Space travel is still just a game for the super-rich.
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Beijing News Special Writer / Tao Shortfang (Columnist) Editor He Rui Proofreader Zhao Lin
▲ On April 8, 2022, the "Dragon" spacecraft was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, aboard the "Falcon 9" rocket. It was the first "all-private" space team in the United States to travel to the International Space Station by an "all-private" space team organized by a private company. Photo: Xinhua News Agency
On April 9, local time, the "Dragon" spacecraft of the US Space Exploration Technology Company (SpaceX) carried four passengers to complete the docking with the International Space Station, and the International Space Station ushered in the first "all-private" space travel.
After 21 hours of flight, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft successfully docked with the International Space Station at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time on April 9.
This "all-private" astronautics team is organized by a private American space company. This space trip has also been described by NASA as a milestone in the commercialization of spaceflight.
Although the spaceflight marks an important step in the commercialization of human space travel, its "sky-high" cost of up to $55 million (about 350 million yuan) a seat also shows once again that the current space travel is still just a game for the super-rich.
▲ On September 17, 2021, photos provided by the American Space Exploration Technology Company showed "all civilian" space "tour groups" in space. Photo: Xinhua News Agency
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4-person group "10-day tour"
The "all-private" space tour group, known as "the first pure commercial space tour in human history", including round-trip and other full-scale activities, was coordinated by Axiom Space, a private space company in the United States.
Although the "space four" claims to be "completely unprofessional", in fact, one of the four people is Aleglia, a former NASA astronaut.
Although Alegria has been retired for a long time and it is reasonable to say "amateur", he is actually a regular employee of Axiom Space, and this "group" is actually a "business trip" without compromise, serving as the flight commander and full-time "tour guide" of the "Space Four".
During his time at NASA, Alegria flew three space missions and visited the International Space Station once. During these missions, he performed 10 spacewalks, the record holder for the most NASA spacewalks to date. With his leader, this "all-private" space tour wouldn't be truly "completely unprofessional."
Three other paying passengers, former Israeli fighter pilot Steven Spielberg, Canadian businessman Paulty and Ohio real estate agent Connor, each had to pay $55 million for the trip.
The flight will last for 10 days, including eight days on the International Space Station, during which it is said to be engaged in "scientific research, education and commercial activities." "During the 8 days of the ISS, about 25 different experiments were done, including more than 100 hours of research." Connor said at a News Conference on April 1 that the experiments were a different place for the flight than ordinary space tours.
Of course, as travelers, in addition to "scientific research, education and business activities", they also have to see the earth from the space station, which is the space perspective of the super-rich who are different from ordinary earthlings.
▲ On September 17, 2021, the photos provided by the US Space Exploration Technology Company showed Isaac Mann, a member of the "all-civilian" space "tour group", in space. Photo: Xinhua News Agency
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Not really "for the first time"
In fact, this "space four" is not the first flight of a real private space tour.
On September 25, 2021, the Inspiration 4 team, also executed by the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and also a "foursome", has been in orbit around the earth for 3 days.
The leader of that spaceflight was IsaacMan, a 38-year-old American tech entrepreneur, and the members were Asino, Sembroski and Proctor. All four are not astronauts "born in the class", and are the first all-civilian crew to go to space.
Although the "Inspiration 4" team has set up a research team based on experts from specialized institutions such as Cornell University in the name of "folk medicine and life science research", although it has been complained that "experts are left on the ground, and all the gold lords in the sky" are not submitted, and in the end, no "research results" were submitted.
Of course, that flight did not dock with the space station, only completed the orbital flight.
If it's not limited to orbital flight, Blue Origin, a private space company founded by Amazon founder Bezos in 2000, sent himself into suborbital as early as July 20, 2021. Branson, chairman of the British Virgin Group, completed the move 9 days earlier than Bezos.
Although Bezos and Branson did not achieve true orbit around the Earth, they both crossed the "Carmen Line", which symbolizes the dividing line between the Earth, the atmosphere and space, in less than an hour of time, which can be regarded as a pioneer of "private space travel".
Today's space investment is getting bigger and bigger, and international cooperation is full of obstacles, so even the United States, Russia and other aerospace powers have been pondering "no foreign wealth and no wealth". For example, NASA's next-generation space station program is likely to be led by commercial companies, and Russia is not only selling at a price, but also its special aircraft used to train weightless subjects in the atmosphere have long been "pulling out".
Musk's SpaceX is keen on this, in addition to wanting to directly earn "tour fees", there are also considerations for competing for NASA contracts and hype themes in order to raise funds. Musk's old enemy Bezos also killed two birds with one stone: on the one hand, he cooperated with Boeing to stare at the US military's big order, on the other hand, he did not let Musk win alone.
Judging from the successful admission of the latest "space four" to the International Space Station, Musk has temporarily taken the lead in the fight with Bezos.
However, human space exploration is endless, NASA's so-called "space flight commercialization milestones", the so-called "ordinary people can also realize the space dream", at present, even for a long period of time, is still just a game of rich people and money.
After all, even the cheapest Russian "atmospheric weightlessness experience" charges a lot, and the cost of Bezos and Branson's "Carmen Line Flight" is completely beyond the ability of ordinary people to pay. As for Musk's "space quad", the "Dragon" spacecraft is quoted as high as 350 million yuan in one ticket, which is beyond the reach of ordinary people. No wonder some people sarcastically say that the "ordinary people" who can "realize the space dream" have only one "ordinary commonality", that is, they are all billionaires.
Duty Editor Kang Hee-hee