Space Tourism
A day in the life of a Space Tourist
Many people think that Space tourists have a very nice and relaxing trip. That is correct in some ways and incorrect in others.
How to prepare
Before you take your Flight into space you are required to pass a physical to make sure you can handle the stressful conditions of space flight. All space Tourists who want to take a flight to the ISS in a Soyuz taxi mission must go through a thorough medical exam before taking off.
Space tourists should begin training several days to a few weeks before the tests. A regular exercise program is mandatory as part of a space tourists preflight training. A proper diet is also necessary to pass the preflight medical check-up. Excess alcohol and caffeine should be avoided. Smoking should also be avoided. These people can’t be space tourists:
- Minors
- People with physical impairments or disabilities that may prevent them from safely evacuating a space station or ejecting from an aircraft
- People with serious heart problems
- People with serious coronary artery disease
- People with major diseases affecting their organs
- People with severe vertigo or claustrophobia
Other than passing a physical space tourists have to learn about some “elementary scientific topics.” Space Tourists have to have a basic understanding of astrodynamics. Astrodynamics is the motion of objects in space. Space tourists should know:
- What is an orbit
- What is gravity
- What is escape velocity
- What is weightlessness (microgravity)
In a classroom a space tourist also learns about the four major types of rockets and spacecrafts used to send space tourists into space. They are:
- Expendable
- Reusable Launch Vehicle or RLV
- Vertically launched
- Horizontally launched
The Space Tourists also have to learn “language training.” Language training is not a space tourist having to learn a whole other language, but a space tourist having to learn certain words from the language that will be used in space. For example, if a space tourist speaks English fluently, but is flying on a Soyuz, they will need to learn some Russian words so they can communicate better.
Space tourists are also taught how to use communication systems. The communication systems include:
- Ham Radio
- Soft phone via internet protocol
- Orbital communications adapter
| The Ham Radio was a way to communicate in space. Click here to learn more about it. |
Space tourists must also undergo spacesuit and equipment training. Space tourists who are going to the Space Station are required to wear a special suit during launch and reentry called the Sokol. The Sokol SK-1 is designed just for space tourists and it has 5 main functions, they are:
- Protection from loss oxygen
- Protection from loss of cabin/capsule pressure
- Protection from frigid air and water temperatures
- Protection from extreme heat and flame
- Protection from blood pooling caused by weightlessness
If a space tourist wishes to go on a mission to the space station, there will be even more training. The amount of training a space tourist has to do depends on the mission they are taking- where they are going and how long they will be in space.
Life in Space
Life in space is very different from life on Earth. A space tourist can find a lot of things to photograph, here are just a few.
- The Great Wall of China
- Mount Everest
- The Amazon River
- The Bahamas
- Hurricanes
- Volcanic Eruptions
- Lightning Storms
- The Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis
| Eating is a vital thing to do when you're in space. Click here to read about space food. |
Sleeping in space can be difficult because the spacecraft is orbiting the Earth every 90 minutes; this makes it so that the craft is never completely in darkness for very long. Also the lights may be on because the crew works in shifts. Motion sickness and warming rays of the sun may also disrupt a Space tourists sleep. A space tourist gets a sleeping mask to keep out most of the light. The sleeping quarters of a space tourist vary on the spacecraft they are in. A space tourist will probably sleep in a special sleeping bag that is attached to the wall. Without the attachment, the space tourist would float freely around the cabin bumping into things and possibly getting hurt.
Space food has developed greatly since the first astronauts first went up into space. A space tourist gets many choices of food. There are some things that a space tourist needs to understand about food in space:
- Try the food before you come- this will avoid allergic reactions in space
- Be careful- anything that isn’t held or secured is going to freely float
- Prepare for new forms- food comes in eight forms in space-fresh, frozen, natural, irradiated, refrigerated, thermo stabilized, rehydratable, and intermediate moisture
If a space tourist opens his or her mouth when he or she is chewing their food, the food just comes out.
Weightlessness makes bathing/showering in space impossible, but space tourists are encouraged to bathe once a day by taking a sponge bath using a washcloth for cleaning and one for rinsing. In some places space tourists have to use baby wipes instead of washcloths. Space tourists use rinse-less shampoo.
On the Space Station, space tourists can get a hair cut if they are away from Earth for a long time.
Using the bathroom in space is different than it is on Earth. When a space tourist isn’t on the Space Station or a space shuttle, they go to the bathroom into “essentially an adult diaper.” On the International Space Station, other space stations, and the space shuttle waste disposal is more pleasant. A vacuum fan toilet is used.
Space Tourists need to bring the strongest SPF sunscreen they have because solar radiation is much greater in space than it is on Earth. The ozone layer on Earth keeps out most of the suns rays and in space there is no ozone layer to keep out the sun’s rays.