It's a package holiday with a difference: NASA has said it's opening up the International Space Station to commercial space travel. But you'll need deep pockets to venture into deep space.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/NASA
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NASA has announced that it will open the International Space Station for tourism and other private ventures starting next year.
The move is part of a plan to get the private sector to help grow a "robust space economy," the space agency said on Friday.
What's the deal?
NASA will allow two private astronaut missions of up to 30 days per year.
A return ticket will cost around $58 million (€51.2 million).
Astronauts will also have to pay board and lodgings at a rate of around $35,000 per night.
The space agency said there was a "lot of excitement" over the plans.
"NASA is opening the International Space Station to commercial opportunities and marketing these opportunities as we've never done before," NASA chief financial officer Jeff DeWit said in New York.
Officials added that they were keen to have the private sector become more involved in space, including the "development of products useful on Earth."
Why is NASA doing this? At the presentation Friday, NASA said it wasn't looking to make a profit from the trips, but the money raised would help towards achieving long-term goals. These include returning humans to the moon by 2024 and even sending them to Mars after that.
How will passengers qualify?
As well as stumping up the cash, the dozen or so private astronauts will have to meet the same medical standards and training and certification procedures as regular crew members. SpaceX and Boeing will choose the clients and deliver them to the ISS via their own rocket-and-capsule launch systems.
What is the ISS? The space station orbits around 400 kilometers above the Earth. It is run by five space agencies with 15 countries involved. The first segment was launched in 1998 from Russia. Since 2000, it has been staffed by a crew of between three and six astronauts.
Happy birthday, ISS! The International Space Station at 20
On November 20, 1998, the first module for the International Space Station was launched into orbit. Three years later, the first crew took up residence there. Since then, the ISS has been a hub for scientific research.
Image: Reuters/NASA
A 19,000 kilo building block
The first module of the International Space Station was sent into orbit 20 years ago. It was the Russian-made Zarya, a "Functional Cargo Block" — also known as FGB. Zarya came in at 19,000 kilograms (41,000 pounds) and was 12 meters (39 feet) long. It was commissioned and paid for by America and built by a Russian space company. It was the start of two decades of international cooperation.
Image: NASA
Larger than a six-bedroom house
The International Space Station is home to an international crew of six people, who also work there. It travels at a speed of five miles per second (8kps), orbiting Earth every 90 minutes. Eight solar arrays provide power to the station and make it the second brightest object in the night sky after the moon. You don't need a telescope to see it.
Image: Reuters/NASA
Expedition 1
This was the ISS's first long-term crew: American astronaut William Shepherd (center) and his two Russian fellow workers, cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko (left) and Sergei Krikalev (right). They moved into the ISS on November 2, 2000, and stayed for 136 days.
Image: NASA
Up to one year
On average, space station crews, also known as expeditions, stay in space for about five and a half months. Some crew members, however, have broken that record — for example, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly (photo) and Roscosmos cosmonaut, Mikhail Kornienko. They lived and worked in space for a whole year.
Image: Scott Kelly/NASA
Multinational
This is Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield strumming his guitar on the ISS at Christmas 2012. Since 2000, crew members and Space Flight Participants (self-financed space tourists) have come from 18 different countries. The most have come from the USA and Russia. Other teams have included people from Japan, the Netherlands, Italy, France, Germany, Brazil and South Africa.
Image: Reuters/NASA
Shuttle bus
Crew members and supplies arrive at the ISS via transfer vehicles and space freighters. This photo shows space shuttle Atlantis, which operated until 2011, docking onto the space station. These days, astronauts arrive at the ISS in a Soyuz capsule.
Image: Getty Images/NASA
Out for a walk
There have been more than 210 spacewalks — "EVA" in astronaut terms — at the ISS since 2000. This photo shows astronaut Mike Hopkins on a spacewalk on December 24, 2013.
Image: Reuters/NASA
Extraordinary exterior
The ISS has several robotic arms. This one, Canadarm2, is 57.7 feet (17.58 meters) long when fully extended, and has seven motorized joints. It can lift 220,000 pounds (100 tons), which is the weight of a space shuttle orbiter. This photo shows astronaut Stephen K. Robinson anchored to Canadarm2's foot restraint.
Image: Reuters/NASA
Blue Dot mission
Crew members spend about 35 hours per week conducting research. On his first mission, dubbed "Blue Dot," German ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst observed and analyzed changes to the human body that occur in microgravity. Gerst's second mission at the ISS started in June 2018. In October 2018, he became the first German astronaut to command the ISS.
Image: Getty Images/ESA/A. Gerst
Back home
When their time at the ISS is over, astronauts are taken away in a Soyuz capsules. They fall to Earth with a parachute to ease their landing. Welcome home!
