Space tourism is space travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. A number of companies have sprung up in recent years, hoping to create a space tourism industry. Orbital space tourism opportunities have been limited and expensive, with only the Russian Space Agency providing transport to date.
Read the text below and discuss the questions It was taken form the awesome site Howstuffworks. Check it out. It is worth visiting. :
The space tourism industry is officially open for
business, and tickets are going for a mere $20 million for a one-week
stay in space. Despite reluctance from NASA, Russia made American
businessman Dennis Tito the world's first space tourist. Tito flew into space aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket that arrived at the International Space Station on April 30, 2001. The second space tourist, South African businessman Mark Shuttleworth, took off aboard the Russian Soyuz on April 25, 2002, also bound for the ISS. Greg Olsen, an American businessman, became tourist number three to the ISS on October 1, 2005.
On September 18, 2006, Anousheh Ansari,
a telecommunications entrepreneur, became the first female space
tourist and the fourth space tourist overall. She was also the first
person of Iranian descent to make it into space. Charles Simonyi, a software architect, became the fifth space tourist on April 7, 2007.
These
trips are the beginning of what could be a lucrative 21st century
industry. There are already several space tourism companies planning to
build suborbital vehicles and orbital cities within the next two
decades. These companies have invested millions, believing that the
space tourism industry is on the verge of taking off.
1. What's your opinion about space tourism?
2. How do you think space tourism will be in the future?
3. Would you like to take a space trip? Why (not)?
4. Watch the movie segment below and decide if you think this kind of trip will be possible? If so, when will it take place?
5. How similar/different is it from our conventional tourism?
6. What's your opinion about this kind of trip?
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