Space Travel -The New Frontier for Mankind

As a  child I grew up watching the TV series `Cosmos’ by astronomer Carl Sagan. Cosmos was a book series converted into a TV show wherein Sagan spoke in length about science, civilization, space exploration and nuclear wars. Through the television series, Sagan   explained complex scientific ideas using television as a educational tool.

The magic of stars, the joy of finding out with science, and man’s quest to look for life beyond Earth.  Are we alone in this Universe or are there other planets with life and inhabitants ? The stories of UFOs have surfaced time and again; making us believe that advanced civilizations do exist and are aliens are even visiting the earth.

Till date,  after spending millions of dollars on space research, we still do not have a clear picture; but space travel has definitely become a reality. It is no more about just `trained astronauts’ going to space.

Sending humans into space was only a fantasy for mankind. And as a  kid, I too began to dream of becoming an astronaut one day. I fell in love with astronomy, stars, the moon and space.
In the Mid-20th century, this fantasy for mankind became a reality. The Soviet Union first send Yuri Gagarin into Space. Later, United States too geared up and send Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the Moon in 1969.

During the cold war period, post the World Wars, the space travel race reached its ultimate height between the two superpowers. Till now, more than 600 people have travelled to space.
In this article we look at the latest developments in Space Travel.

Space Travel

Space Perspective -Fly to space to get married

As reported by Etimes,  a company named Space Perspective will now give you a chance to fly to space and get married.  You don’t have to be a trained astronaut for this. The company’s spacecraft `Neptune’ will is accessible to anyone who is medically fit.

The spacecraft will be lifted by a Spaceballoon, with no rockets. The couple will be seated in the Neptune Capsule. There will be a lounge where people can sit, relax and share cocktails. Reportedly, a single seat in the Neptune capsule will cost a crore. According to Jane Poynter, the co-founder of Space Perspectives, the waiting list of people wanting to get married in space is already long.

Elon Musk’s space travel vehicle `Steamship’
This could be a game changer for space travel. It will be fully reusable transport system capable of carrying up to 100 people to the Red Planet. As reported by the BBC.com, the founding ethos of Space Was to make life multi-planetary. “History is going to bifurcate along two directions. One path is we stay on Earth and experience cataclysm, such as a large asteroid impact. The other is to become a spacefaring civilization and a multi-planet species. Musk said in 2016.

The Space X founder has often spoken about his dream of building cities on Mars.

Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic

A spaceflight company founded by Richard Branson and Virgin Group has developed a commercial spacecraft to provide suborbital spaceflights to space tourists. Its maiden flight took place in 2018. In 2021, Richard Branson himself along with three employees boarded the spacecraft for a space ride. More than 700 tickets were already sold out then.
The company is gearing up for more spaceflights.

Till then, I am too waiting for my turn to travel to moon and back.