Will space travel be realized in the future, and then everyone can travel?

Throughout human history, people have always dreamed of going to space. But it was not until the middle of the 20th century that we finally realized this dream. Nevertheless, until now, the choice of space travel is usually limited to a few well-trained astronauts-the rest of the world can only stand by and watch.

But will it always be like this?

Today, we will answer an unusual question: Will space travel finally come true? Are you a person who likes to get to the bottom of things? Will you always be curious?

The idea of space travel is as old as space flight itself. Shortly after the iconic 1969 landing on the moon, a space travel plan was born for entertainment rather than scientific research. But unfortunately, we didn't make much progress at first ... From the early days until recent decades, aviation technology is still new and improving for us. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (or any other space agency) cannot send anyone into space without an important and specific purpose. Space can only be used for research. It was not until the United States developed reusable spacecraft that the business of "space tourism" was improved and these spacecraft were sent into a more lasting and affordable prospect.

But soon, in 1986, the Challenger disaster reminded everyone of the risks and dangers involved in space flight. However, as time goes by, people find that these risks are different according to different flight types: suborbital flight, orbital flight or flight around the moon ... Among them, suborbital flight has less potential risks because it will not leave the earth's atmosphere. This is why many of the earliest space tourism plans, such as Virgin Galactic, put forward the sub-orbital flight project. In other words, through this project, very few people can go further. Explore deeper space than most space travel projects can promise at present, and it is purely for entertainment.

The first such "space tourist" in history was millionaire dennis tito. He flew to the International Space Station as a passenger in 200 1 year, and then stayed there for nearly 8 days. However, Ti Tuo's plane ticket cost him about $20 million ... which proves that at that time, his adventure was really not suitable for everyone. Since then, only six other people have the opportunity to buy such a ticket to distant space. They are all millionaires or billionaires, and they all went to heaven in Russian spaceships.

Generally speaking, although NASA is unwilling to spend too much on space tourism projects, in recent years, some private companies have entered the space industry, providing opportunities for space tourism.

Virgin Galactic of richard branson has sold hundreds of tickets for future space travel, which can take passengers into suborbital travel in the future. Virgin's spacecraft will reach more than 50 miles above the ground (this height is enough to enter the microgravity environment. Before landing and slow landing, passengers will stay away from the earth and get a shocking view of space. These experience tickets are now sold out, and it is reported that each ticket reaches $250,000.

Jeff Bezos of Amazon also entered the field of space travel through the blue origin plan as early as 2000. The blue origin project is very similar to Virgin's project. Passengers can enter the suborbital altitude by rocket, where they can experience a few minutes of weightlessness and shocking space vision. The difference is that passengers will return to Earth through parachutes and rockets will land without passengers in order to prepare for the next space trip.

In 20 19, Bezos announced the blue moon project: unmanned lunar lander, but this project is still under development. Blue Origin is still the leader of commercial space tourism. This may be the idea of Elon Musk's space exploration technology company, but it claims to be the most ambitious space travel plan. Because it will enter earth orbit, at least it plans to.

Many exciting things about space exploration technology companies focus on the #dearMoon mission. Japanese billionaire Tomoko Maezawa and some of his friends will spend a week in space on Musk's Falcon rocket. During this period, they will leave the earth's orbit, fly around the moon, and then return to Earth. Maezawa and his partners hope to complete this unprecedented flight by the end of 2023. Although the idea of Space Exploration Technology Company has attracted many skeptics, the successful flight will set a new benchmark for the space industry. If #dearMoon is successfully completed, we will skip the suborbital travel, quickly reach the earth orbit travel, and then take a big step across the domain to the moon-that is, transport people to the surface of the moon.

For many people, the prices of earth orbit travel and moon travel are definitely beyond their affordability, but suborbital travel is relatively much cheaper and becomes affordable.

Space will no longer be exclusive to the rich, but open to more people. As for railway travel (for people like Maezawa who want to travel long distances), the risk level will soar again. Any mission that leaves the earth's atmosphere-that is, any non-suborbital mission-is naturally much more dangerous because it needs to "re-enter the atmosphere." Re-entry into the earth's atmosphere requires precise control and handling to approach the correct angle and speed, so as to avoid your spacecraft catching fire or even completely missing the earth. Therefore, it is not surprising that no matter which company provides this service, it has to bear huge legal responsibilities. There are too many red tape, too many rules and regulations have not even been written. This seems to be one of the reasons why the space tourism plan takes so long to realize.

On the one hand, we have seen many positive technological developments, such as the invention of reusable rocket technology like Falcon 9, which can make space tourism easier and possibly cheaper. On the other hand, any company that wants to send brave people on earth to the moon (or anywhere else) needs to prove that the risk to human life is as low as possible. It is not easy! In view of this, people are looking for cheaper, more advanced and safer methods. Among the officially put forward ideas, building a space elevator is the most unique one.

It sounds like science fiction, but people think it is not impossible to achieve this feat-even it is reported that NASA thinks it is a feasible idea. Tokyo Dalin Company plans to build a 22,000-mile-long elevator column, which will extend from the earth's surface into space and connect with the orbiting space station. This innovative scheme will use centrifugal force to maintain stability and allow elevator pods to transport passengers up and down in transparent containers. When passengers climb higher and higher, they can enjoy the amazing scenery. Kakumichio, a famous theoretical physicist, even called this idea the Holy Grail of space exploration. Futurist Ian Pearson judged that before the end of this century, we have an 80% chance of having a space elevator.

It is understood that both China and Japan hope to achieve a launch and operation before 2050, so we can predict that one day in the future, becoming a space traveler may be as easy as taking an elevator. This time, we stand at the turning point of space travel again. At first, space travel was dominated by space agencies, followed by large private companies with more ambitious ideas. Up to now, running the project even means that space travel no longer needs traditional spacecraft. For a long time, the safety of space travelers has been considered extremely important, and safeguards are always set in this regard. But with the emergence of more and more new technologies, we can expect to get more chances of survival at lower cost. So, if you dream of seeing the earth from space one day, fasten your seat belt! Because that's why space travel is about to take off.

relevant knowledge

Aerospace is an aviation application that makes spacecraft fly into or through outer space, which can be divided into manned and unmanned. Most space travel is unmanned, and it is mainly done by spacecraft in near-earth orbit, such as satellites, and of course, space probes outside Earth orbit. The control of this kind of spacecraft is often completed by remote control robots or automatic control. Shortly after the successful launch of the first orbiting satellite, people carried out more complicated manned space exploration and successfully landed on the moon, especially after the opening of the space station, human beings appeared in space around the earth permanently. Manned space programs include Soyuz, Shenzhou, Apollo and Space Shuttle, and the International Space Station, which is the main destination of human space missions. The Tiangong Space Station in China is under construction.

Space exploration is a kind of outer space exploration using astronomy and space technology. Although most of them rely on astronomers to observe through astronomical telescopes, the detection of real physical space is still realized by unmanned robot space detectors and manned spacecraft. Space exploration, like classical astronomy, is one of the main sources of understanding space science.

FY: Son 7, Cao Lei, the stars in the sky, Avandia.