Space
Space. the Final Frontier. Ever since Yuri Gagarin's historical launch in 1961, man has been fascinated and enamored by space travel. It is often taunted as the ultimate destination. The explorer's Mt. Everest, the adventure traveler's holy grail. To date there are less than 450 people who've traveled in space and only two are commercial paying "space tourists" through Space Adventures.
Space is often defined as the line where the Earth's atmosphere ends. That line, according to international standards is defined to be 100 km or 62 miles above the Earth's atmosphere. To put it in a different perspective, it is the altitude where an object will remain in orbit briefly before air molecules in the upper atmosphere drag it back to Earth.
Between 1962-1968, seven air force pilots earned their Air Force Astronaut wings flying in the X-15 aircraft to heights over 80km. These were the first attempts at human spaceflight using jet-powered aircraft. Almost simultaneously, the first US manned space program started with Allan Sheppard's flight reaching 186.4 km. opening up a new era of space travel.
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Today, there are three spacecrafts that can bring humans to space: the U.S. Space Shuttle, the Russian Soyuz and the recently launched Chinese Shenzhou spacecraft. These vehicles normally fly to lower-Earth orbit about 130 km (81 miles) above the Earth's surface. The Space Adventures orbital spaceflight program uses the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle to visit the ISS. The International Space Station orbits at about 240 miles above.
In the near future, privately owned sub-orbital vehicles will be available for flights to 62 miles above the Earth's atmosphere. These vehicles reach space and follow a parabolic arc but do not achieve orbital velocity. These sub-orbital flights can be booked through Space Adventures' sub-orbital spaceflight program.
