OPINION: Space 'Adventurers' Paving The Way For the Rest of Us

by Laura S. Woodmansee, National Space Society

Date: 18 September 2006 Time: 04:17 PM ET

Ready for blast off! Cue the music ... For days now, I've been hearing the poignant song, "Imagine" by John Lennon in my head every time I hear, read, or even think about Anousheh Ansari's flight to the International Space Station. While reading her blog today, I learned that the hauntingly beautiful song is actually one of her favorites. That's not really a surprise however; most of us space-lovers know the relevance of that song to our cause.

As the author of the book, "Women Astronauts," I really wanted to write something to commemorate the flight of the first female space tourist, but I can't! She's nowhere in sight because her flight hasn't been booked yet. Ansari, who is set to blast off into space in less than twelve hours from this writing, is not what I would call a tourist. The self-described "space ambassador" is better described as a "space adventurer!"

Think of it this way, your typical tourist doesn't spend six months away from family and friends in intensive training and study in a foreign country. Adventurers, on the other hand, do spend months training to climb Mount Everest, or dive to the bottom of the ocean, or to fly into space. That takes extreme dedication to accomplish your own personal dream. "Tourists" on the other hand, plunk down a credit card, buy some appropriate duds, and go on a trip.

Ansari joins the other space adventurers. These are independently paying space travel customers; Dennis Tito, Mark Shuttleworth, and Greg Olson, who've paid their own way into space. Ansari is the first female space adventurer to pay her own way. So what? It doesn't really matter what gender she is, her passion is what drives her. Besides, her flight really isn't that different from British space adventurer Helen Sharman. The Russians also flew Sharman into space back in 1991, but her flight was (partly) funded by a corporate contest.

What makes Ansari's flight special? It's not because she's the first woman to pay her own way into space. It's because of her efforts and dedication to making space accessible to everyone. Personally, I'm impressed with her because she has had the dream of spaceflight since she was a kid, saw an opportunity, and worked to make it happen. Like me, and maybe you too, she was born with an extreme passion for space exploration and desire to travel into space. Unlike most of us, she's actually making her dream happen. And with her support for space tourism causes, like the X-Prize, she's helping to make that dream happen for you, me, and others too.

I admit that I'm a bit jealous because she gets to see the Earth and stars from space and experience weightlessness. But, I'm also happy for her. And I think she's bringing hope to all of us that dream of flying into space and seeing our beautiful planet Earth as one.

So, while these guys and gals are not what I would call "space tourists," they are space adventurers. They are pioneers blazing the way into space for all of us. And someday, when the first real space tourists actually fly into space, that will mean that anyone who's got the money will be able to experience space at any time. Imagine being able to just book your flight and go into space for a ten-day vacation!

When will we have real space tourism; the kind where you can put your money down and just go? When will we have easy and safe access to space? When will the openings for space adventurers allow dozens or hundreds of people per year to experience space? We must work together with private industry to make it happen. We need to demand our space. We must make our politicians understand that they must work to remove roadblocks to private industry's access to space. And we must get as many people interested in space exploration as possible. That part is straightforward however; all we need to do is share with them our vision of the future.

Space tourism can help to make Earth a better place in the same way that international travel does. Travel expands our view of the world. It makes us realize how much we have in common with people who live differently than we do. It makes us see what we have in common. Many astronauts and cosmonauts come back with profoundly different views of the world after seeing it from space, the way it really is - without borders.

The true power of space "adventurism" or "tourism" is that it can bring home that perspective of the Earth as one, no separation because of borders, politics, ethnicity, religion, or anything else. Again from the immortal words of John Lennon, "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us. And the world will be as one." And music out...

Laura S. Woodmansee (www.woodmansee.com) is a science journalist and JPL Solar System Ambassador. She is the author of three space books; Women Astronauts, Women of Space: Cool Careers on the Final Frontier, and most recently, Sex in Space. She can be contacted via her web site at www.woodmansee.com.

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