High-Tech Tourism
Visiting the space station
Approximate cost per trip:
$20 million (add $15 million for
the spacewalk)
Riding in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, well-heeled individuals can
now play astronaut and visit the International Space Station 250
miles above Earth. Soon they will also be able to suit up and take a
spacewalk around the station lasting up to one-and-a-half hours. The
10-day trip requires months of training alongside actual astronauts,
and some health risks are involved: prolonged weightlessness can
wreak havoc on the body, and the long-term effects of space
radiation remain unclear. But that hasn't lessened interest among
the superrich, four of whom have already taken the trip.