by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

For eight years, they thundered aloft in cramped Russian spacecraft from a former Soviet spaceport in Kazakhstan, battling bureaucracy and gravity to blaze a trail across the heavens and redefine what it meant to be a space traveler. No longer would access to orbit be limited to highly trained astronauts chosen on merit and working on behalf of their nations; instead, space would be open to any sufficiently healthy people with enough money and moxie to qualify.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

Democratization has a set of fundamental elements to it. It involves giving the people the power to choose their leaders. It means making a political system accountable to those people. It’s creating a government and culture that respect the freedoms laid out in the First Amendment: speech, assembly, religion, press and the right to peacefully petition the government for change. It’s not just changing how the government operates, but how the society functions.

The last thing I ever expected democratization to include are joy rides into space by millionaires and billionaires. But, that’s what NewSpace spinmeisters would have us believe as space tourism returns this year after a 12-year hiatus. They really should stop.

A top Russian space official has warned not to expect a resumption of space tourist flights to the International Space Station any time soon. Russia’s Roscosmos state corporation has no plans to send space tourists to the country’s segment of the International Space Station (ISS) before 2020, Roscosmos deputy director general for international cooperation told Sputnik in an interview. “As for sending tourists to the Russian segment of the ISS, […]

Full Committee Hearing Mars Flyby 2021: The First Deep Space Mission for the Orion and Space Launch System? 2318 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515Feb 27, 2014 10:00am Witnesses Dr. Scott Pace, Director of the Space Policy Institute, George Washington University General Lester Lyles (ret.), Independent Aerospace Consultant and former Chairman of the Committee on “Rationale and Goals of the U.S. Civil Space Program” established by the National Academies […]

Credit: Inspiration Mars

Dennis Tito’s trail balloon for NASA to devote about $700 million to help his foundation, Inspiration Mars, send two astronauts around Mars in 2018 has landed with a thud. An official response from NASA’s Public Affairs Office included this curt dismissal:

Inspiration Mars’ proposed schedule is a significant challenge due to life support systems, space radiation response, habitats, and the human psychology of being in a small spacecraft for over 500 days. The agency is willing to share technical and programmatic expertise with Inspiration Mars, but is unable to commit to sharing expenses with them.

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Hey everyone. We’ve got a new poll up about Inspiration Mars. We’re asking whether NASA should refocus its work on Space Launch System and Orion to support Dennis Tito’s ambitious plans to send two astronauts around the Red Planet.  NASA would need to spend about $700 million to support the mission, which would cost about $1 billion overall. Please cast your ballot today! Remember: vote early. Vote often. Just vote, […]

Mojave Air and Space Port General Manager and CEO Stu Witt will testify along with space tourist and Inspiration Mars Chairman Dennis Tito at a House Space Subcommittee hearing concerning commercial space on Wednesday. Patricia Cooper, president of the Satellite Industry Association, will join Witt and Tito on the hearing’s second panel. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), whose district includes the Mojave spaceport, will be on the first panel. The hearing […]

BOULDER, Colo. (Mars Society PR) – Today during the 16^th Annual International Mars Society Convention, the Mars Society announced the launch of an international engineering competition for student teams to propose design concepts for the architecture of the Inspiration Mars mission.  The contest is open to university engineering student teams from anywhere in the world.

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Dennis Tito’s Inspiration Mars press conference will be webcast on Wednesday, Feb. 27, at 1 p.m. EST. You can sign up to view the announcement here. The multi-millionaire former NASA engineer turned investment guru is expected to announce a human Mars mission that would launch in January 2018. Other participants in the press conference include: Miles O’Brien, moderator Taber MacCallum, chief executive officer and chief technology officer of Paragon Space […]

In January 2018, a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will roar off a launch pad carrying the most ambitious human space mission since Apollo 11 nearly 50 years earlier. Two crew members in a heavily modified Dragon spacecraft would break Earth orbit on a 501-day round-trip fly-by of Mars.

This privately-led mission will be unveiled next Wednesday at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., by the Inspiration Mars Foundation, a non-profit group chaired by former NASA engineer and space tourist Dennis Tito.

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