A Space Vacation That is Out of This World!
Society’s curiosity about outer space hasn’t faltered in the past decade, and with Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos’ historic commercial flight to the edge of space this past summer, dreamers are that much closer to experiencing the galaxies for themselves.
According to CNN, one company is aiming to make space a reality for people, and is pioneering a new era of space tourism. In 2019, California based company, Gateway Foundation, first explored the idea of creating the world’s first hotel in space. Its dream was to make visiting space, in luxury accommodation, a future vacation destination. The project, now called Voyager Station, is run by Orbital Assembly Corporation, a construction company led by head of Gateway Foundation and former pilot, John Blincow.
Vacationing in space is coming as soon as 2027, according to Blincow’s plans to launch the Voyager Station. With a date in close sight, the hotel’s architects and engineers are hard at work, aiming to design an out-of-this-world experience that feels like luxury. They plan to decorate the suits with warm aesthetics and elegant bars and restaurants but with a touch of the cosmos; earth-viewing lounges and unique space food treats, like freeze-dried ice cream.
Space tourism draws closer as the Orbital Assembly Corporation has announced plans to build the world’s first space hotel named “Voyager Station,” which is expected to open in 2027 pic.twitter.com/MtvOCocx8T
— TRT World (@trtworld) March 7, 2021
The team is also taking advantage of the reduced gravity that will be felt in the station and plan to offer recreational activities that will let their guests weightlessly carry heavy objects, jump higher or run faster in ways people can’t normally do on earth.
Gravity will remain in the rooms and bars though because Voyager Station’s scientific design makes it possible by creating artificial gravity within the perimeters of the hotel. In 1973, NASA researchers first published their overview of artificially creating a force that mimics gravity through the means of rotation.
The hotel is designed as a wheel that will steadily rotate and create simulated gravitational force, much like when a bucket of water is spun around so its contents don’t spill out. The hotel’s guests won’t feel much different than being on a cruise ship.
People are already reserving their spots to see outer space and Orbital Assembly Corporation is not the only one offering them the opportunity. According to a report from the Guardian, Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Richard Branson’s company Virgin Galactic are also selling tickets to send more people to space. Although there is competition, CNN reports on Blincow’s optimism that the companies will work together one day to really help get their projects off the ground.
Space tourism is just one part of Orbital Assembly’s Corporation’s space mission as it wants to build research stations and explore commerce opportunities there. However, its main goal is to meet the demands of society’s growing curiosity about the universe by giving all people, not just entrepreneurs and astronauts, the chance to travel, work and even live, in space, and to make “out-of-this-world” a common trajectory for the future.
