Up to now, only some 400 astronauts and cosmonauts have had the privilege of voyaging past Earth's atmosphere into the pitch black of the cosmos. Last year, the marketing firm Yankelovich determined that 55 million people would be willing to go on a two-week space cruise aboard a space shuttle. Patrick Collins, a researcher for the Japanese space agency, recently said that 70 percent of all Japanese and US citizens under the age of 50 would be interested in taking a trip into space. The company also organizes flights that give passengers the sense of weightlessness for a few seconds. Take the poll.
Space Island has more ambitious plans.
By 2007, it hopes to build its own space station and a shuttle fleet to serve it. Robert Bigelow, president of Bigelow Aerospace, is thinking of building a hotel on the moon for 100 top-paying customers and a staff of 50. The US Congress recently held a hearing on space tourism attended by, among others, Buzz Aldrin, the second person to set foot on the moon. Space tourism is a big market that, once it takes off, will grow astronomically. And when that happens, it will reduce the cost tremendously.