With the rapid increase in technology and science, we are just inch away from low earth orbit tourism. In the matter of few years we will be able to tour not the whole world but the space too. People will have the opportunity to see the beautiful curvature of Earth. SpaceX, Axiom space and Boeing , are some of the projects , that are focusing on making space tourism possible in early 2022. All these developments seems so surreal and out of fantasy. Who would not like to see the Earth from up above??
Billionaires Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson has already successfully toured the space in their own built spacecraft,this year. With this, they have created the history in the era of space travel. Richard Branson’s company Virgin Galactic is also offering tourism tickets and so far 600 tickets have been sold. The list of people flying next year includes big celebrities like Tom Hunks, Leonardo DiCaprio, Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga.It is worth to know that the cost to travel is around $250000. Thus , only 0.1% of the richest shall have the privilege to travel.
Idea of travelling space is very fascinating but the cost ( not just the price) is equally disturbing. The amount of environmental damage ot will do is unfathomable.The amount of heat generates while launching these rockets is so large that it creates a pool of ozone layer on ground, which is dangerously harmful for every living being. Virgin Galactic spacecraft produces 12kg of CO2 each mile which is 60 times greater than normal flight, also the Nitrous Oxide released from these rockets are depleting the Ozone layer in atmosphere.While only the richest will be able to afford space tourism, the rest will have to bear its negative effects. So is it worth it??
After his space tour, Jeff Bezos said, “You can’t imagine how thin the atmosphere is when you see it from above”, this is very ironic. He also hinted on moving all the polluting industries into space. All these ideas are fantastic and appreciable but it is also true that execution of such ideas will take more than 10 to 20 years and by then space tourism will be on full swing.
Many climate activists are criticizing these three billionaire ( Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Richard Branson ) for their space race. Every climate activists are working so hard to reduce pollution and in this scenario inclusion of space tourism seems not so good idea for them.
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