Image of a person lounging on a spaceship looking out at space

Vacation Illustration by Magictorch

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Are Space Vacations a Good Idea?

People are spending big bucks to visit space. Would you buy a ticket?  

Image of student with telescope

Illustrations by Carolyn Ridsdale

    Tired of your regular vacation spots? Looking for some adventure? Forget that family outing to Six Flags. Book a trip to space!

    That’s right. Spaceflight companies are now sending regular people into space. This type of travel is called space tourism. The trips currently range from 10 minutes on a rocket to 10 days on a space station. People are paying millions of dollars for these experiences.

    But that’s not all. Companies like SpaceX and Above Space plan to build fancy hotels in space. One company is even booking future tickets to the moon! Experts say that nearly 58,000 tourists may travel to space by 2031

    Is this a good idea? Or is space tourism a disaster waiting to happen?

Epic Thrills 

    For many brave travelers, going into space would be the adventure of a lifetime. After all, the trip would be filled with epic thrills. You could do things you can’t do anywhere else.

    Passengers will blast off at 2,200 miles per hour. (That’s nearly four times faster than most airplanes!) They’ll also experience a loss of gravitythe force that keeps us pulled to Earth. Space travelers will be able to float through a spaceship or jump 12 feet in the air

    But paying customers aren’t just going to space for the thrills. Tourists on a recent SpaceX mission tested new spacesuit designs. Experts say these types of experiments could help future spaceflights.

    Plus, the views from space can be life-changing. Many astronauts say that seeing Earth from above helped them appreciate it more. Could a trip to space inspire you to take better care of our planet? It’s certainly possible

Safety First 

Image of an astronaut holding a hotel room key

Illustrations by Carolyn Ridsdale

    On the other hand, space travel is dangerous. Many things could go wrong. A piece of equipment could break. A hotel could get hit by flying space junk. Over the past 60 years, about 30 astronauts have died on missions or while training. Many wonder: Is it worth risking your life for a vacation

    Some experts also worry that space tourism could be bad for the environment. Rockets release harmful gases that pollute the air. If space vacations really take off, what does that mean for our planet?

    But the biggest problem is probably the price. Right now, even the cheapest flights cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Many argue that this money would be better spent solving problems here on Earth.

    So what do you think? If you had millions of dollars, would you take a vacation to space

ACTIVITY:

Would You Take a Vacation to Space

What to do: Use evidence from the article to support each side of this debate. Write the information on a separate sheet of paper.

Yes 
Bring on the adventure!

1.

2.

3.

No
Space travel isn’t for me.

1.

2.

3.

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Higher Level: Are Space Vacations a Good Idea?

Read or print a 800L-900L version of this article in magazine view.

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Lower Level: Are Space Vacations a Good Idea?

Read or print a 500L-600L version of this article in magazine view.

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