Space Accommodations

Initially, space tourism will offer meager accommodations at best. For instance, if the International Space Station is used as a tourist attraction, guests won't find the posh surroundings of a hotel room on Earth. It has been designed for conducting research, not entertainment. However, the first generation of space hotels should offer tourists a much more comfortable experience.

Photo courtesy Space Island This space hotel could be one of many commercial ventures located within Space Island's space city.

In regard to a concept for a space hotel initially planned by Space Island, such a hotel could offer guests every perk they might find at a hotel on Earth, and some they might not. The small gravitational pull created by the rotating space city would allow space-tourists and residents to walk around and function normally within the structure. Everything from running water to a recycling plant to medical facilities would be possible. Additionally, space tourists would even be able to take space walks.

Many of these companies believe that they have to offer an extremely enjoyable experience in order for passengers to pay thousands, if not millions of dollars to ride into space. So will space create another separation between the haves and have-nots? In the next section, you'll find out if you'll be able to go to space even if you don't have a million dollars to spend on a vacation.

On Being a Space Tourist Anousheh Ansari has invested in her interest in space before -- she and another relative contributed to the $10 million XPrize, and she hopes that her experience on the ISS will help her to develop spacecraft that make space tourism more affordable. Ansari dislikes the term "space tourist," because she and the first three explorers had to go through rigorous training to make the trip. "I think tourists are people who basically decide to go to some place and put a camera around their neck, and basically buy a ticket and go there. They don't prepare...I spent six months [training in Russia], and had to learn many different systems, and many new different technologies to take this journey, so I don't think tourism [does] justice to this event," Ansari said [ref]. You can learn more about Ansari and read about her adventure on her Web site.