The history of space travel

On April 30, 2001, American billionaire Dennis Tito entered the International Space Station (ISS) via the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, becoming the first space tourist in the world.

Billionaire Dennis Tito on the ISS. Photo: CNN CNN channel (USA) said billionaire Tito, then 60 years old, had a strong hand only 20 million dollars to realize his dream from a young age. In 1961, before the information that Soviet astronaut Yuri Gagarin was the first person to enter space, young Tito had set the goal of life. The US Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) does not support sending civilians into space. In 1991, not long after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Tito started negotiations with Moscow to go to space by “spending the money”. Mr. Tito recalls: “In the late 90s of last century, the Russians really wanted more funding for the space program. So I found that I could find them ”. On April 28, 2001, the Soyuz spacecraft was launched into the air in Kazakhstan with three members on board including billionaire Tito and two Russian astronauts. Billionaire Tito then spent 8 days living on the ISS. Two decades later, billionaire Tito still remembers: “The pencils are floating and I can observe both the dark space of the universe as well as the curve of the Earth. I feel so good. It was the greatest moment in my life, reaching my life goals … I hope that others also experience the great things I have. ” Billionaire Dennis Tito returned to Earth in May 2001. Photo: CNN Since billionaire Tito’s space travel year, only a few other tourists have had the same experience. However, some American companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic are betting on space travel with the goal of making it not too far-fetched. These people all choose the space travel program of the company Space Adventures, which uses the Russian Soyuz to bring passengers to the ISS. Since 2009, Space Adventures’ space travel program has ceased to exist because the US Space Shuttle program “retires” and only Russian Soyuz is the vehicle to bring astronauts to and from the ISS. However, a representative of Space Adventures said that once there is competition in the space travel market, there will be price competition and in the future there will be many units participating in this field. Space Adventures is still working with the Russian space agency and is working on the possibility of launching the Soyuz to the ISS by 2023 with a program to give visitors a chance to walk in space. In addition, Space Adventures is also planning a space travel in late 2021 via SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. NASA contributed funding to the development of the Crew Dragon and Boeing’s Starliner space. However, both of these companies are privately owned and therefore have the right to sell their spaceship seats to anyone who can afford it. NASA has also changed its view of space travel since billionaire Tito’s historic trip. In 2019, NASA announced plans to open the ISS for visitors. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. Photo: CNN Former NASA astronaut Jeffrey A. Hoffman, who currently works in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said billionaire Tito’s trip in 2001 marked the “beginning of a new era.” of space travel ”. Jeffrey A. Hoffman hopes that space travel costs will decrease as demand increases. The main obstacle to space travel, he said, is safety concerns. In 2014, a pilot was killed during a test flight of the Virgin Galactic company SpaceShipTwo spacecraft. In addition, there have been records of SpaceX boosters and Blue Origin – a company owned by Jeff Bezos, exploding during testing, thankfully no people were injured. According to the former astronaut, there is always a risk of an accident with air travel, but “a consistent safety record” will help this form of travel grow. May 2020 marks the first private spacecraft to bring NASA astronauts into space. That is the Crew Dragon of SpaceX. The company is expected by the end of 2021 to use the Crew Dragon for a program exclusively for ordinary people at a cost of $ 50 million per seat. SpaceX also has hopes in a spacecraft called Starship to bring Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maeza and a group of artists to the Moon in 2023. In 2019, an American company called Gateway Foundation announced plans for hotels operating in the lower layers of the Earth’s atmosphere.