Well ahead of the 33rd century Star Wars’ setting, many are jumping aboard with opportunities in space exploration. A Kickstarter project raised 1.5 million to launch its public telescope, the ARKYD 100. PayPal is working on establishing the most accepted form of payment in space. Russia is leaning towards accommodations, and manned bases. NASA is looking into the idea of robotic lunar landing. Space tourism may only be an option for the wealthy at this point, but will grow more reasonable with each step we advance.
The ARKYD telescope is meant to detect asteroids that can be mined for water and precious metals. There will be multiple telescopes launched for this purpose, but the one funded through Kickstarter will be available to the public. The launch is set for 2015. Just send your request to their team, and they’ll aim the telescope and snap some shots. Planetary Resources is the company behind the ARKYD, and if you’re wondering what’s behind the name ARKYD, they were the droid suppliers in Star Wars. (ARKYD: A Space Telescope For Everyone, 2013)
Visa may take you everywhere you want to be on earth, but PayPal is looking to be payment of choice for space tourists. With our advancements in space travel, a day will come when you need to pick up a few items in the hotel gift shop that you forgot at home. For the ladies, metal bikinis are a must, especially if your man is insistent on carrying a light saber on your space vacation. The galactic credits standard is PayPal galactic, don’t leave home without it.
Before there can be a hotel gift shop, there must be a hotel. Russia has a plan in the works to put the first cosmic hotel in orbit by 2016. The hotel can accommodate up to 7 people for stays that range from 3 days to 6 months. If you’re a fan of personal hygiene, you may want to hold off on booking this getaway as it’s a hotel with no showers. For an individual to undertake the process of checking-in, they may need to complete a three month training depending what type of ship they arrive on. (Lam, 2011) The room rates have not yet been released, but keep in mind the tickets to space have dropped from $20 Million to $250 thousand per person.
NASA is looking at the technology of robotic lunar landing. This could help make commercial moon landing a possibility in the near future. A robot on earth is currently being controlled from the International Space Station. This experiment is one of the first steps towards accomplishing the control of robots by remote on the moon. This test leads into another, which will be human-robot interaction. (David, 2013)
Most tourist destinations come with a standard greeting. In Hawaii, we have “aloha!” In France, we say “Bonjour!” With so many new innovations in space exploration, our standard greeting in space is soon to become, “May the force be with you.”
Works Cited
ARKYD: A Space Telescope For Everyone. (2013, May 29). Retrieved July 3, 2013, from Kickstarter:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1458134548/arkyd-a-space-telescope-for-everyone-0
David, L. (2013, June 30). Astronaut In Space Drives Robot on Earth, a First. Retrieved July 3, 2013, from Space.com: http://www.space.com/21785-astronaut-drives-robot-from-space.html
Lam, T. (2011, August 18). Russians unviel space hotel. Retrieved July 3, 2013, from CNN :
http://travel.cnn.com/explorations/life/russians-unveil-space-hotel-678591
Solovyov, D. (2013, July 2). Russia loses $200 million satellites as launch ends in flames. Retrieved July 3, 2013, from Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/02/us-russia-space-rocket-idUSBRE96103W20130702
The Phantom Menace. (n.d.). Retrieved 02 July, 2013, from Destination Hollywood: http://www.destinationhollywood.com/movies/starwars/moviequotes_starwars1.shtml