How much would you pay to go into space?

I suppose I should clarify that because going to space can be anywhere from a few minutes

of orbital hop to a multi-month stay at the hotel ISS.

So let's say orbital, three days, small capsule.

There's a bathroom, but otherwise no privacy.

You'll have to undergo weeks of rigorous training and meet stringent physical and emotional

requirements.

It will be uncomfortable, and you may permanently damage your body.

But you would get to see the entire Earth held before you in your gaze. You just might transform your entire outlook on life and humanity.

You can briefly look down on all of us peons from your orbital vantage point.

And for the rest of your life, you get to say you've been to space,

which is pretty awesome. How much would you pay? Well, that question is fast becoming a reality

for many people with the continued rise in space tourism, which is wildly enough a thing

in humanity.

So I'd like to take some time this episode to look at space tourism, go through a brief

history, look at some major selling points, and some not-so-great sides to it.

And then we can decide if any amount of money is worth going into space for, and if anyone should bother doing it at all.

So let's start with the history.

The wonderful world of space tourism is generally regarded to begin in 2001 when an American

business dude named Dennis Tito paid a cool 20 mil to the company Space Adventures.

And Space Adventures act like a middleman.

Originally, they were working with the Russian Space Agency to send people up to Mir,

...