The Commercial Space Industry

The idea of space tourism basically began in 1998 with the founding of Space Adventures. It has developed from being just a concept about self-funded people being able to travel into space into an actual experience, assuming you can afford it. So far, self-funded individuals have traveled over 36 million miles and have spent approximately three cumulative months in space (Lawrence, 2016). One of the biggest hurdles of this industry is financially. Most people are not able to spend 20 million dollars to take a 10 day vacation into space. Another big hurdle has been the regulations of space travel. There are not many regulations about the individuals traveling themselves, but most of the concerns are about protecting the general public. Even through these struggles, the industry has successfully sent individuals to space and is currently working on developing a space frontier for more individuals to travel to.

The regulations for commercial space were created in the mid 1980s, by the Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984. These regulations were created to protect the general public, mainly during the launching and re-entry portions of travel. The majority of the regulations pertain to launching: what you can launch, how far people must be away from that site, launch registration, and etc (GPO, 2016). I believe that the regulations should be more strict; however, they are good for now to allow for the industry to continue growing without being constantly pressured. Once space travel becomes more affordable and popular then it should be more regulated.

With today's technology, I believe that self-funded individuals will be able to travel to the moon; however, I don't think that it will happen in the next decade. In the next 10 years, I think that more individuals will be able to travel into space for a much cheaper price than the 20 million dollars it costs now. Eventually, I believe that space travel will be accessible to the general public but it will probably take 10-15 years for the prices to come down to a reasonable amount. This means that it will be more of an expensive vacation rather than being a once in a lifetime, bucket list opportunity.

To work in the space industry as a pilot is very similar to the requirements for becoming a civilian or military pilot. You need to be able to pass a flight physical, which includes distant visual acuity of 20/100 or better uncorrected, or 20/20 corrected, blood pressure of maximum of 140/90 while sitting down, and between 62 and 75 inches tall (NASA, 2004). In addition to the physical test, it is also required that an applicant has at least 1,000 jet PIC time. It is also preferred that they have some flight  test experience as well. Lastly, it is required that one needs a Bachelor's degree from an accredited university in one of the following areas: engineering, biological or physical science, or mathematics. Not only is the quality of the degree important, but it is also preferred that one has an advanced degree as well.

References:

GPO. (2016, October 18). Electronic Code of Federal Regulations: Title 14. U.S. Government
       Publishing Office. Retrieved from http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?
       gp=&SID=1f58495405665a030c05e44bca5a8591&mc=true&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title14/14chapter
       III.tpl

Lawrence, J. (2016, January 7). A Beautiful Planet. Space Adventures, Ltd. Retrieved from
       http://www.spaceadventures.com

NASA. (2004, January 29). Astronaut Requirements: Commander and Pilot Astronaut Duties.
       NASA. Retrieved from http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/postsecondary/features
       /F_Astronaut_Requirements.html