of dragon fruit and coconut for another), a $ 1,000 spa credit and premium oxygen. Other options include an unlimited drinks package ($ 5,000) with cocktails developed by the station's robot-mixologist. Just watch out for those hangovers! They are more intense in the space.