Post by glactus on Feb 24, 2008 10:36:33 GMT
Prototype drawing of the space hotel.
Seeking an out-of-this-world travel destination? Outer space will rocket into reality as “the” getaway of this century, according to researchers at the University of Delaware and the University of Rome La Sapienza. In fact, the “final frontier” could begin showing up in travel guides by 2010, they predict.
With the Earth under attack from a myriad of environmental impacts, including climate change concerns and pollution, outer space is the next viable frontier to explore and make longtime plans for. “While there are global policies to be determined relating to private ventures in space, the technology to make space travel safer and cheaper is moving forward.”
DeMicco and Silvia Ciccarelli, a geoeconomist who was a recent visiting scholar at UD, co-wrote “Outer Space as a New Frontier for Hospitality and Tourism,” which is in review for an upcoming issue of the Hospitality Educator. Ciccarelli is a consultant to the Italian Association of Aerospace Industries.
“Passengers will enter a world that only astronauts and cosmonauts have experienced--the acceleration of a rocket launch, weightlessness, and a spectacular view of the Earth,” Ciccarelli says.
While short excursions into outer space may be on the itinerary in the near term, a “space port” currently is being built in Las Cruces, New Mexico, with support from Virgin Galactic and other companies, and hoteliers are scoping out new locations some 238,000 miles above--on the moon.
"Lunar hotels are now being planned,”
credits:
This article has been adapted from materials provided by the University of Delaware.
This is part text only. See image, full text and all scientists involved at sciencedaily.com
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080222095432.htm
image credit: Shimizu Corporation, Tokyo, Japan)