RE: [Popular STEM] Curating the Internet: STEM digest for May 1, 2021
Space tourism is closest to me.
I remember the cheerful face of the first space tourist, Dennis Tito.
And he ushered in the era of space tourism.
These are mostly rich people, billionaires, who can pay for their flight. However, it is unnecessary to think that this is just entertainment, all the tourists performed certain tasks and conducted scientific experiments. This means that it preceded the flight by serious days of preparation. All tourists undergo a medical examination, spend many hours on special simulators that simulate weightlessness. In 2021, they plan the next flight of space tourists with the possibility of meeting the new year on board the ship in the company of experienced cosmonauts. And yes, the head of X Space is the well-known Elon Musk.
I knew the first Kazakh cosmonaut Toktar Aubakirov personally. We met in the Caucasus in 1986, when we went skiing together on Mount Cheget.
Back then, he was an ordinary fighter pilot. But already enrolled him in the cosmonaut squad.
@remlaps, thank you for your interesting post.
Thank you for the reply! I also remember when Tito went on the 2001 mission. It's hard to believe that was 20 years ago now. And you make a good point that the "tourists" participate in the mission experiments too. I didn't think about it until reading your comment, but sadly, it could almost be argued that the first space tourist was Christa McAuliffe in 1986. I was a freshman in college, and I'll never forget watching the Challenger explosion over and over in my college dorm.
What a cool story about skiing with Toktar Aubakirov. Thank you for telling it.