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There is nothing new in the idea of charging someone a lot of money for a trip into space. Russia has started charging $ 20 million or more to a group of extremely wealthy people for a trip to the International Space Station (ISS). It was the usual practice to load NASA by seat on its Soyuz rockets, but the tables are about to turn. NASA will soon have access to SpaceX and Boeing satellites, and plans to fly its own tourists into space.
Supporters of the movement in space tourism say that it could be a major source of funding for the agency, as well as a way to become more relevant to the American public. This could also contribute to the determination to stop public funding for the ISS in the mid-2020s. A NASA advisory subcommittee supported the proposal at a meeting last Friday, but it is still far from reality.
In the coming year, SpaceX and Boeing are expected to demonstrate their crew pods on both pilot and unmanned flights. If all goes according to plan, companies will obtain permission to fly astronauts to and from the International Space Station. However, Boeing suffered setbacks after fuel leakage during testing, which resulted in minor design changes. SpaceX remains confident that it will reach its goal of a first launch in early 2019.
Once the commercial crew program is activated, NASA could stop buying seats for Russian Soyuz missions. He would also have a contract for seats aboard SpaceX and Boeing vessels. The proposal that is making its way through NASA is calling on the agency to resell some of these seats to space tourists. It could charge them a premium even in the era of private space tourism. Companies such as Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin will only offer passengers a few minutes in space, but NASA could bring them to the ISS for a few weeks.
NASA's director, Jim Bridenstine, formed the subcommittee earlier this year.
Along with the space tourism proposal, NASA is also exploring ways to ease restrictions on advertising and partnering with businesses. At present, NASA has not even affixed its logo on cargo rockets, as this could be considered an endorsement of the manufacturer. In the future, astronauts could appear in commercials, and NASA could even sell rocket naming rights. Coca-Cola is getting ready to dock!
All this seems likely to be in bad taste for NASA, a government agency engaged in exploration and science since its entire history. Seeing NASA embarking on space tourism is a bad idea if these seats could be awarded to scientists and engineers who make themselves useful on the ISS. NASA's director Jim Bridenstine dismissed the concerns expressed at the subcommittee's hearing, stating, "The reality is that we are in a new era."
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