positive space travel

18 Biggest Advantages and Disadvantages of Space Exploration

President Donald Trump announced his desire in 2018 to create a sixth branch of the U.S. military that he colloquially called the Space Force. Although Congress has yet to act on this desire to take the armed forces beyond the atmosphere of our planet, in February 2019, Trump signed Space Policy Directive 4 to have these forces organize underneath the umbrella of the U.S. Air Force.

The directive formally allows the Air Force to organize, train, and equip a corps of military space personnel for actions that take place in space. “Today I’m thrilled to sign a new order taking the next step to create the United States Space Force,” Trump said during the signing ceremony. “It’s so important. When you look at defense, when you look at all of the other aspects of where the world will be some day. I mean, this is the beginning. This is a very important process.”

The initial version of the Space Force will be overseen by a civilian undersecretary and a four-star general serving as the Chief of Staff. Although this structure is not as ambitious as having a separate branch of the military, space exploration experts feel like this is a step in the right direction.

The pros and cons of exploring space are complex simply because we have limited knowledge of what lies beyond our solar system. There are still mysteries to discover about our own planet! These are the key points to consider when we begin to look at what life might look like in the vastness of space.

List of the Pros of Space Exploration

1. It is an opportunity which is available to anyone. If you have a telescope, then you have an opportunity to start exploring space. For more than 300 years, we have looked to the stars with this technology as a way to learn more about our planet and ourselves as a species. When the Hubble space telescope was launched in 1990, it gave us our first views without atmospheric interference on what the vastness of our universe was like.

With millions of images taken and tens of thousands of papers written based on the observations made from simple telescope technologies, we have learned more about the structure of our universe, its age, and the composition of our solar system in the last 20 years than our ancestors would have ever dreamed was possible.

2. It gives us an opportunity to foster genuine cooperation. Because we are a world of nation states, the investments that we make in space exploration tend to have a patriotic feeling to them. Some efforts in this scientific area are still nationally-based, but for most projects there is a spirit of cooperation between the countries of the world who have made this realm of science a top priority. We work together as the human race to operate the international space station, fund research projects, and look outward beyond the stars to see what is there. It is one of the few areas in our lives today where we set aside our boundaries to work together toward a common good.

3. It is an effort which requires us to become innovative. The 100-year Starship Program has the ultimate goal of creating a technology that will allow us to explore space. No idea is off-limits with this project. What we have found in our quest to achieve specific goals in this area of science is that there are numerous discoveries which become possible to improve our lives here at home. Everything from athletic shoes to water purification systems came about because of our push to look beyond our planet. By tackling the technological needs to stay safe in space, we can make life better for everyone down on our planet at the same time.

4. It is an opportunity to explore something new. Although there are still regions of our planet that we rarely study because of technology limitations, the vastness of the universe is a much more significant prize. Only the Voyager spacecraft have gone beyond the first boundaries of our solar system. The information they provide us nearly four decades after their launch continues to enlighten our knowledge of the universe. There are so many unanswered questions when we think about space, especially now that scientists can determine which stars have planets orbiting around them.

Is there life somewhere else in the universe? If so, would those beings look like us? There are numerous technological barriers we must cross before we could travel for long distances in the vacuum of space, but we are getting one step closer every day.

5. It creates numerous employment opportunities in a variety of fields. There are more than 18,000 people employed in the United States by NASA, along with countless contractors, freelancers, and specialists not counted in those figures. The private company SpaceX provides about 7,000 full-time high-skill positions that support the economy. Then there are the astronauts, engineers, and flight specialists who manage the actual mechanisms of space flight to consider.

Numerous indirect employment opportunities are possible because of our efforts at space exploration too. We need caterers, designers, nutritionists, personal trainers, astronomers, scientists, and many other positions to support these activities. Even though the budget for NASA is $21 billion for FY 2020, the economic returns can be five times greater because of these activities.

6. It allows us to understand our planet better. When we can observe the full scale of our planet from a high orbital position, then we can see changes that are not always possible from the ground. It gives us a way to track the changes to our environment, study ozone depletion, and measure the impacts of a warming planet. We can provide accurate prediction models for weather patterns, observe troop movements, and install safety equipment that guards against an attack. When we take full advantage of this benefit, it becomes possible to create a place in the universe that is healthier for many years to come.

7. It gives us a new perspective on our place in the universe. It took several centuries for the scientific world (back by religious zealots) to accept the fact that the Earth was not the center of the universe. When we saw that first picture from a distance of what our planet looks like from a distant point in our solar system, it became clear to see that a small, pale blue dot in the middle of the vastness of our universe puts our daily issues into a new perspective. Until we discover otherwise, this is the only home that we have. It is up to each of us to share resources, reduce conflict, and work toward a common good.

8. It allows us to identify potential dangers before they strike. The asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars is only one source for these deadly rocks in our solar system. There may even be threats that travel through the universe to interact with our region of space from time-to-time. It would only take one significant impact to change life on our planet forever, which is why space exploration makes threat identification a top priority. If we can locate and move threatening asteroids or comets before they threaten an impact, we could stop the apocalypse before it ever gets a chance to begin.

9. It would give us access to new minerals, precious metals, and other useful items. Thanks to the asteroids which occasionally make it to the surface of our planet, we know that many of them contain iron and carbon. We also know that there is nickel, cobalt, silicon, magnesium, calcium, and several other elements present. Some might have water or oxygen contained beneath their surface. There may even be gold, platinum, and other precious metals there. We might even discover something that we’ve never encountered before.

Space exploration gives us an opportunity to access new mineral resources, allowing for the privatization of this venture. It would also give us an opportunity to start building in space because the raw materials are easy to haul and transport.

10. It gives us an opportunity to see what lies beyond in the final frontier. Unless circumstances change somehow, there will come a point in time when our species will outgrow our planet. We must begin to look for colonization opportunities in our solar system and beyond to help support the future of our race. As our scientific and technological discoveries begin to open up opportunities to visit distant stars, we can start to discover even more mysteries that will help us to answer the meaningful questions in life.

11. It could change our approach to medicine. Discovering new organic elements in space could help us to discover cures for some of our worst diseases. We really don’t know what is possible in our universe beyond the scope of basic physics. There could be untold treasures just waiting beyond our solar system to discover. Although there is always an element of risk to any exploration venture, there are great rewards often waiting for those who embrace their courage to start pressing forward. At the rate of development that we’ve seen in the 21st century, we could be looking at a very different human race in our children’s lifetimes based on the possibilities of discovery.

List of the Cons of Space Exploration

1. It could cause us harm or provide harm to other species in space. We know from experience what happens when one group of humans comes into contact with another group after generations of isolation. The diseases that transferred back and forth between Europe and the New World devastated some cultures. There were times that smallpox would kill over 90% of the local population by itself. If we encounter life on a different planet (or if they visit us), the threat of disease transmission is real. Their viruses, bacteria, and potentially unknown invaders could do as much damage to us as we could to do them. First contact would be an exciting experience, but it could also be a deadly one even though no one has any ill intent toward the other.

2. It creates high-level pollution events. We must consume fossil fuels when we launch rockets into space, which means we’re creating a significant level of pollution every time we expend fuel for exploration purposes. Even on a light load, it costs about $300,000 to fuel a rocket. Larger models could hold a half-million gallons of fuel that would be used during an entire mission. That means we are creating roughly 4 million pounds of carbon pollution with every action that we take to reach space. Then we must find a way to place these fuels safely into orbit to make our exploration efforts useful, creating even further potential problems for our atmosphere.

3. It gives us more ways to be paranoid about what others are doing. There are only five treaties which currently govern how we operate in space. Our original goal as the human race was to make it so that no one could claim a territory in orbit or our solar system that could give one nation a distinctive advantage. The creation of a Space Force could work to upset the balance that we’ve worked to create for the last 50 years. We’re already using satellites to spy on one another, monitor communications networks, and potentially target cities with weapons.

This paranoia will only increase as we push further into the stars. The only real solution to this disadvantage is to start thinking of ourselves as a planetary nation instead of one that is built on nation-states alone.

4. It will create a large amount of garbage that we must manage. Did you know that NASA tracks over a half-million pieces of space junk that orbits our planet right now? Unless we physically remove these items in some way, this garbage will linger until it falls into our atmosphere to burn up. Every item we leave behind creates a future risk for someone else. If we are going to start exploring space, then we must begin to look at ways to clean up our act before we get going. It’s bad enough that we’ve polluted our oceans with microplastics. Should a spaceship encounter that debris, it could be a deadly experience.

5. it may cause our planet to face unknown perils. A common theme in many science-fiction novels, shows, and movies is the idea that an alien race is hostile towards us. It is widely believed that water may be one of the scarcest commodities in the universe, but here we are with a planet that is more than 70% water. If we start venturing out beyond our solar system, it is entirely possible that we could encounter a species who decides that our resources are ripe for the taking. We assume that an advanced culture who could invent real-time space travel would be peaceful, but there are no guarantees. Exploring space could become an invitation for interstellar war.

6. It will always entail risk. Human beings were not meant to be in the vacuum of space. We must wear extensive protective gear to survive those conditions. Even one small leak or crack in a helmet or suit would be enough to create an adverse health condition. This issue applies to the planetary environments which we know of right now as well. Then there are the health issues to consider when the human body experiences a lack of gravity for an extended time.

NASA studied identical twins Scott and Mark Kelly when Scott took a long trip to space. Scientists monitored their bodies to see how being in a weightless environment could change the physical chemistry of a person. They discovered that genomic instability occurs, including gene expression changes, and spending a year in that environment caused a thickening of the carotid artery, DNA damage, and reduced cognitive abilities.

7. It is expensive to start exploring space. Even though the budget for NASA has not changed that much in recent years, we are spending about $200 billion per decade on our current space exploration efforts. Privatization of the industry has helped to reduce some costs, especially as SpaceX continues to work on a recoverable rocket. When you add in the costs from other countries and their space programs, our planet spends about $60 billion per year on this effort. In comparison, the United Nations suggests that it would only take half of that amount to end global hunger permanently. Should exploring space be our top priority if we’re struggling to take care of ourselves here at home?

When we examine these space exploration pros and cons, there is a certain nobleness to the idea of seeking what lies beyond the next horizon. Our society was built on the desire to explore the planet where we live. Now our culture has the itch to start pushing beyond the next boundary. Whether that means we colonize the moon, establish a community on Mars, or push toward Alpha Centauri, there is something waiting to be discovered. We’re closer than ever before to finding out what that might be.

Everything you need to know about ZED travel

Non-rev travel is the best job perk in the world. How can you not love the ability to jump on a flight whenever your airline has an open seat available ? Surely it would take years to visit every destination that your airline flies to, but you might eventually feel limited by your own network. 

Fear not, fellow nonrev! Today, we dive into the world of ZED travel where your standby privileges extend to other airlines besides your own (some that you have never even heard of before). 

What is ZED travel?

ZED, short for Zonal Employee Discount , is a set of agreements between hundreds of partner airlines that allow their employees to book discounted plane tickets on each other’s aircraft.

Put simply, an airline employee (and sometimes their guests) can buy discounted tickets on another airline as long as the two airlines have a ZED agreement in place. 

ZED ticket fares are broken into three fare buckets (Low, Medium, and High) to determine how large the discount will be. Depending on the agreements your airline has in place, these ZED tickets can be either standby or positive-space seating. For most U.S.-based airline employees, you can expect your ZED tickets to be NRSA only.

Why should you look for ZED fares?

So now that you know what ZED fares are, it is important to understand why you may need to utilize this type of ticket when traveling.

There are two main reasons why a non-rev might elect to book a ZED ticket on another airline:

• The airport they are heading to/from is not served by their own airline so they need to fly on a different airline to reach their destination
• The airport they are heading to/from does not have any open seats on their own airline so they need to fly on a different airline to secure a seat

My very first ZED flight was a fifth-freedom flight from SCL to EZE on Air Canada while I was hopping around South America on a wine-tasting trip. I have also had the pleasure of flying legs on Iberia & Alaska to visit airports that I couldn’t get to on my own airline. US-based non-revs can take solace in the fact that many international airlines don’t oversell their flights, so open seats can be easier to come by.

No matter how large your airline’s route map is, ZED travel opens up a world of new possibilities for non-rev travelers. 

Which airlines have ZED agreements?

As of January 2021 , ZED MIBA reported a total of 222 member companies (with an additional 37 partial partners) in their network. Virtually every large- & mid-size airline around the world is connected by some sort of ZED agreement.

It is important to remember that being a member airline is just the first step. As an employee (or non-rev passrider), you will also need to confirm whether or not your airline has a bilateral agreement in place with any other airline you are considering flying with.

For example: Frontier Airlines has a very unique set of established agreements when compared with airlines like Southwest or American. A Frontier employee will have very different ZED options in their portal when compared with the airlines available to a Southwest employee.

Your airline should have a section in the employee site that clearly spells out which airlines are bookable in your ZED portal.

Where can I book ZED tickets?

Every airline has a different process for employees who want to book ZED fares. There is no one-size-fits-all solution here.

MyIDTravel is one of the most popular tools that airlines use for their ZED agreements. Many airlines still use this portal to allow their employees to buy ZED tickets. This is the service that my airline uses to support leisure travel on other airlines.

ID90Travel , a service that provides interline discounts to airline employees, recently added a ZED flight listing tool to their own app. A smaller number of airlines currently have agreements in place with this app, but it has a nicer interface (and more accurate flight load data) than myIDTravel.

Check your airline’s ZED travel policies to understand which website(s) are available to you.

How do I know if there will be an available seat on my ZED flight?

Both MyIDTravel & ID90Travel display recent load factor information. This helps users determine the likelihood of getting a space-available seat assignment.

Each of these portals displays the information in different ways. Here is a quick breakdown to help you better understand the information shared:

MyIDTravel , the most prevalent booking portal for ZED ticketing, uses a smiley face system to rate how open or full a flight is:

• Happy Green Face : flight loads are wide open
• Serious Yellow Face : there are some seats available
• Sad Red Face : there are little to no seats available

However, MyIDTravel’s smiley system is notoriously clunky. The good news is the site also allows you to see how many seats are available in each fare bucket. 

In general, airline fare classes fall under the following categories that you can see in the MyIDTravel screenshot below:

• Economy : Y , B, H, K, M, L, V, S, N, Q, O  
• Business : J , C, D, I,  Z
• First : F , R, A

In practice, most ZED travelers are really only worried about the bolded “Y” fare. Y is the industry standard for economy/coach class tickets. Since most ZED agreements default to space-available bookings in economy, the number of seats available in Y should give you an idea of if there are open seats.

Using this Iberia flight as an example, I can see that this LHR-MAD flight has at least 9 seats available in economy. MyIDTravel never plugs a double-digit number in this field, so we can interpret “Y9” to mean “there are 9+ seats available in economy class”.

MyIDTravel does not show users the standby list for each flight, but I would feel confident that I would get a seat assignment on this Iberia flight based on this screenshot. 

I D90Travel uses a different approach with their app-based interface. Instead of giving you a peek into the number of seats available by fare class, their app provides an estimated range of available seats in economy.

The below example shows a United ORD-IAH flight that has “5% or fewer [seats] available” in economy class. ID90Travel also provides a link to show you the Stand-by List (although I have never found this feature to populate data).

How much do ZED tickets cost?

The ZED agreement negotiated between your airline & the airline you want to fly determines the price you will pay for your ticket. ZED pricing is split into three fare tiers: low, medium, and high. ZED Low fare is your cheapest option and is often reserved for alliance/strategic airline partners.

Additionally, ZED tickets are priced by segment. A nonstop JFK-MAD ticket is cheaper than a JFK-MAD routing with a DUB layover (assuming both tickets are priced within the same ZED fare bucket).

After taking the ZED fare bucket, the airline’s base fare & any taxes/fees (like those imposed by governments or airports) determine your ticket price. For reference, a one-way ZED Medium ticket from the west coast of the US to Europe currently costs no more than $200. 

Seasoned non-rev travelers may know that there is open proposal to update the ZED ticketing buckets with 2 new “super” fare classes:

• Super Low Fare : 25% less than ZED Low fare
• Super High Fare : 125%-250% cost of MT fare (increases on a scale of flight segment length)

These ZED fares were proposed in early 2021, so keep an eye out on these in the future.

How do I travel once I have purchased a ZED ticket?

Because every airline has unique ticketing & listing policies, it is important to look up the latest info on http://www.flyzed.info/ each time you want to travel. In addition to the FlyZED site (which is updated by individual airlines), your own employee portal may have airline-specific guidelines as well.

In my experience, getting ticketed is just the first step. Making your actual flight listing may require an online (or in-person) check-in process. Here are a few examples from my ZED travel adventures:

• Iberia (MAD-GRX): I booked my ZED ticket through MyIDTravel and presented my e-ticket number to the IB ticket counter in Madrid where I was immediately assigned a confirmed boarding pass.
• Alaska Airlines ( SJC -DAL): I booked my ZED ticket through MyIDTravel and checked in at the ticket counter to receive my standby boarding pass.
• Air Canada (SCL-EZE): I booked my ZED ticket through MyIDTravel and presented my e-ticket number to the AC ticket counter in Santiago where I was handed a standby boarding pass.

Make sure to read your ticketing airline’s directions carefully so you don’t miss a step! 

Final Thoughts on ZED Travel

ZED travel is an amazing way to expand your non-rev possibilities. Whether you want to travel to an international destination that isn’t in your airline’s network or just need an alternative route because your own flight filled up, ZED travel gives non-revs a ton of flexibility.

Learning your own airline’s rules & policies can take some time, so it’s no wonder that ZED travel is intimidating. Don’t let that discourage you from trying! If you need additional help, the airline’s ticket counter staff are a wonderful resource. Just make sure to announce that you are an airline employee who wants to list on a ZED fare so they know exactly what you need!

Have you flown on a ZED fare before? Let us know what tips & tricks you have for fellow airline employees who want to take their first ZED flight!

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68 thoughts on “Everything you need to know about ZED travel”

As you mentioned on MyIDTravel in case it displats “Y9” there 9+ seats available….would this be the same logic used for Business Class Zed tickets as well?

Exactly right! For business class, you will want to check the J fare class. “J9” would indicate that there are at least 9 open seats in business class.

do you happen to know what XC means through southwest?

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Which zed airlines offer business or first class listings?

It depends on what agreements your airline has signed other other carriers, so it will vary for a lot of people. That said, we have heard plenty of stories of nonrevs getting upgraded by crew after boarding!

If there are business open seats can you ask for that seat or do you just go where the ticket agent places you?

how about Southwest X9? 9+ seats?

Hey Scott at SWA the X class of service is our non-revenue class. Like a companion pass ticket in which someone just pays the taxes.

If there is an option on ID90 to list for 1st class and coach can you list for both and get a refund on the one you don’t use?

i am American airline employee, booked ticket on Turkish airline through myIDTravel. It says no listing required on Turkish Airline, first come first serve on the day of travel at Turkish airline counter at the airport. When I showed my ticket Turkish employee told me there is no information in their computer. I showed them my booking on myIDtravel but still they could not found it. Later they handover to their supervisor and he printed my boarding pass. On the way back at Istanbul I faced same problem and after talked to many related people they said they don’t have any information. I have to come back so I bought full price ticked at the airport. I called american airlines and they told me my booking is good and it is in AA system, while Turkish airlines said there is nothing.

Do you have any idea why it happened and how to solve this problem in future.

This one is easy. Sabre does not generate a pnr in the unique TK CRS. Once you have your ticket issued , all you need is the ticket number. In Istanbul there is a special counter for staff travel.In smaller airports approach the more knowledgeable staff at the business class counter. Once you give them the ticket number , The agent builds the TK pnr right there and issues the boarding pass.That is why there is no listing with TK and the PNR used to issue your AA 001 ticket is a ghost PNR which does not generate a PNR with TK. Good luck next time!

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Hello, I would like to know the actual costs an airline has to pay to be part of myID service and how they can be part of it. The current company I work for has no such agreement and I wondered how they could apply. Thank you

For 1 st coupon -no seats, i bought a tkt for this segm. Can i use 2 nd coupon with OK status of 1 st coupon? Thank You

What ZED fare should I purchase for standby on premium economy on LX. I checked the availability and there is only few business class seats left but plenty premium economy seats are available. Should I purchase ZED business or should I purchase ZED economy?

Hi there. What is the best way to handle exceeding baggage weight limits with ZED? I am flying DFW-EZE-AEP-PSS with AA on the international and AR on the intra-Argentina flight. My 2 bags will not meet the 1 bag 33 pound request. Any help to forego a huge fee?

Hi could you advise if you can raise a baggage claim on a ZED fare my bags went to DFW and we weren’t able to board the flight due to loads ! AA are refusing the claim as a ZED fare but we didn’t get bags for 3 days so stuck in LAS with no luggage and needed essential items? Any advice would be great thanks !

Hi. I’m an IATA member airline retired person. Does any airlines gives zed ticket for employees children.

Southwest X9 what does this mean?

Can my children, age 19-22, travel by themselves on a ZED fare?

Hi, I am retired from an airline . I have a question. I have a son age us 23 years old. I could get ZED ticket from other airlines for my son . But this year because of get 23 years old his rights finished. My question is if my single brother or sister has rights to get ticket from other airlines without any age of limitation. Why my son not rights to have ZED ticket. It doesn’t make sence . And is there any airlines give ticket over 23 years old son or daughter. If you answer my question I’ll be appreciated.

question regarding proposed change to zed fare buckets. I’m with ua and present we have zl with several carriers that allow us to purchase business zed fares at a higher rate. Would those rates dramatically increase under the 2 bucket proposal?

Hello, I am allowed to book ticket in business class. Would I get refund of fare difference if I end up travelling in economy due to lack of availability?

Is Philippine airline standby policy first come per serve?

If we have purchased a Zed standby ticket, but don’t make the flight due to loads, is it possible to be refunded the ZED fare? (DL employee looking to Zed on UA out of Munich)

Yes! You should always get a refund for a ZED fare that you were unable to fly on due to flight loads.

Can we expect ZED fares to increase once the new 2 tiered system. I’m with UA and they said the ZED fare purchasing system would be down Oct 19-20 while they update it.

How do you cancel a Zed fare on ID Travel with KLM ?

Did anyone figure out the XC code on Southwest?

Hello, I will be flying ZED on China airlines from LAX to TPE. There are no coach seats open but plenty in economy Plus. Will they allow me to sit in economy plus or will they just not board me and fly the trip with empty seats in economy plus. What do airline normally do in these cases would be helpful hint as to what they will do.

Thanks Art Anderson

I am interested in traveling on Ethiopian Airlines. Next to seats available there is an N. I have also noticed on Turkish next to seats available there is an R. No other information is available. Does anyone have an explanation?

I am looking into flying via ID90 on AA from PHL to PLS. There are two non-stop flights 2 hours apart (0830 & 1030). If I list for the 0830 flight and it is full, can the ticket agent slip my pass to the 1030 flight? Or do I have to purchase two tickets and later seek a refund for the flight I did not take? Thank you.

I am retired staff with ZED ticket try to travel from DAC to DFW on QR but at ck-in counter DAC could not find my ticket number and finally bought full fare ticket. I don’t know what happened at DAC Airport. My outbound DFW-DAC on QR without any issue.

Hello, does anyone know how does the reservable ZED tickets work? Are you still on sby or do you get a full reserve. Thanks.

does the employee always need to travel in order for the companion partner or parents to fly? Or they the employee just get a ticket for them without employee flying. Thank you

The answer to this will vary from airline to airline. For example, my parents can fly ZED without me being with them.

Does anyone know what happens to a ZED fare if you book it, pay for it and then you end up leaving your airline? Do you lose the ZED booking?

If the flight is full will the agent roll the ZED non-rev ticket holder over to the next available flight or does this require a separate ticket for the next flight. Thanks

When traveling on Zed tickets what is my boarding priority code when using Silver Airways??? I am an AA employee traveling with spouse and children.

You’re right about TK……..PNR is worthless to them, but ticket number makes it all happen. Question……….their N followed by a number is always BOLD and their Y followed by a number (usually 9) is always un-BOLD. EX: Y9 N3 (BOLD). Which one is the more reliable number? In fact N is always BOLD on every myidtravel inquiry and always has a 1,2,3 number despite green smiley face, Thanks.

When we tried to fly to Honolulu from LAX we had trouble getting on the flights because they were all booked up, and all the nonrev were taken! Each flight had only one seat available, and my partner was not going to leave me (while pregnant), and I wasn’t going to leave him, since he needed me to book the flights for us (That’s what I call love, folks). Three days of waiting in an airport and I finally reached out my company’s travel expert who gave us this beauty of a trick: fly to a less popular destination on, and try an airline with bigger planes. So, we booked a flight through Hawaiian to Maui and took an island hopper to Honolulu. So, sometimes the quickest way to your destination is going to a different location first.

This is a great tip! Always keep an eye out for other airlines or airports if the nonstop flights don’t look good. Stringing together a standby trip on multiple airlines can be intimidating, but ZED agreements can offer you exponentially more options to get to/from your destination.

Hola ! puede volar un acompañante solo con los boletos Zed ?

Hello, how can I fly with ZED with my husband and his service dog? He has a medical condition, that requires him to have SVAN, will this be an issue withing ZED ?

I always wonder which airline does the upgrade for interlines. Is there such list. I have checked with my own airline (canadian airline) and none of that is existent. any 3rd party website such as this?

Whether or not you can get upgraded during interline travel will often depend on your specific airline’s agreement with each OAL. I wish I had a better answer, but your best bet is to check your airline’s policies.

Before how many days of travel, can I make the zed fare ticket. Suppose I make now for after 20 days and by that time the gets full. would the airline give me seat

Hello! Regardless of how far in advance you book your ZED far ticket, seats won’t be assigned to anyone on the standby priority list until the day of the flight.

Hi, I was checking Turkish ticket from HKG to IST, the loading page is an orange face and shows Y9, N0. In the Zed agreement i read TK economy class is N, so does it means it give no seat to ID travel even the flight is not full? Or I can still get the seat if the flight if the flight really not full?

Thanks a lot

Both Y & N are economy fare classes, so my guess is that you would receive a seat assignment on that flight (assuming no other changes) even if the N bucket happened to be full.

can i book zed once at the gate?

Have any having issue in booking flight on TK thru myidportal…. they keep rejecting my CC saying “Name Or Surname” mismatch

Is there a limited number times you can use ZED fares/interline?

How do you purchase a Zed Fare on Qatar. It is on the list of Zed airlines, but says you have to purchase a ticket for your flight first. Is there anywhere to get clarification.

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Interline Staff Travel Agreement – where can I get latest version. The last one I saw was 2019

Question: in Interline Staff Travel Agreement (ISTA) did definition of a retiree recently changed? 2016 ISTA version says: Retiree – a former Employee of a Member or its SAF who has retired from permanent full-time or part-time service under the retirement program of that Member or its SAF. It does not have any details on retirement program restrictions.

Hi, how far in advance can I purchase a zed fare? Is 6 or 8 months too far?

In my experience, ZED fares cannot be purchased for departure dates that are more than 90 days into the future.

Hello I have ZED tickets for me and my buddy with IBERIA, but I can’t really make the flight. Can my Body still travel without me? or is she going to be denied because I am a no Show?

We will by flying into LHR on DL from the US, and plan on a ZED flight on BA, out the same day. Can we purchase ZED tickets prior to our departure from the US and print out standby boarding passes that allow us to go directly to our connecting terminal without having to go through ticketing?

I see you and others mentioned “positive space” ZED tickets as a possibility, but no agreements mention positive space. I’m with a major airline- MyIDTravel has a selection for “R2 Standby” or “Bookable”. Is bookable mean positive space. It leads to an empty page. Has anyone actually booked a discount positive space ticket on another airline, and if so, was it worth it?

When flying ZED how to they prioritize seat assignments? who bought first, checked in first? Or my company hire date?

what happens if you book zed fares in economy but there is no seat left. do i get upgraded to business there is 7 seats left? currently on the emirates flight from DXB to HAN, J7 and O2

Most OALs that I’ve flown with won’t upgrade ZED fares, but you can probably expect that some of the revenue pax will be upgraded to a higher cabin (and therefore opening up Y seats).

AA says zed fare travel to and from Cuba is restricted. Does that mean banned.?

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10 Benefits of Space Exploration. (Including Medical and Economical)

On April 12, 1961, the Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to journey to outer space. The age of space exploration started that day.

But why are we so interested in spending so much time, money, and resources to visit chunks of rock that are most likely empty? Why purposely go to environments that are dangerous and even deadly to humans?

Well, the answer is simple.

The benefits of space exploration outweigh the dangers of it. Becoming a space-faring civilization is the most important goal we must achieve for humanity to survive long-term .

In this article, we’ll the major 10 benefits of space exploration. These include medical, technological, and economic benefits. They are listed in no particular order of importance.

Economic benefits of space exploration

10. Creation of STEM Jobs

NASA employs more than 18,000 people. SpaceX more than 12,000. And that’s not counting outside contractors with whom those numbers at least double.

A lot of those jobs are positions for engineers, data analysts, mathematicians, physicists, astronomers, doctors, biologists, geologists, etc.

Space exploration is one of the industries that require the largest percentage of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) jobs.

These positions require highly qualified people to fill them but are also some of the highest-paid jobs in the market. The average entry-level STEM job pays approximately 26% higher than non-STEM fields for college graduates.

So, in summary, the growing space industry creates high-paying jobs.

9. Space mining and asteroid capturing

In space, there are many valuable resources in big quantities that are scarce on Earth. For example, the asteroid Pysche 16 is estimated to contain over $700 quintillion dollars worth of gold. Enough to give each person on Earth more than $100 billion dollars. And that’s not even close to being the most valuable object.

Economists have predicted the space mining industry will create the first trillionaire.

But the real benefit for the advancement of humankind might come from a much more unlikely substance. Water.

Learning to capture asteroids full of ice and crashing them safely, could help us solve one of the biggest challenges of inhabiting planets. The lack of liquid water.

8. Space tourism industry

The biggest dream some of us have is being able to take a trip to outer space. It is the ultimate destination. And because unfortunately, not many people can become astronauts, the rest of us will have to wait until the space tourism industry develops a bit more. It is still too expensive to go to space .

In 2021, a trip in one of the first trips offered by Blue Origin, the space company created by Jeff Bezos, was auctioned. The winner paid $28 million for the privilege to be one of the first space tourists.

As reusable rockets improve, the costs of these trips will become significantly lower. Hopefully one day they’ll be within the reach for all of us.

The space tourism industry will indubitably create tens of thousands of jobs. From travel agents to pilots, to manufacturing jobs in the factories that make the rockets.

Medical benefits of space exploration

7. Learning more about the human body

Studying the effects of space travel has helped us better understand the human body. For example, analyzing the effects of zero-gravity on blood circulation led to many discoveries on how arteries age and how to prevent some types of heart failure.

The experiments and measurements of bone strength and bone loss in astronauts have helped doctors better understand osteoporosis and other bone diseases.

The medical benefits of space exploration extend to pretty much every area of the human body. From muscle physiology to mental health.

6. Improving medical assistance in remote areas

One of the biggest challenges of space travel is solving problems when you can’t send any new equipment, experts, or any other help. You have to fix things with whatever is available on the ship.

So what happens when there’s a medical emergency on a spaceship?

This question has led doctors and engineers to develop tools and machines that can perform medical procedures and diagnostics remotely.

That same technology has many applications on Earth too. It allows doctors to assist patients that are located in remote rural areas or villages that are difficult to access.

5. Development of new medical procedures

All this knowledge that has been collected has yielded many developments in medical procedures.

Some examples of medical advancements that have been created thanks to space exploration are:

• Heart pumps
• Programmable pacemakers
• Fiber-optic catheters to perform laser angioplasty
• Digital imaging breast biopsy used to detect breast cancer
• Fetus monitoring transmitters
• Cooling suits made to lower a person’s temperature

The NASA spinoff site keeps track of some of the health and medicine advancements that have been made possible thanks to space exploration.

Other benefits of space exploration

4. development of new technologies.

The space race is one of the eras that has birthed the most technological advancements in the shortest period of time. It is probably only third behind both world wars. Throughout the years, companies have found consumer uses for many of these developments. To this day we still use them in our day-to-day lives without even knowing that some NASA engineers originally developed them for the Apollo program that took humankind to the Moon.

Listing all the technologies that have been derived from space exploration would be impossible, but here are some notable examples.

• Vacuum sealed food.
• Shock-absorbing sneaker soles. That’s right, the comfy running soles were originally developed for astronaut spacesuits.
• Fireproof materials used in firefighter uniforms
• Quake-proofing technology used in bridges and buildings to resist Earthquakes
• Heat-repellent blankets. There’s a reason why they are also known as “space blankets”. Fun fact, they can also double as DIY telescope covers.
• Rechargeable hearing aids
• Autonomous drone navigation
• Modern vacuum cleaners
• The lenses used in “action cameras”
• Water purification technology

As you can see, it is important for us to keep pushing the limits of space exploration. Who knows what kind of new technologies could be developed that will make our lives easier in the future.

3. Inspire the next generation

Space exploration sparks the curiosity of children who will become the next Elon Musk, Neil Armstrong, Sally Ride, or Guion Bluford.

It inspires students to dream and gets them interested in science and technology.

Not only is this good for them as STEM jobs can secure them a comfortably future, but it also helps humanity. It is through invention, research, and knowledge that humanity will be able to overcome the big challenges it will be facing in the future.

2. Protecting Earth

We only have one planet where we can live without the help of spacesuits. It would be nice to keep it in good condition until we can figure out a way to find other habitable planets or terraform others.

To do that, we need to learn more about the dangers of space. We know about extinction events like asteroids, but that’s not the only potential threat to our survival. Solar flares, radiation, magnetic pole changes, and greenhouse effects are just some of the challenges Earth might face at some point.

Exploring space is the only way we will learn more about them so we can develop strategies and technology that could help save us from such events.

1. Increase humanity’s odds of survival

There’s one thing we are certain of about when it comes to space. If we – humanity – don’t become a space-faring civilization. We will become extinct sooner or later.

Earth will eventually become uninhabitable and will probably be devoured by the Sun as it expands during the later years of its life cycle. And that’s hoping nothing else happens before, like an asteroid impact, an ice age, atmospheric loss, climate change, or any other potential threats that could wipe us out, to put it bluntly.

Space exploration is not a luxury for the richest nations. It should be a worldwide priority and every country needs to come together in this effort. It is simply the only way we can hope to survive as a species.

We don’t know if we have millions of years or hundreds of years before any of these events happen. So it’s better to get started today.

• Space exploration can be the doorway to many growth industries such as asteroid mining or space tourism.
• Many medical advancements have been made possible thanks to the aerospace industry.
• Space exploration is critical and the only path to the survival of the human race.

Elena is a Canadian journalist and researcher. She has been looking at the sky for years and hopes to introduce more people to the wonderful hobby that is astronomy.

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Putting our minds to space travel

By sarah wells | january 2021, virgin galactic is getting ready to send its first paying customers to the fringes of space. nasa and european space leaders are talking about establishing a moon village for scientists, miners and tourists. elon musk famously wants to establish colonies on mars. what kind of psychological training will people need for these and other bold endeavors sarah wells spoke to psychologists and a space travel veteran to find out..

As the rockets underneath the Soyuz TMA-9 capsule began to warm and hum in anticipation of liftoff, Anousheh Ansari remembers feeling eerily calm. It wasn’t until the capsule had torn through Earth’s atmosphere and reached orbit that Ansari began to cry.

“It was overwhelming and a rush of emotions — excitement, extreme joy and wonder took over — and I went from crying to laughing to crying to laughing.”

Unlike the cosmonaut crewmates grasping her hands during liftoff, Ansari, who is now the CEO of X-Prize Foundation, had not spent years training for her flight. She made the journey to the International Space Station in 2006 after just six months of training and securing a $20 million ticket. She was the world’s fourth “space tourist.”

At the time, Ansari’s and other missions in the early 2000s looked like the start of a bright future for space tourism, but 14 years later that dream has yet to come to fruition, due in part to technical setbacks.

Now, suborbital flight companies Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic are closing in on sending the first paying customers on jaunts to the fringes of space, developments that could serve as a springboard to even bolder space tourism endeavors, such as the orbital tourism plans of SpaceX and Axiom Space.

Courage and money alone are not all that these pioneering space tourists will need for these first flights and the journeys to orbit and deep space that could follow. They’ll need varying degrees of psychological preparation not only for safety but to get the most out of the hundreds of thousands of dollars they’ll spend on the experience.

“Psychological adjustment in many ways is harder to identify and can be something that people try to keep to themselves,” says space psychologist Raphael Rose, associate director of the Anxiety and Depression Research Center at the University of California, Los Angeles. For space travel, “psychological and physical preparedness are equally important,” he says.

With the chance to visit space — or even just graze the top of Earth’s atmosphere — comes an opportunity many wait a lifetime for, though the experience won’t be without its mental challenges.

For professional astronauts, such as the astronaut corps of NASA and the European Space Agency, tension can spring from the pressure to complete mission tasks as well as the reality of being confined in a cramped space with others for extended periods.

Astronauts sometimes release tension in the form of terse exchanges with ground control as a tactic to avert tension with fellow crew members during missions that can run days, weeks or months, says psychiatrist Nick Kanas, who has spent decades studying the impacts of spaceflight for NASA, and is now an emeritus professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco.

For tourists on suborbital flights, Kanas expects that kind of tension to be minimal to nonexistent, given the brevity of the experiences. Blue Origin’s proposed time in the capsule will clock in at 41 minutes, including 30 minutes of boarding time and four minutes of weightlessness, while Virgin Galactic’s is approximately 1.5 hours with a similar amount of weightless time. At its worst, customers might feel like they are stuck in an elevator with work colleagues for an hour. This is a discomfort that Kanas suggests could be easily tolerated.

That said, with customers paying up to $250,000 for the experience of weightlessness and the view of Earth from an altitude of about 100 kilometers, a wild card remains the reactions of those customers should a mission not unfold exactly as planned. For example, last month’s Virgin Galactic suborbital test flight was cut short moments after the release of the VSS Unity spaceplane from the WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft, when Unity’s flight computer lost its data connection to its hybrid rocket motor, prompting the computer to end the ignition sequence. The two pilots maneuvered Unity for a glided landing at Spaceport America in New Mexico.

Ideally, customers would be prepared enough through their training programs to adapt to any changing circumstances, but Kanas says that there’s always a risk — albeit rare — in space travel of having a negative reaction.

“You’re worried about somebody reacting with maybe palpitations or heart pressures, a heart attack of some kind or stroke [or] becoming acutely psychotic,” says Kanas. However, these are concerns associated more with orbital flights, which are further from reality, and are conditions that would hopefully be discovered by a psychological screening before the customer ever left Earth.

Also, tourists won’t have the stress of operating the vehicle. Rather, they’ll have to be comfortable trusting their fates to automated software. Unlike Ansari, who was involved in the ascent and descent procedure of her flight and completed science experiments on the ISS, suborbital tourists will just be along for the ride. Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital rocket and capsule would complete flights autonomously, and instead of pilots onboard with passengers, ground controllers would intervene should the need arise. For a slightly more human touch, Virgin Galactic’s Unity will be operated by two professional pilots.

Orbital experiences would be a different matter. Such flights would not necessarily take tourists much higher than suborbital flights, but by going faster, 28,000 kilometers per hour versus 6,000 kph for suborbital flights, orbit could be maintained for days or weeks. Customers on those flights may include academics or visiting scientists who, like Ansari, would have a little more work to do when they’ve reached their final destination, such as Axiom Space’s proposed space station.

Kanas is still not too concerned about the mental impact of these longer flights, but he does stress that mental preparation — in addition to physical preparation — will be even more important during such flights to ensure tourists remain calm for the duration.

Mentally training

As far as I could learn, orbital tourism companies do not yet have concrete training plans, although Space Adventures, the spaceflight company that will run SpaceX’s orbital tourism programs, does say its training will likely be a few weeks long, and Axiom Space estimates its at 15 weeks. Kanas speculates that these programs may be scaled back versions of what NASA astronauts experience before flying to the ISS.

Tom Jones, a former NASA astronaut who spent a total of 53 days in space, tells me that when he was training for his space shuttle flights in the mid-1990s the crew spent extensive time training together in stress-inducing scenarios, like wilderness exploration, in order to learn how to work together in trying times.

“If you find out somebody has the personality where they become self-centered or withdrawn, it’s important to find that out back here on Earth in an analog situation so that you don’t send the person up to space for six months where they make life miserable for everybody else,” says Jones.

This preparation is why in the past 20 years of sending astronauts to ISS, the number of times an astronaut has exhibited such behavior can be counted on one hand.

A modified version of this NASA training might last a matter of weeks, just as Space Adventures and Axiom are planning. Training for suborbital flights would be much shorter. Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin have both clocked their training programs between two and three days. The exact preparation of each program varies but generally includes physical training in the form of zero-gravity experiences and familiarization with the cabin and automated procedures.

Virgin Galactic also plans to give its customers comprehensive medical evaluations to identify vulnerabilities that might put them or others at risk during the flight, which may include conditions like claustrophobia or poor stress management. But whether these conditions would ultimately disqualify tourists from flying is not yet certain.

Kanas speculates that space tourism companies will have softer guidelines when it comes to psychological screening than do government space programs. Instead of potentially grounding someone with bipolar disorder because they may have had a manic episode in the past, Kanas suggests that participants with otherwise disqualifying psychological disorders could be given care plans to follow that would ensure their safety and that of others on the excursion.

As a result, Kanas believes the risk of seriously causing harm to fellow tourists out of ignorance of zero-gravity procedures or poor stress management is unlikely for short suborbital flights.

If a passenger were to go rogue and attempt to, for example, pry open the spacecraft door, those actions still won’t put other tourists in harm’s way. Virgin Galactic tells me that because of pressure created against the spacecraft’s plug door, the term also applied to the doors on commercial airliners, it isn’t possible to open the spacecraft midflight.

Beyond orbital flight

Space tourists in the next five to 10 years will not be straying too far from home, but if the plans of government leaders and entrepreneurs come to fruition over the next 20, 50 or 100 years, the space tourism playground would expand far beyond Earth’s orbit. Both ESA and NASA have announced their concepts for establishing a Moon Village in the next decade that would function as a mining base and potential tourist destination, and — who knows? — maybe 200 years from now as a retirement destination for those who want to try low-gravity golf. In the far term, Elon Musk tweets regularly about establishing colonies on Mars with transportation provided by his Starship spacecraft, versions of which SpaceX engineers are building and flying at the company’s test site in Boca Chica, Texas.

And while today’s space tourists are unlikely to experience much psychological distress on their short trips, with longer flights such as a seven-month journey to Mars comes the heightened risk for negative psychological effects, such as depression, as a result of extended social isolation and loneliness, explains space psychologist Rose. For the past 12 years, Rose has conducted research with NASA on stress, resilience and behavioral health and is principal investigator on two ongoing NASA projects, one titled “Asynchronous Behavioral Health Treatment Techniques.”

Developing a therapeutic plan that can work even with the communications latency of deep space will be crucial for the well-being of these explorers, says Rose.

“We developed a stress management resilience training program that autonomously trains people to develop a tool set of skills they can use to deal with stressful situations,” explains Rose. He defines resilience as “a rebound and recovery” from stress, “not an elimination of stress.”

During these longer trips, Rose says individuals must be provided with tactics for managing their own stress when professional counselors can’t be on hand to help. Crew bonding activities will help, but connections must somehow be maintained with family and friends, perhaps through memories, when communications with Earth become intermittent.

“Thinking about their family or other things in their community that provide meaning to them can help them feel more connected,” Rose says.

Rose imagines that someday artificial intelligence and virtual reality software might simulate a traveler’s home and generate realistic and interactive projections of loved ones that they could communicate with. Solutions like this won’t eradicate the potential stress of the situation, but they can provide a better way to cope with it.

“Stressful reactions to stressful situations is expected,” says Rose. “There isn’t a magical way to do something that’s challenging and not feel stress — that’s not a bad sign. It’s more about how you cope with these situations that make a difference.”

Positive effects of space travel

Space tourists who have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for a once-in-a-lifetime experience will likely want to maximize the positive psychological effects of this foray to space. In fact, Loretta Whitesides, the wife of Virgin Galactic Chief Space Officer George T. Whitesides and author of the book “The New Right Stuff: Using Space to Bring out the Best in You,” believes that someone who pays to go to space can return a new person. Whitesides herself is a “founder astronaut” at Virgin Galactic, meaning she will be one of the first several participants to ride in Unity when commercial service begins.

In her space training and consultation program, SpaceKind, Whitesides coaches space industry professionals about how to embrace vulnerability, humility and integrity in order to bring their best selves to their future space travels. Whitesides believes that leaving your personal baggage at home is crucial to fully experiencing the beauty of space and the fragility of Earth. Astronauts have widely described looking down on Earth as a spiritual and unique experience that transformed them into more charitable versions of themselves upon return.

This “overview effect” is something that Ansari and Jones both say they experienced during their travels.

“Being in space has made me feel the interconnectedness of us human beings with each other and our planet,” says Ansari. “As the world shrunk in front of my eyes in my ascent to orbit, so did the problems of the world. This new perspective has made me more hopeful than ever that we can solve the problems that seem so big and overwhelming.”

In the future, Kanas muses that the overview effect may even be prescribed as a form of treatment for Earthly ennui, similar to a therapeutic retreat today.

Whitesides believes that creating the right mindset for space travelers to receive this experience can enable space tourists, professional astronauts and everyone in between to return home with a new mission to be more generous on both a personal and community level.

SpaceKind is not likely to be mandatory for space tourists, says Whitesides, but she believes that programs like these could be offered as a la carte options that tourists can choose to take for their own benefit.

“Most of them are so passionate about space — like a lot of my fellow ‘future astronauts’ at Virgin Galactic [who do extra training] because that’s what we like to do,” says Whitesides. “I’m counting on the customers to go even beyond what’s required.”

Where we are now

When it comes to preparing future space tourists for the mental and physical rigor of spaceflight, Kanas and Rose say that the No. 1 mindset that must be imparted on trainees is a sense of familiarity with the spacecraft and mission plan, as well as assurance of its safety.

This is something that Virgin Galactic is focusing on heavily in its Astronaut Readiness Program in which its ticketed future astronauts will gain detailed information about Unity, even down to its sounds and smells. Separate from SpaceKind, this three-day program was announced in 2019 and is led by former NASA engineer Beth Moses.

The company also announced a contract with NASA last year to develop a separate “private orbital astronaut readiness program” to help NASA meet its goal of increasing commercial use of the ISS by finding and training private spaceflight participants.

Ultimately, says Kanas, regardless of what these training programs entail, this industry is going to continue expanding. Where space travel exists, there will never be a shortage of space tourists.

“There’s always some population that’s willing to do anything, so I don’t think that’s going to slow down things,” says Kanas. He says it is more a question of “the technology of getting this thing up safely and get it back down again.”

Staff reporter Cat Hofacker contributed to this report.

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About Sarah Wells

Sarah is a science and technology journalist based in Boston interested in how innovation and research intersect with our daily lives. She has written for a number of national publications and covers innovation news at Inverse.

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Explained: Why You Can't Board A Flight After The Gate Closes

Why no us operator has ever flown the airbus a380, 5 reasons why low-cost carriers aren't that bad.

Travel perks are one of the most frequently cited reasons for working in the airline industry. With access to an airline's route network , standby travel makes the world much more accessible for airline employees and their immediate families. This article will focus on some of the nuances of standby travel and interesting considerations when traveling without a confirmed seat.

Non-rev or deadhead?

It's important to differentiate non-revenue personal travel from business travel. When crew flies for work ( whether positioning to fly or to commute to training ), pilots and flight attendants are considered "deadheaders." Work travel seats are confirmed in advance of the flight. This type of travel is known within the industry as "space-positive ticketing." Non-revenue travel only applies to other-than-work travel. Every airline has unique protocols and rules governing non-rev travel, so this conversation is general rather than specific.

Boarding priority

A frequently asked question is whether pilots can advance the status of their friends and family when they non-rev. The simple answer is that a non-revenue traveler, whether an airline employee or a family member, will never take priority over a paying passenger. Revenue standby passengers were discussed in a previous article , and these passengers likewise take precedence over non-rev airline employees. Airlines will always ensure that paying passengers take priority over "space available" non-revs. Depending on the airline, employees and their families can list themselves for a flight using a higher-priority booking code. People with access to non-rev travel have limited high-priority bookings available, so they are used sparingly. This high-priority listing only places the non-rev traveler atop the non-rev standby list but does not supersede any paying passenger, including a revenue standby.

Nuances of non-rev travel

Pilots (and other airline employees) can list themselves for non-revenue travel on airlines other than their employer. This type of travel isn't totally "non-revenue" because a nominal fee is required. The cost of listing oneself on another airline depends on whether the airline is a member of the same alliance , the distance of the journey, and the taxes imposed by the carrier's home country. Flying on another airline tends to be an even riskier proposition than flying on one's own. Employees and family members of the host airline take priority over other airline employees. The caveat is that pilots and flight attendants are allowed to ride flight deck or cabin jump seats if they are the only available options. As another alternative, pilots can catch a ride on cargo carriers which usually provides a much better chance of getting a seat.

Regarding onboard service, flight attendants usually know who the non-rev travelers are. Flight attendants have passenger manifest lists or mobile devices that indicate who is in each seat on the aircraft. Though non-revs blend in, offering them meal service after the revenue-paying passengers is customary. Particularly in premium cabins, it's essential that individuals who have paid to be there can make selections first while every food and drink option is still available.

Want answers to more key questions in aviation? Check out the rest of our guides here .

Employees purchase tickets outright if they need to be somewhere. Unless a flight is wide-open, non-revenue flying is a gamble. Even when a flight has many available seats just hours before departure, the cancelation of an earlier flight between the city pair can completely change the viability of non-rev travel. Airline employees generally have discounted ticketing when buying a confirmed seat, making them revenue-paying passengers with the protections that a confirmed ticket provides.

Non-rev standby travel is a phenomenal perk. It certainly takes time for employees to understand the system due to its nuances and uncertainty. Still, non-revving is nevertheless one of the best advantages of a job in any industry. In fairness, non-revenue travelers will always be behind those who have paid their way aboard. After all, paying passengers is the reason airlines stay in business.

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1.29.22 – Positive Space Travel to Base for BOS, LGA and PHL Commuters

Saturday, January 29, 2022

Positive Space Travel to Base for BOS, LGA and PHL Commuters

The Company has notified APFA they will offer positive space confirmed travel for BOS, LGA, and PHL-based commuters, effective today, January 29th, through January 30th at 2359. This positive space travel to base is for trips or Reserve assignments and may only be booked on mainline American or wholly owned subsidiary (PSA, Piedmont & Envoy) flights.

Call the Crew Service Center at your base to book your confirmed seat. After hours, you may call Flight Service Daily Operations.

BOS, LGA & PHL Crew Service Center Contacts :

• BOS: 617-874-9275
• LGA:  718-476-4320/ JFK: 718-487-7882/83
• PHL:  610-362-4100

Daily Operations contact number: 682-315-7070

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APFA Headquarters 1004 West Euless Boulevard Euless, Texas 76040

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Home » Headspace: How Space Travel Affects Astronaut Mental Health

Headspace: How Space Travel Affects Astronaut Mental Health

Image collage created by David Dezell Turner.

The year was 1982. Cosmonaut Valentin Lebedev, about five months into his 211-day mission on the Salyut 7 space station, began to notice that as his time spent aboard the station grew longer, the state of his mental health grew worse. In his journal, he described counting the days until the mission was over, becoming increasingly irritable with his fellow crew members and mission control — even when they were just asking, “How do you feel?” — and even losing his desire to look out the window. Lebedev’s fight with depression called attention to the need for more research into how the experience of space travel affects astronauts psychologically (Potter, 2008). Although there have been considerable advancements in space exploration since Lebedev’s mission, our understanding of space psychology still has a long way to go. Dr. Tyler Moore, a psychiatrist who has worked with NASA, explained in an e-mail to the author [1], “The main things that need investigation are all behavioral aspects. We’re pretty well prepped when it comes to the engineering…but the biggest unknown with potential to cause mission failure is the human factor” (Moore, 2018). An astronaut struggling with a behavioral health issue could make a mistake that jeopardizes the success of the mission or even the lives of crewmates (Caddy, 2018).

A poor sleep cycle can be counterproductive for astronauts, whose tasks can include anything from conducting experiments to repairing satellites, and it can also be potentially damaging to an astronaut’s mental health.

One major way in which space travel affects astronauts’ mental health is by disrupting their sleep schedules, a phenomenon MIT research scientist Dr. Andrew Liu has studied extensively. According to Liu, “Once you go up into space, there won’t be the same 24-hour clock necessarily that you get here on Earth…. So without that you have to either [set a sleep schedule] artificially or figure out some way to kind of maintain and ensure that people get enough sleep” (Liu, 2018). Because of their orbit around the Earth, for each 24-hour Earth day, astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) see 16 sunrises and sunsets (NASA, 2018b). However, a drastic change in dark-light cycles isn’t the only cause of the disruption of astronaut sleep patterns; the other major culprit is the station’s artificial light. According to Liu, the artificial light on the station is largely made up of a specific wavelength of blue light. Unfortunately for the astronauts, “when you’re exposed to the blue light late at night, your body starts thinking, ‘Oh, you want to stay up later,’ so it tends to try and keep you up, so you don’t get the release of melatonin that helps you go to sleep….” (Television screens and computers also emit blue light, which is why watching these screens late at night can disrupt your sleep.) Liu also explains that people who consistently lose sleep tend to have decreased executive function, or the set of mental processes involving concentration and decision-making. When people consistently sleep fewer hours than needed, their performance on mental tests tends to decline, even though after a while they usually feel they have adjusted to the lack of sleep (Liu, 2018). A poor sleep cycle can be counterproductive for astronauts, whose tasks can include anything from conducting experiments to repairing satellites, and it can also be potentially damaging to an astronaut’s mental health. For example, when Valentin Lebedev was showing signs of depression, he also had a disorderly sleep schedule (Potter 2008). An astronaut suffering from a poor sleep cycle could also be potentially dangerous to the rest of the crew; for instance, an astronaut piloting a craft while sleep-deprived could end up putting his crewmates in peril.

However, when asked what aspect of space travel is potentially the most harmful to an astronaut’s mental health, Dr. Moore argues that it’s probably exposure to radiation. Earth’s atmosphere keeps us safe from most harmful radiation hurtling in from space. However, in space, astronauts have a higher chance of exposure to this radiation, which can cause radiation sickness or nervous system damage, and can even increase their chances of getting cancer (NASA, 2018a). Moore alludes to reports of astronauts “seeing ‘flashes’ while going to sleep,” which he says is likely due to particles “tearing through” their eyes and brains (Moore, 2018). Liu also explains that the effects of increased radiation exposure is one of the least understood dangers of longer missions: “The one wild card factor is probably radiation. Like, if there weren’t any radiation damage, you could probably get a good sense of how people would react to being on that mission and controlling their [blue] light exposure [for sleep].” (Liu, 2018). Since missions to Mars and beyond will be significantly longer than current space missions, the effects of radiation on astronauts require more research to be adequately understood.

Astronaut John Grunsfield’s work on the Hubble Space telescope is just one example of the many stressful tasks astronauts are expected to perform. (NASA, 2009)

In addition, outer space isn’t just a physically demanding environment, but a mentally and emotionally demanding one as well. Crew members are forced to live in a confined space, away from their families for long periods of time, and perform difficult tasks like satellite repairs with their work constantly examined by experts on earth. Sometimes the pressure gets to them; in the 1980s, Chinese payload specialist Taylor Wang threatened to not come back to earth after his experiment failed (NASA, 2016b; Morris, 2017). Other times, fear of the dangers of space can compromise a crew member; astronaut Harry Hartsfield said of a crewmate, “We had one payload specialist that became obsessed with the hatch. ‘You mean all I got to do is turn that handle and the hatch opens and all the air goes out?’ It was kind of scary…so we began to lock the hatch” (Morris, 2017). There was even report of an instance in which the entire crew of a mission might have shared the same delusion; in 1976, the Soviet Soyuz 21 mission had to be terminated after the crew complained of an awful smell. However, the cause of the smell was never found, and a recent NASA report proposed that the crew had simply imagined the smell (NASA, 2016b).

As nearly inhospitable as space is from a physiological health perspective, space itself may not be intrinsically dangerous to mental health (except for possibly radiation exposure). NASA psychiatrist Dr. Gary Beven asserts, “One misconception is a concern or theory that the spaceflight environment may be inherently harmful or hazardous, from a psychological standpoint…. Any previously reported behavioral health problems have appeared to occur because of common earthbound issues” (Inglis-Arkell, 2012). In fact, under two percent of medical issues reported on the 89 shuttle missions between 1981 and 1998 were due to behavioral health, while more than 40 percent were issues with adjusting to the lack of gravity (Morris, 2017). Beven also points out that these “earthbound issues” — such as having crew members with clashing personality types in a confined space — could have been the reason behind many of the psychological issues of the Mir and Salyut missions (Inglis-Arkell, 2012). For instance, tensions were reportedly running high between the cosmonauts of the Soyuz 21 mission to the Salyut 5 station – the same mission that was terminated after the crew reported a terrible smell (NASA, 2016b). Also, according to Beven, some NASA astronauts aboard the Mir space station struggled with depression and feelings of loneliness (Inglis-Arkell, 2012).

Surprisingly, some studies suggest space travel can actually be good for an astronaut’s mental well-being.

Surprisingly, some studies suggest space travel can actually be good for an astronaut’s mental well-being. In a 2007 study, psychiatric researchers Dr. Jennifer Ritsher, Dr. Nick Kanas, Dr. Eva Ilhe, and Stephanie Saylor conclude, based on a group of previously conducted surveys, that space missions provide an example of salutogenesis , a process in which people are positively impacted by having to adapt to a harsh and stressful environment. This same phenomenon happens to some individuals in similarly nigh-uninhabitable environments, such as researchers at polar stations or people who travel in submarines. Researchers measured the subjects’ stress levels before and after they adapted to their respective harsh environments, and the experience of adaptation actually seemed to reduce their stress levels. Surveys suggest that many astronauts undergo the same kind of adaptation (Ritsher, Kanas, Ihle, & Saylor, 2007). In one study, Ritsher, Ihle, and Kanas sent anonymous surveys to 175 astronauts; of the 39 who returned the survey, all reacted positively to the experience of spaceflight, leading the researchers to conclude that “being in space is a meaningful experience that makes an enduring positive impression on astronauts and cosmonauts” (Ihle, Ritsher, & Kanas, 2006).  The authors caution, however, that these conclusions “must be considered tentative given the small sample size and the potential for self-selection bias” (Ihle, Ritsher and Kanas, 2006).

Another survey of 54 astronauts reported that the “shared experience and excitement of space flight” helped improve their communication with both mission control and their fellow crewmates (Ritsher, Kanas, Ihle, & Saylor, 2007). Another team of researchers analyzed the memoirs of U.S. astronauts John Glenn, Gordon Cooper, “Buzz” Aldrin, and Michael Collins; the team noticed that all four astronauts reported that their experiences in space increased their spirituality (Suedfeld & Weiszbeck, 2004; Ritsher, Kanas, Ihle, & Saylor, 2007).

Surprisingly, one factor that likely contributes to this salutogenic effect is astronauts’ recognition and acceptance of the potential for danger. Retired astronaut Marsha Ivins explains, “We understand the danger involved in human spaceflight, and we accept the risk because we feel the reward of human space exploration is worth taking that risk.” She goes on to explain that even though training and spaceflight forces astronauts to spend years under intense pressure, “the experience overall is one of a mental high” (Ivins, 2019). Unfortunately, this emphasis on success under pressure can deter some astronauts from seeking psychiatric help when they need it; these astronauts may feel they can handle issues on their own and believe seeking psychiatric help indicates a weakness (Hylton, 2007). Still, according to NASA psychiatrist Gary Beven, astronauts aboard the ISS generally adapt to the environment after about six weeks, and many want to stay in space even longer. Beven maintains that “with six properly selected and well trained crew members in a relatively large living and working space, astronauts and cosmonauts truly thrive in such a spaceflight environment” (Inglis-Arkell, 2012).

Lebedev was struggling with depression after only seven months; a roundtrip mission to Mars would take about 18 months (Liu, 2018).

Despite some evidence of space travel promoting salutogenesis, however, the lack of data on the behavioral side of space psychology means that the positive and negative effects of space travel on behavioral health are still inadequately understood. Many of the studies exploring astronaut mental health have relatively small sample sizes, as research is limited by the number of people who have travelled to space (Ritsher, Kanas, Ihle, & Saylor, 2007). The lack of information available in the field of space psychology becomes an even more pressing issue when one considers the fact that we know even less about how astronauts will react to longer missions. Lebedev was struggling with depression after only seven months; a roundtrip mission to Mars would take about 18 months (Liu, 2018). Even Ritsher, Kanas, Ihle, and Saylor concede, “The level of stress is expected to be even higher on the planned expedition class missions to Mars. Therefore, the risk of negative mental health effects… is not negligible and poses a serious threat to mission success” (Ritsher, Kanas, Ihle, & Saylor, 2007). Understanding the nature and causes of these potential behavioral issues and creating measures to mitigate them is of the utmost importance if we want to send astronauts to Mars and beyond.

Fortunately, NASA is making efforts to decrease mental health risks for astronauts. A large portion of these efforts include designing realistic simulations of space missions here on Earth. In 2014, NASA debuted the Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA), a habitat at Johnson Space Center designed to simulate a variety of missions, including a journey to an asteroid. HERA replicates the isolation and confinement of space missions, as well as other aspects of life in space. Just as on a real mission, HERA “astronauts” adhere to strict sleep schedules and mainly consume freeze-dried foods. The crew is also kept in constant contact with mission control, but just as on an actual mission of this magnitude, communications suffer from a 10-minute delay (NASA, 2019; Mallonee, 2017). Missions can last for up to 45 days (NASA, 2019). Though HERA is not a perfect simulation — as HERA cannot, for instance, replicate microgravity — the habitat does have virtual reality helmets onboard, allowing the astronauts to simulate tasks such as piloting the craft and walking in space. The nine video cameras onboard and the biometric trackers worn by the participants allow NASA to constantly monitor the crew (Mallonee, 2017). HERA is just one of many analog missions helping NASA to better understand how the confinement and isolation of space travel affects astronauts psychologically (NASA, 2016a).

Potential astronauts are given training to strengthen skills that are imperative to mission success, such as conflict resolution, leadership, and stress management (Clay, 2016).

Furthermore, potential NASA astronauts are required to undergo extensive psychological evaluations and training to even be considered for the astronaut program (Lewis 2014; Clay 2016). The evaluation process begins with a preliminary set of interviews, followed by a set of psychiatric interviews. A psychiatrist examines applicants for factors that could potentially disqualify them, such as mental illness or even marital problems (Lewis, 2014). Applicants deemed to have the highest chances of having a behavioral emergency in space are disqualified. Astronaut candidates are also scored based on “personality, emotional stability, interviews, assessed performance in the field exercises, and family demands” to determine their suitability for space travel (NASA, 2016). In addition to these assessments, candidates must perform a series of field exercises at Johnson Space Center designed to replicate the conditions of a real mission (Lewis, 2014). Potential astronauts are given training to strengthen skills that are imperative to mission success, such as conflict resolution, leadership, and stress management (Clay, 2016). Since people can change over time, the psychiatric evaluation and training process is imperfect and can become less accurate as more time passes (NASA, 2016b). Nevertheless, thorough psychological evaluations are a necessity for the success of future missions and for minimizing mental health risks in space.

Mission crews also have medical countermeasures in case a behavioral emergency arises. On the space shuttle, medical kits contained medications for depression, psychosis, anxiety, insomnia, fatigue, pain, and space motion sickness. The current medical kit on the ISS includes two antidepressants, two antipsychotics, and two anxiolytics (to treat anxiety). (Unfortunately, there isn’t much data on how these drugs would affect a human body in microgravity.) Additionally, crew medical officers and flight surgeons have access to sedatives and physical restraints in the event that a crew member’s behavioral emergency threatens the safety of the rest of the crew (NASA, 2016b).

The International Space Station crew celebrating New Year’s together. (NASA, 2017)

Another way to decrease mental health risks is to increase the crew’s chances of undergoing a salutogenic experience (Ritsher, Kanas, Ihle, & Saylor,  2007), which is exactly why NASA has a Behavioral Health Team. The Behavioral Health Team tries to do everything it can to keep these spacebound astronauts feeling grounded, including remotely checking crew members’ behavioral health, consulting to help create safe work-rest schedules to prevent overworking, and working with clinical psychiatrists to provide aid should any mental health issues arise. They also encourage crew members’ families to make care packages (or they make some themselves), and they send them up to the International Space Station. A team of psychological support coordinators also helps astronauts video conference with their families. According to Beven, astronauts on the ISS are given “adequate sleep, healthy and good tasting food, exercise, meaningful work, leisure time, the availability of social and recreational events – music, movies, contact with family and friends – privacy, adequate space, and a supportive ground team” (Inglis-Arkell, 2012). Scientists are even looking into different kinds of lighting that will hopefully be less harmful to astronaut sleep patterns (Brainard, 2018). While the uncertainty concerning the psychological impacts of longer missions still remains, developments like these provide hope for maintaining the mental health of astronauts in future space travel.

Imagine the year 2032. A crew of NASA astronauts are about five months into their 18-month mission to Mars. The journey isn’t perfect, but everyone on this crew knows that they have extensive resources for emotional support if anything goes wrong. Space is enormously stressful, but they’re all braving it together. They’ll adapt. They’ll roll with the punches. And thanks to the hard work of space psychologists, all of them will be the better for it.

Brainard, G. C., & Lockley, S. W. (2018, November 8). Testing Solid State Lighting Countermeasures to Improve Circadian Adaptation, Sleep, and Performance During High Fidelity Analog and Flight Studies for the International Space Station. Retrieved July 22, 2019, from https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=2013

Caddy, B. (2018, July 09). The tech that could keep astronauts happy on their missions to the stars. TechRadar. Retrieved July 22, 2019, from https://www.techradar.com/news/the-tech-that-could-keep-astronauts-happy-on-their-missions-to-the-stars

Clay, R. (2016, September). 4 questions for Kelly Slack, PhD. Monitor on Pyschology, 47 (8). Retrieved July 21, 2019, from https://www.apa.org/monitor/2016/09/people-slack

Hylton, H. (2007, February 8). Why Astronauts Don’t Like Shrinks. Time. Retrieved July 22, 2019, from http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1587495,00.html

Ihle, E. C., Ritsher, J. B., & Kanas, N. (2006). Positive psychological outcomes of spaceflight: an empirical study. Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine , 77 (2), 93–101.

Ivins, M. (2017, March 29). What Hollywood Gets Wrong About Female Astronauts and the Reality of Space. Time. Retrieved July 21, 2019, from https://time.com/4716473/hollywood-misconceptions-about-female-astronauts-space/

Inglis-Arkell, E. (2012, December 11). What Does Space Travel Do to Your Mind? NASA’s Resident Psychiatrist Reveals All. Gizmodo. Retrieved July 22, 2019, from https://io9.gizmodo.com/5967408/what-does-space-travel-do-to-your-mind-nasas-resident-psychiatrist-reveals-all

Lewis, R. (2015, February 23). Behavioral Health. Retrieved July 22, 2019, from http://www.nasa.gov/content/behavioral-health

Lewis, T. (2014, August 12). The Right (Mental) Stuff: NASA Astronaut Psychology Revealed. Space.com . Retrieved July 21, 2019, from https://www.space.com/26799-nasa-astronauts-psychological-evaluation.html

Liu, A. (2018, December 4). Personal interview.

Mallonee, L. (2017, November 07). Spending 45 Days Inside a Fake Spaceship in the Name of Science. Wired. Retrieved July 21, 2019, from https://www.wired.com/story/nasa-hera-space-simulator-mission/

Moore, T. (2018, December 1). E-mail.

Morris, N. P. (2017, March 14). Mental Health in Outer Space. Retrieved December 1, 2018, from https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/mental-health-in-outer-space/

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (2016a, February 17). About Analog Missions. Retrieved July 21, 2019, from https://www.nasa.gov/analogs/what-are-analog-missions

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (2016b, April 11). Evidence Report: Risk of Adverse Cognitive or Behavioral Conditions and Psychiatric Disorders (Behavioral and psychiatric emergencies). Retrieved July 22, 2019, from https://humanresearchroadmap.nasa.gov/Evidence/reports/BMed.pdf

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (2018a, April 13). Why Space Radiation Matters. Retrieved July 22, 2019, from https://www.nasa.gov/analogs/nsrl/why-space-radiation-matters

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (2018b, April 27). International Space Station Facts and Figures. Retrieved July 22, 2019, from https://www.nasa.gov/feature/facts-and-figures

NASA. (2019, July). Human Research Program Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) Facility and Capabilities Information. Retrieved July 21, 2019, from https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/2019_hera_facility_capabilities_information.pdf

Potter, N. (2008, August 18). Feeling Low Up High: the Lonely Astronaut. Retrieved December 2, 2018, from https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=5588291&page=1

Ritsher, J. B., Kanas, N. A., Ihle, E. C., & Saylor, S. A. (2007). Psychological adaptation and salutogenesis in space: Lessons from a series of studies. Acta Astronautica , 60 (4), 336–340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2006.09.002

Serrano, A. (2007, February 06). Astronaut Nabbed In Bizarre Kidnap Plot. CBS News. Retrieved July 22, 2019, from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/astronaut-nabbed-in-bizarre-kidnap-plot/

Suedfeld, P., & Weiszbeck, T. (2004). The impact of outer space on inner space [Abstract].  Aviat Space Environ Med,75 (7). Retrieved July 22, 2019, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15267069 .

Image Citations

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (2009). A Week of Work on the Hubble Telescope [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_Feature_1355.html

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (2017). Astronauts celebrating New Year’s [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://www.space.com/35195-space-station-rings-in-2017.html

[1]The research for this article involved both primary and secondary sources. The author conducted an e-mail interview with psychiatrist Dr. Tyler Moore and a face-to-face interview with MIT research scientist Dr. Andrew Liu.

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David Dezell Turner

About the author

David Dezell Turner is a member of the class of 2022 majoring in aerospace engineering. He was born and raised in Iowa, like Peggy Whitson and Captain Kirk, which means he basically has space exploration (and corn) coursing through his veins. When he’s not studying, he’s serving as an ambassador for NASA’s Lucy Mission, singing in the MIT Gospel Choir, or drawing with an Etch-A-Sketch. Turner stumbled across the issue of astronaut mental health while researching spacesuits, and much to his surprise, what began as an assignment quickly became an issue he cared deeply about.

Subject: 21W.035 Berezin

Assignment: Investigative Article

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The Benefits and Drawbacks of Space Tourism – A 2021 Guide

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“Space travel is returning to where it started: with maverick pioneers dreaming of journeys to orbit and beyond, some carrying out rocket experiments in their own backyards. The rise of citizen astronauts has already begun.” Arthur C Clarke Forward to SpaceShipOne: An Illustrated History 2008

Since private individuals first started visiting the International Space Station (ISS) in 2001 via the Space Adventures company, the dream of being able to travel into space for the masses is slowly becoming closer to reality.

So far seven space tourists have gone into orbit on Russian Soyuz spacecraft for a week-long stay on the ISS 400km above the Earth and for the future that number will expand. During 2021 both Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic and Jeff Bezos of Blue Origin flew into sub-orbit “near-space”, with Branson reaching over 50 miles altitude in the “Unity” SpaceShipTwo vehicle and Bezos achieving over 62 miles height in the New Shepard capsule.

In the USA, 50 miles is the set definition of where “space” begins, whilst internationally it is considered to be at the 62 mile (100km) “Karman Line” height Others will be following as new orbital spacecraft come on-stream and the ticket price is gradually lowered.

In September 2021, Space X successfully flew the three-day “Inspiration 4” private orbital mission into Earth orbit. Paid for by the lead private astronaut Jared Isaacman, this $200m fund-raising and research flight sent four private astronauts, or “space participants” as some like to be called, into a 366 mile (590km) high orbit – this was well above the 250 mile (400km) orbiting height of the ISS.

Also, in late 2021 Blue Origin flew the actor William Shatner – “Captain Kirk” in the original Star Trek series – to sub-orbit space onboard the New Shepard rocket. This was followed by the “private astronaut” visit of Russian actress Yulia Peresild to the ISS on a Soyuz flight for movie filming –  for the future, US actor Tom Cruise has been mentioned as another possible visitor to the ISS for filming purposes.

The astronauts spent their time enjoying zero-g, fully experiencing the thrill of being in space and taking in the extraordinary views of the Earth through a glass-domed “cupola” positioned at the tip of their cone-shaped Crew Dragon spacecraft “Resilience”. One crew member, Hayley Arcenaux, at 29 yrs. old became the youngest US astronaut to go into space. The Crew Dragon spacecraft flew entirely automatically, although the crew and ground-control could have intervened if the flight was not proceeding nominally.

As the first purely private orbital spaceflight, this history-making mission has paved the way for future non-government-sponsored astronauts to go into space – it showed that normal “people in the street” can train for a few weeks, launch, and experience spaceflight safely. Similar to the way that the 1920-30s gradually saw the introduction of safer and more reliable airliner travel for ordinary citizens, so the coming decades will see an accelerating expansion of regular orbital “space tourism” with no essential requirement for outstanding fitness or advanced astronaut skills for the participants.

In the near future, thousands more private astronauts should be going into sub-orbital space too, traveling to 80-100km altitudes, via Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo spaceplanes and Blue Origin’s New Shepard rockets.

But what are the benefits and drawbacks of space tourism – is space tourism a good idea?

Significance of Space Tourism

A key benefit of space tourism is that it offers a new leisure industry service by meeting the pent-up demand of space travel for individuals. It allows aspiring private astronauts access to an “ultimate trip” beyond the Earth’s atmosphere – its economic and social consequences are comparable to those resulting from the development of civil jet airliners like the Boeing 747 which opened up mass and affordable international travel from the late 1960s.

Over sixty years of continuous human spaceflight, out of 7.3 billion people on the planet just over 600 have been into space. And apart from the seven Space Adventure “space participants”, almost all of these astronauts have been funded by governments as part of ongoing space program projects.

The 2002 book “Spaceflight Revolution” by David Ashford of Bristol Spaceplanes pointed out that the potential demand for human spaceflight is very large. He noted that market research in Japan and Canada in the late 1990s suggested that at that time approximately 7.5% of the industrialized population of the world apparently wanted to experience a spaceflight at least once in their lifetime. A resulting market demand estimate of at least one million space passengers flying per year could be concluded from those studies – this was assuming of course that this spaceflight could be affordable and was relatively safe.

The emerging new space vehicles , the Space-X Crew Dragon and the Boeing CST-100 Starliner for orbital access and the Virgin Galactic’s (VG) SpaceShipTwo (SS2) and Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft for suborbital flights, will soon provide a long-anticipated breakthrough for aspiring astronaut explorers, scientists, and private “space participants”.

Interested in learning to fly a microlight? Check out this article, here .

Why is Space Tourism Important?

Why do so many people want to travel into space and where does that desire come from? Are there advantages and disadvantages of space research?

Many believe that space travel is ingrained into the human psyche, as part of a natural desire to explore and find out more about our surroundings in the wider Cosmos.

The private astronaut Anousheh Ansari, who flew to the ISS on Soyuz TMA-9 via the Space Adventures company in 2006, describes in her book “My Dream of Stars” how as a child she would sleep out under the stars on family camping trips in Iran – from that point she became gripped by the fascination, wonder and deep desire of traveling into the Cosmos. 

The desire for the “overview effect” of seeing the beauty and significance of the planet from space drives many aspiring astronauts. Frank White coined this phrase in the 1980’s  – it applies to the many astronauts who have noted this emotion, which for some is a transformative experience….Beth Moses, suborbital astronaut and  Chief Astronaut Instructor at Virgin Galactic describes this, saying:“ The view is the star of the show”.

Whatever the individual reasons for a personal spaceflight experience, many believe that the benefits of space tourism will be strong – there will be a significant lowering of the cost of access to space, enabling a more rapid and viable human space exploration process and possible eventual colonization of parts of the Moon , Mars and the Solar System, with significant benefits to the world’s economy, as well as to science research and technological progress.

How Much Is a Ticket To Space?

In terms of future prices, the emerging sub-orbital flights available with Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin will cost about £200-300,000 a ticket. This is obviously a low figure when compared to the high costs of spaceflight offered by the early days of the space program approach that government space agencies have established.

Private orbital spaceflights will be much more expensive, but they are reducing over time. These will soon be available in future years via companies like Axiom and Space Adventures on the new 4-7 seat Space-X Crew Dragon, or 4-seat Boeing CST-100 Starliner orbital spacecraft, as well as via the current Russian 3-seat Soyuz capsules.

Looking at space tourism facts and costs, the early orbital ticket prices in the 2000s were approximately £15m per 10-day mission, expanding to £25m for later flights. These flights included trips via Soyuz for Dennis Tito, Mark Shuttleworth, Gregory Olsen, Anousheh Ansari, Charles Simonyi who flew twice, plus Guy Laliberte. In 2008, UK-born Richard Garriott de Cayeux, son of NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, flew to the ISS on Soyuz TMA-12.

With the new Space X and Boeing spacecraft, access to orbital space is likely to be relatively cheaper than via Soyuz which is currently costing NASA about £70m per flight, though a price competition should evolve over time.

Bigelow Aerospace has booked four space participant slots on the Crew Dragon for about £40m each. Boeing’s Starliner prices are expected to be more costly though, perhaps running at £55m per seat. More recently, the US company Axiom Space signed a contract with Space X to fly three fare-paying private astronauts, plus a pilot astronaut, on a mission to the ISS as early as 2021. 

Space Adventures have suggested EVA possibilities for participants and lunar flights have been considered.

NASA are now more enthusiastic over “commercial astronaut” visitors using the ISS, with $35,000 a day accommodation prices being quoted, excluding flight access costs. Once the Crew Dragon and Starliner spacecraft provide a regular service with potentially seven crew per flight, so the ISS can be staffed by additional research crew and visitors, with additional accommodation pods being installed – the science research output will of course be boosted via easier crew access.

For the longer term, private human access to orbit and beyond should become even more affordable. An unknown for the late 2020s onwards is the Space-X “Starship” project – this is the 5,000 tonne two-stage reusable vehicle that Elon Musk expects may slash orbital access and deep-space flight prices. An early free-return lunar flight of the “Starship” is being proposed for Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, together with his intended crew of 6-8 “artists”. 

Clearly, private spaceflight is going to reduce overall costs to the benefit of both space agencies and tourism companies.

Flight Safety

In terms of the benefits and drawbacks of space tourism and the worry that some space vehicles will be lost during the initial period of private spaceflight, many would consider this in the same terms as early flying and airline development which saw some losses of civil aircraft before technology enhancements provided today’s flight reliability and good airline safety records.

Many will recall the sad loss of NASA’s space shuttle Challenger in 1986 when astronaut-teacher Christa McAuliffe together with her six other crew members was killed during the vehicle explosion shortly after launch.

Richard Branson, here seen with designer Burt Rutan in 2014, has been determined to minimise the potential dangers of flights on the emerging SpaceShipThree spaceplane, taking on-board the lessons of early flight testing. (Image Steve Jurvetson).

In Oct. 2014 the Virgin Galactic sub-orbital VSS Enterprise spacecraft broke-up during a drop test and rocket burn and one of the two crew members died. SS2 design modifications were subsequently made and the company is determined to maximise passenger safety and enjoyment.

Blue Origin also lost a sub-orbital vehicle in April 2015 during an uncrewed test flight.

Safety is clearly a key consideration to the emerging tourist spaceflight companies and it can be expected that a measured step-by-step approach to flight testing will minimize these dangers and potential losses during the early years of private spaceflight.

Scientist-Astronaut Suborbital Flights

Why is space tourism important?

Science will benefit from space tourism and the reduced cost of access to space. For example, NASA recently announced the formation of its new Sub-orbital Crew Office (“Sub-C”), with Scott Colloredo as its Head. This new approach should boost access to space for an enlarged group of both space-agency and private scientist astronauts.

The new grouping will seek agreements with VG and Blue Origin for both astronaut training and microgravity science experiment flights – both companies have flown automated NASA experiments on test flights to date and have designed their cabin interiors to flexibly allow for future experiment racks, instead of passenger couches.

Aspiring private or government scientist flight participants who are seeking relatively low-cost 3-5 minute microgravity periods will consider these two approaches as very appealing, being well ahead of the 20 second periods of microgravity offered by parabola flights in aircraft. (Image: ESA/ Novespace)

The scientific benefits of future private access to the orbiting ISS space station’s research facilities, plus one day the Moon and Mars bases, will be strong. The significance of space tourism is that it should accelerate the development of space exploration generally.

Disadvantages of Space Exploration

A possibility is that the potential CO2 output from regular launch vehicles for enhanced space tourism may be a drawback to address. Carbon offset policies will be the likely solution to this issue, combined with the possible use of rocket bio-fuels and eventually in-situ resources from asteroids, the Moon, and Mars.

Considering the benefits and drawbacks of space tourism, it appears that an increase in Earth orbit activity will have some limited negative impact on “space traffic” and increase to some extent the dangers of orbital debris collisions.

However, the increase in space “debris” from orbital access for space tourism can be countered by mitigation and rocket stage recovery – Space X is seeking to recover much of their Falcon and Starship launchers and Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin are fully reusable systems, plus protocols on launch activity for the future will require more satellite and spacecraft recovery and de-orbiting measures.

Is Space Tourism a Good Idea?

Point to point high-speed rocket travel is a future benefit that will occur from sub-orbital space tourism – already Virgin Galactic is proposing a “SpaceShipThree” that will fly at high-speed/high altitudes for rapid intercontinental access across the globe, heralding a leap forward in rapid mass travel across the planet.

Disturbance from sonic booms resulting from space tourism will need to be limited for regular flight operations, as occurs for supersonic flights by civil and military aircraft over land.

If the early possible “teething” issues of flight safety, environmental, and traffic matters can be addressed and mitigated, the future of space tourism for a post-Covid world looks very promising. Economic benefits via reduced costs for space launchers, plus an acceleration of space technology development will be a very positive outcome from this tourism sector.

Images Jeff Foust, Robert Sullivan, Steve Jurvetson, David Creative Commons

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Want to be a space tourist? Here are 6 things to consider first

The industry of space tourism could exist in the future. Image:  Unsplash/NASA

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Stay up to date:.

• In July 2021, entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos went up into space, accompanied by fellow passengers.
• These trips created vast amounts of media coverage and brand recognition for Branson’s Virgin Galactic and Bezos’ Blue Origin.
• This could indicate that a commercial space tourism industry is on the horizon.
• Before space trips become commercially available, important factors such as environmental and safety laws need to be considered.

It’s been a momentous month for space-faring billionaires. On July 11, British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson’s Unity “rocket-plane” flew him and five fellow passengers about 85 kilometres above Earth. And this week, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ New Shepard capsule reached an altitude of 106km , carrying Bezos, his brother, and the oldest and youngest people ever to reach such a height. Passengers on both flights experienced several minutes of weightlessness and took in breathtaking views of our beautiful and fragile Earth.

Both flights created an avalanche of media coverage and brand recognition for Branson’s Virgin Galactic and Bezos’s Blue Origin. There is renewed anticipation of a lucrative commercial space tourism industry that could eventually see thousands of paying passengers journey into space (or not quite into space, depending on your preferred level of pedantry).

This year marks 60 years since Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space. Since then, almost 600 trained astronauts have gone into outer space, but very few people have become space tourists.

The first, US engineer Dennis Tito, paid a reported US$20 million to spend six days orbiting Earth in the Russian section of the International Space Station in April 2001, after three months’ training at Russia’s Star City complex. He was followed by a handful of other very wealthy “orbital tourists”, most recently Cirque de Soleil founder Guy Laliberté in 2009, whose ticket reportedly cost US$35 million.

Unlike their predecessors, Branson’s and Bezos’ flights were suborbital – they didn’t reach the velocity needed to orbit Earth. Bezos’s entire flight lasted just over 10 minutes. Suborbital flights are much less technically complex, and in theory cheaper (although one seat on the New Shepard flight was auctioned for US$28 million ).

While they might quibble over billionaire bragging rights, there’s no denying that suborbital “space” flights have the potential to be less eye-wateringly expensive than going into orbital outer space and beyond.

But before you sign up – assuming you’re lucky enough to afford it – here are a few things to consider.

Where does space start, anyway?

Have you read, how many space launches does it take to have a serious climate impact, from space squid to saliva: what's inside nasa's cargo missions and why, the big space clean-up - and why it matters.

Despite assertions to the contrary , there is no legal definition of “outer space”, and thus no official boundary where airspace ends and outer space begins. In the past, the International Aeronautical Federation has looked to the von Karman line , but this does not coincide with the boundary of any of the atmosphere’s scientifically defined layers, and the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space , which deals with such issues, has not yet resolved the question.

Conveniently for Branson, 80km has been proposed by some experts as an appropriate boundary.

Outer space is undeniably influenced by Earthly geopolitics. Essentially, the larger space-faring countries see no need to legally define a boundary that would clearly demarcate the upper limits of their sovereignty.

Will you be an ‘astronaut’?

The 1967 UN Outer Space Treaty designates astronauts as “envoys of (hu)mankind in outer space”. Certainly, that seemed to be the case as the world watched the historic Apollo 11 Moon landing and prayed for a safe return of the stricken Apollo 13 capsule. However, the 1968 UN Rescue Agreement refers to “personnel of a spacecraft”, which may imply not everyone on board should be considered a fully fledged astronaut.

Of course, these legal niceties won’t deter space tourism companies from awarding “astronaut wings” to their passengers.

What laws apply when things go wrong?

The 1986 Challenger and 2003 Columbia shuttle disasters are stark reminders of the dangers of space travel. Human space travel has always involved determining acceptable levels of risk for trained astronauts. But commercial space tourism is different to state-sponsored space programs, and will need the highest possible safety standards.

Commercial space travel will also require a system of responsibility and liability, for cases in which a space tourist suffers injury, loss or damage.

Space tourists (or their families) can’t claim for compensation under the 1972 UN Liability Convention which, in terms of space, applies only to collisions between space objects such as satellites and space debris. While there may be scope to take legal action under national laws, it is likely space tourists will be asked to sign carefully worded waivers of liability.

The same is probably true of international air law , which applies to “aircraft” — a designation space tourism operators will understandably be keen to avoid.

Ultimately, we may need to develop a system of “aerospace law” to govern these suborbital flights as well as “transorbital” transport such as the keenly envisaged flights that might one day take passengers from Sydney to London in just a few hours.

What activities should be allowed in space?

The advent of space tourism will give rise to some interesting ethical questions. Should there be advertising billboards in space? What about casinos, or brothels? On what legal basis should these things be restricted?

How does tourism fit with the underlying philosophy of space law: that the exploration and use of outer space “shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries”?

Will space tourism harm the environment?

Space tourism will inevitably put pressure on Earth’s environment – there are claims that space vehicles may one day become the world’s biggest source of carbon dioxide emissions. We will need to manage space traffic carefully to avoid disastrous collisions and steer clear of space debris .

If tourists go to the Moon, they may cause pollution or damage the heritage of earlier exploration, such as Neil Armstrong’s footprints .

Will tourism workers have to live in space?

If space tourism does become truly widespread, it will need infrastructure and perhaps even staff. People may end up living permanently in space settlements, perhaps having children who will be born as “space citizens”. What legal rights would someone have if they were born at a Moon base? Would they be subject to terrestrial laws, or some version of current international legal rules for outer space?

The World Economic Forum was the first to draw the world’s attention to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the current period of unprecedented change driven by rapid technological advances. Policies, norms and regulations have not been able to keep up with the pace of innovation, creating a growing need to fill this gap.

The Forum established the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Network in 2017 to ensure that new and emerging technologies will help—not harm—humanity in the future. Headquartered in San Francisco, the network launched centres in China, India and Japan in 2018 and is rapidly establishing locally-run Affiliate Centres in many countries around the world.

The global network is working closely with partners from government, business, academia and civil society to co-design and pilot agile frameworks for governing new and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) , autonomous vehicles , blockchain , data policy , digital trade , drones , internet of things (IoT) , precision medicine and environmental innovations .

Learn more about the groundbreaking work that the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Network is doing to prepare us for the future.

Want to help us shape the Fourth Industrial Revolution? Contact us to find out how you can become a member or partner.

These are obviously questions for the future. But given the excitement generated by the brief journeys of a couple of wealthy entrepreneurs, we should start contemplating them now. Outer space is the new frontier, but it is not — and must not — be a lawless one.

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The Future of Space Tourism Is Now. Well, Not Quite.

From zero-pressure balloon trips to astronaut boot camps, reservations for getting off the planet — or pretending to — are skyrocketing. The prices, however, are still out of this world.

By Debra Kamin

Ilida Alvarez has dreamed of traveling to space since she was a child. But Ms. Alvarez, a legal-mediation firm owner, is afraid of flying, and she isn’t a billionaire — two facts that she was sure, until just a few weeks ago, would keep her fantasy as out of reach as the stars. She was wrong.

Ms. Alvarez, 46, and her husband, Rafael Landestoy, recently booked a flight on a 10-person pressurized capsule that — attached to a massive helium-filled balloon — will gently float to 100,000 feet while passengers sip champagne and recline in ergonomic chairs. The reservation required a $500 deposit; the flight itself will cost $50,000 and last six to 12 hours.

“I feel like it was tailor-made for the chickens like me who don’t want to get on a rocket,” said Ms. Alvarez, whose flight, organized by a company called World View , is scheduled to depart from the Grand Canyon in 2024.

Less than a year after Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson kicked off a commercial space race by blasting into the upper atmosphere within weeks of each other last summer, the global space tourism market is skyrocketing, with dozens of companies now offering reservations for everything from zero-pressure balloon trips to astronaut boot camps and simulated zero-gravity flights. But don’t don your spacesuit just yet. While the financial services company UBS estimates the space travel market will be worth $3 billion by 2030, the Federal Aviation Administration has yet to approve most out-of-this-world trips, and construction has not started on the first space hotel. And while access and options — not to mention launchpads — are burgeoning, space tourism remains astronomically expensive for most.

First, what counts as space travel?

Sixty miles (about 100 kilometers) above our heads lies the Kármán line, the widely accepted aeronautical boundary of the earth’s atmosphere. It’s the boundary used by the Féderátion Aéronautique Internationale, which certifies and controls global astronautical records. But many organizations in the United States, including the F.A.A. and NASA, define everything above 50 miles to be space.

Much of the attention has been focused on a trio of billionaire-led rocket companies: Mr. Bezos’ Blue Origin , whose passengers have included William Shatner; Mr. Branson’s Virgin Galactic , where tickets for a suborbital spaceflight start at $450,000; and Elon Musk’s SpaceX , which in September launched an all-civilian spaceflight, with no trained astronauts on board. Mr. Branson’s inaugural Virgin Galactic flight in 2021 reached about 53 miles, while Blue Origin flies above the 62-mile mark. Both are eclipsed by SpaceX, whose rockets charge far deeper in to the cosmos, reaching more than 120 miles above Earth.

Balloons, like those operated by World View, don’t go nearly as high. But even at their maximum altitude of 18 or 19 miles, operators say they float high enough to show travelers the curvature of the planet, and give them a chance to experience the overview effect — an intense perspective shift that many astronauts say kicks in when you view Earth from above.

Now, how to get there …

Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, which are both licensed for passenger space travel by the F.A.A., are open for ticket sales. (Blue Origin remains mum on pricing.) Both companies currently have hundreds or even thousands of earthlings on their wait lists for a whirl to the edge of space. SpaceX charges tens of millions of dollars for its further-reaching flights and is building a new facility in Texas that is currently under F.A.A. review.

Craig Curran is a major space enthusiast — he’s held a reserved seat on a Virgin Galactic flight since 2011 — and the owner of Deprez Travel in Rochester, N.Y. The travel agency has a special space travel arm, Galactic Experiences by Deprez , through which Mr. Curran sells everything from rocket launch tickets to astronaut training.

Sales in the space tourism space, Mr. Curran acknowledges, “are reasonably difficult to make,” and mostly come from peer-to-peer networking. “You can imagine that people who spend $450,000 to go to space probably operate in circles that are not the same as yours and mine,” he said.

Some of Mr. Curran’s most popular offerings include flights where you can experience the same stomach-dropping feeling of zero gravity that astronauts feel in space, which he arranges for clients via chartered, specialized Boeing 727s that are flown in parabolic arcs to mimic being in space. Operators including Zero G also offer the service; the cost is around $8,200.

You can almost count the number of completed space tourist launches on one hand — Blue Origin has had four; SpaceX, two. Virgin Galactic, meanwhile, on Thursday announced the launch of its commercial passenger service, previously scheduled for late 2022, was delayed until early 2023. Many of those on waiting lists are biding their time before blastoff by signing up for training. Axiom Space, which contracts with SpaceX, currently offers NASA-partnered training at Houston’s Johnson Space Center. Virgin Galactic, which already offers a “customized Future Astronaut Readiness program” at its Spaceport America facility in New Mexico, is also partnering with NASA to build a training program for private astronauts.

Would-be space tourists should not expect the rigor that NASA astronauts face. Training for Virgin Galactic’s three-hour trips is included in the cost of a ticket and lasts a handful of days; it includes pilot briefings and being “fitted for your bespoke Under Armour spacesuit and boots,” according to its website.

Not ready for a rocket? Balloon rides offer a less hair-raising celestial experience.

“We go to space at 12 miles an hour, which means that it’s very smooth and very gentle. You’re not rocketing away from earth,” said Jane Poynter, a co-founder and co-chief executive of Space Perspective , which is readying its own touristic balloon spaceship, Spaceship Neptune. If all goes according to plan, voyages are scheduled to begin departing from Florida in 2024, at a cost of $125,000 per person. That’s a fraction of the price tag for Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, but still more than double the average annual salary of an American worker.

Neither Space Perspective nor World View has the required approval yet from the F.A.A. to operate flights.

Unique implications

Whether a capsule or a rocket is your transport, the travel insurance company battleface launched a civilian space insurance plan in late 2021, a direct response, said chief executive Sasha Gainullin, to an increase in space tourism interest and infrastructure. Benefits include accidental death and permanent disablement in space and are valid for spaceflights on operators like SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, as well as on stratospheric balloon rides. They’ve had many inquiries, Mr. Gainullin said, but no purchases just yet.

“Right now it’s such high-net-worth individuals who are traveling to space, so they probably don’t need insurance,” he said. “But for quote-unquote regular travelers, I think we’ll see some takeups soon.”

And as the industry grows, so perhaps will space travel’s impact on the environment. Not only do rocket launches have immense carbon footprints, even some stratospheric balloon flights have potentially significant implications: World View’s balloons are powered by thousands of cubic meters of helium, which is a limited resource . But Ted Parson, a professor of environmental law at the University of California, Los Angeles, said that space travel’s environmental impact is still dwarfed by civil aviation. And because space travel is ultra-niche, he believes it’s likely to stay that way.

“Despite extensive projections, space tourism is likely to remain a tiny fraction of commercial space exploration,” he said. “It reminds me of tourism on Mt. Everest. It’s the indulgence of very rich people seeking a transcendent, once-in-a-lifetime experience, and the local environmental burden is intense.”

Stay a while?

In the future, space enthusiasts insist, travelers won’t be traveling to space just for the ride. They’ll want to stay a while. Orbital Assembly Corporation, a manufacturing company whose goal is to colonize space, is currently building the world’s first space hotels — two ring-shaped properties that will orbit Earth, called Pioneer Station and Voyager Station. The company, quite optimistically, projects an opening date of 2025 for Pioneer Station, with a capacity of 28 guests. The design for the larger Voyager Station , which they say will open in 2027, promises villas and suites, as well as a gym, restaurant and bar. Both provide the ultimate luxury: simulated gravity. Axiom Space , a space infrastructure company, is currently building the world’s first private space station; plans include Philippe Starck-designed accommodations for travelers to spend the night.

Joshua Bush, chief executive of travel agency Avenue Two Travel , has sold a handful of seats on upcoming Virgin Galactic flights to customers. The market for space travel (and the sky-high prices that come with it), he believes, will evolve much like civilian air travel did.

“In the beginning of the 20th century, only very affluent people could afford to fly,” he said. “Just as we have Spirit and Southwest Airlines today, there will be some sort of equivalent of that in space travel, too. Hopefully within my lifetime.”

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If you were to look up from Earth some 466 million years ago, you might have seen a gleaming ring made of asteroid debris , some scientists say.

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Delta just gave all of its employees 2 free flights to go anywhere in the world, including those on leave from the company during the pandemic

• Delta CEO Ed Bastian is awarding employees with two free travel passes as a thank you for their work this year. 
• Called "Delta Difference" passes, employees can use them to fly anywhere Delta flies with a confirmed seat.
• Delta employees already have free flight benefits but these passes will be useful during a busy travel period or when using their benefits is less likely to secure a seat.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories .

Christmas is coming early for Delta Air Lines employees this year.

In an internal memo sent on Monday and obtained by Reuters reporter David Shepardson , CEO Ed Bastian rewarded Delta employees with two travel passes that can be used to fly on any Delta Air Lines flight, international or domestic. Employees both currently working and those on a leave of absence will receive the passes. 

"Delta people have risen to the challenge and led the way to a brighter future," Bastian wrote. "During a time of deep divisions, seeing the Delta family come together in unity over the past nine months toward a common purpose has been awe-inspiring."

The "positive space" passes are nearly equivalent to a confirmed booking, allowing employees a guaranteed seat if one is available, regardless of how full or expensive the flight is.

And while the urge might be to jet off to a distant locale, Americans are still limited in where they can fly. Luckily, the "Delta Difference" passes also don't expire, allowing employees the opportunity to use them once the world reopens. 

Airline employees already fly for free but positive space passes are more like a paid ticket

A perk of the job, Delta employees receive free flight benefits on the airline and can access discounted fares on others. It's known as "space available," "standby," or "non-revenue" travel as employees will only get onboard if there are open seats available after all paying customers have boarded.

Related stories

But those benefits have their limitations, especially around the holidays. A novice "non-revver," as they're known, will quickly learn not to count on open seats being available on popular routes during major travel holidays including Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Independence Day. And even if there is, someone more senior at the company will be given first dibs.

These passes, however, guarantee a seat if one is available and remove the waiting game and guesswork from the equation. So while an eager traveler might use these passes to access the furthest cities in Delta's reach such as Cape Town, Buenos Aires, Tel Aviv, or Sydney, a skilled traveler might use it to fly home for the holidays, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends it. 

Ironically, long-haul international flights are among the easiest on which to get a seat when flying standby. Since long-haul international flights utilize the largest aircraft in an airline's fleet, they often have enough availability to accommodate a few free flyers. If coach fills up, a non-revenue flyer could still be given a seat in business class or premium economy class, if it's available. 

As the employees will only get the seats that go unsold, the perk doesn't cost airlines much as the flights are already going. But these positive space tickets fill the seats that could be sold at a high price to paying customers and airlines know that, so it's rare when an airline does this and usually reserved for a special occasion.

American Airlines gave its employees, including those at wholly-owned subsidiary airlines, two round-trip positive space passes in 2017 after the airline won the "Airline of the Year" award by Air Transport World. 

Read more : American will lose its crown as the biggest US airline and could fall behind Delta and United as it struggles to pay off $38 billion in debt

Bastian also thanked employees for implementing the airline's new health and safety protocols, aimed at restoring confidence in air travel amid an industry-wide slump in demand. The "Delta CareStandard" has seen the airline overhaul the airport and in-flight experience, as Business Insider saw firsthand on a recent visit to Delta's hub at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport .

"Rather than be victimized by our circumstances, you have been part of the solution, providing safe, healthy travel for those who needed it," Bastian wrote. 

Watch: We followed a Delta cleaning crew to see how the airline is sanitizing planes as travel ramps back up

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The Effects of Space Travel on the Human Body

To mark International Day of Human Space Flight, UCL Physics & Astronomy Digital Student Ambassador Nishta explores how the extreme forces of space affect the human body from lift-off to touchdown.

12 April 2024

Nearly all of us have been on an airplane and experienced a take-off. Recall that force that pushes you backward into your seat as the plane lifts off the ground and the tingly feeling in your stomach as you go airborne. 

Now imagine the same but with nearly 100 times the force and accelerating vertically, I’m getting a headache just thinking about it. This is where the effects of space travel on humans begin.

If you’ve somehow managed to fight past the headaches, nausea, and uneasiness from the rocket launch and reach outer space, space radiation is waiting to have a go at your health.

While we're snugly nestled within Earth's protective atmosphere and magnetic field, astronauts are exposed to a variety of radiation, including particles trapped in our planet's magnetic field, solar flares from the Sun, and galactic cosmic rays.

While studying about space weather through my course on space plasmas and magnetospheric physics, I’ve learned about how spacecrafts are shielded against these particles and rays. Spacecrafts carry delicate cameras and sensors on board, all of which need to be shielded from radiation. Further, the sleeping quarters of the crew need to be protected even more heavily. Shielding for these purposes is usually done using polyethylene, which is hydrogen rich and can withstand most impacts in space.

However, this shielding isn’t absolute and radiation exposure could cause increased risks of cancer, heart disease, and other degenerative ailments. VIGIL, ESA’s planned mission to closely study the sun, hopes to explore how we can protect ourselves and space explorers from solar radiation. My professor, Dr. Daniel Verscharen is the Science Lead for the Plasma Analyser (PLA) instrument (being designed by UCL/MSSL ) on board ESA’s Vigil mission.

Sounding a bit scarier now? Astronauts also deal with living in confined spaces for prolonged periods. They have no access to nature or sunlight, have different day/night cycles, and are isolated for months. Further, due to being so far away from Earth, communications to mission control would take way too long to travel to them in an emergency. For example, a spacecraft orbiting around Mars would receive a signal from Earth 20 minutes after it has been sent, meaning astronauts need to be equipped to handle any situation on their own. And as if the psychological effects on the body weren’t enough, astronauts also deal with physical degradation.

Imagine a world where gravity plays by different rules—a realm where bones lose mineral density at an alarming rate, muscles waste away, and bodily fluids collect in the face and cause permanent bloating. In this weightless realm, astronauts face a myriad of challenges, from bone loss and muscle atrophy to vision problems and shrinking bones.

Has this been a very gloomy read? I’d hate to leave y’all without a note of optimism for space travel, so fear not, our astronauts are not without their defences. Researchers tirelessly work to develop countermeasures to combat the perils of space travel. From specialized exercise routines to experimental drugs combating bone loss, every tool in our arsenal is wielded in the name of astronaut health and well-being. More information on shielding can be found in these slides made available by NASA .   And besides, despite the myriad challenges posed by space, there's an undeniable sense of awe and wonder that accompanies each journey beyond our atmosphere. This is probably why we continue to venture out into the literal unknown for science, pushing the boundaries of human exploration and paving the way for a future among the cosmos.

Author: Nishta Varma

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The human body in space.

Nathan Cranford

Jennifer Turner

Space radiation, isolation and confinement, distance from earth, gravity fields, hostile/closed environments.

For more than 50 years, NASA’s  Human Research Program (HRP) has studied what happens to the human body in space. Researchers are using what they learn to design procedures, devices, and strategies to keep astronauts safe and healthy throughout their missions.

NASA engineers use the lessons learned to better design spacecraft and improve the fit and functions of spacesuits. The research also aids in the development and assessment of medical standards, physical fitness programs and standards, physiological and psychological adaptation training, sensorimotor training, and nutritional health protocols.

Understanding the effects of spaceflight on humans is essential as astronauts move from the  International Space Station in low-Earth orbit to deep space destinations on and around the Moon, and beyond. With the  Artemis program , NASA will land the first woman and next man on the Moon using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before, gathering new data while keeping astronauts healthy and safe.

NASA is particularly interested in investigating how the body reacts to long-duration spaceflight as the agency plans for extended missions on the Moon and Mars.  Scott Kelly  and Christina Koch were the first American astronauts to spend nearly one year in space onboard the space station, twice the previous average. Scott, Christina, and seven other astronauts have spent  more than 200 days in space during a single spaceflight .

In addition to spending almost a year in space, Scott was involved in the unique  Twins Study . Scott participated in several biomedical studies onboard the space station while his identical twin brother, retired astronaut Mark Kelly, stayed on Earth as a control subject, someone who provides a basis of comparison.

The study provided valuable data about what happened to Scott, physiologically and psychologically, as compared to his brother Mark. Their contribution to science helped generate data that researchers will use for decades to come.

NASA is planning more dedicated extended-duration research on the space station. The studies are expected to shed light on how the body adapts to living in the spaceflight environment for various longer time periods, which will be pivotal for future deep space missions.

What exactly happens to the body in space and what are the risks? Are the risks the same for astronauts who spend six months on the space station versus those who may be away on a Mars mission for years?

The simple answer is: No. NASA is researching risks for Mars missions which are grouped into five human spaceflight hazards related to the stressors they place on the body. These can be summarized with the acronym “ RIDGE ,” short for Space  R adiation,  I solation and Confinement,  D istance from Earth,  G ravity fields, and Hostile/Closed  E nvironments .

On Earth, we are shielded by the planet’s magnetic field and atmosphere from the majority of particles that make up the  space radiation  environment. Even so, everyone on Earth is exposed to low levels of radiation every day, from the food we eat to the air we breathe .  

In space, astronauts are exposed to varied and increased levels of radiation that are different from those on Earth. Three major sources contribute to the space radiation environment: particles trapped in Earth’s magnetic field, solar energetic particles from the Sun, and galactic cosmic rays.

A big challenge in reducing the risks of radiation exposure is that some space radiation particles (especially galactic cosmic rays) are difficult to shield against. Exposure to increased radiation can be associated with both short- and long-term health consequences, depending on how much total radiation astronauts experience and the time frame in which they experience that exposure.

Increased risk of  cancer  and  degenerative diseases , such as heart disease and cataracts, have been observed in human populations exposed to radiation on Earth. Health risks for astronauts from radiation exposure in space are mainly driven by long-term impacts.

Additionally, animal and cellular research indicate that the type of radiation in the space environment has a larger impact on health outcomes compared to the radiation experienced on Earth. Not only will astronauts be exposed to more radiation in space than on Earth, but the radiation they are exposed to could pose increased risks.

The Key:  The  current strategy  to reduce the health risks of space radiation exposure is to implement shielding, radiation monitoring, and specific operational procedures. Compared to typical six-month space station missions, later Moon and Mars missions will be much longer on average. Consequently, the total amount of radiation experienced and associated health risks may increase.

NASA is developing new radiation detectors to  monitor  and characterize the radiation environment, which will provide better estimates of the dose and type of radiation to which the crews are exposed. Scientists and engineers are optimizing and implementing operational procedures that use available vehicle stowage and materials to reduce radiation exposure effectively.

To investigate the health risks of space radiation exposure beyond low-Earth orbit, NASA supports research that analyzes the biological effects of simulated cosmic rays at  ground-based research facilities . Research at these facilities helps NASA understand and reduce the risk of space radiation, ensure proper measurement of the doses that astronauts receive on the space station and in future spacecraft, and develop advanced materials that improve radiation shielding for future missions.

Studies of radiation-exposed human cohorts are also being conducted to estimate the health risks in populations relevant to astronauts.

Expedition crews selected for a stay onboard the space station are carefully chosen, trained, and supported to ensure they will be able to work effectively as a team for the duration of their six to 12-month missions. Crews for a Moon or Mars mission will undergo even more careful assessment, selection, and preparation since they will travel farther and potentially for longer than previous humans in an isolated and confined environment, with only a few other people. Additionally, crews will likely be international and multi-cultural, making cross-cultural sensitivity and team dynamics paramount to mission success.

Ensuring astronauts get quality sleep is also important; otherwise, their internal biological clocks, or  circadian rhythm , might be altered by factors like different dark and light cycles, a small and noisy environment, the stress of prolonged isolation and confinement, and a 37-minute extended day on Mars.

It is important to prepare for the fatigue astronauts may experience during spaceflight, given that there will be times with heavy workloads and shifting schedules. To prevent crew boredom, NASA considers the kinds of activities in which the astronauts will participate during a multi-year round trip to Mars.

Communication and understanding among crew members are vital to the success of the mission, and changes in morale and motivation are possible as the mission unfolds. This may relate to reduced stimulation, the longing for loved ones, or feeling unable to assist with family emergencies back on Earth, regardless of how long the mission lasts.

Using spaceflight analogs on Earth, NASA’s research has revealed that both the duration and type of confined and isolated experience are important to consider. The more restricted the space, and the less contact with people outside the environment, the more likely humans are to develop behavioral or cognitive conditions or psychiatric disorders.

The Key:  NASA has been studying people in isolated and confined environments for years, and has developed methods and technologies to counteract possible problems.

NASA scientists are using devices, such as actigraphy, that help assess and improve sleep and alertness by recording how much people move and how much ambient light is around them. New lighting, spurred by the development of Light-Emitting Diode (LED) technology, is used on the space station to help align astronaut’s circadian rhythms and to improve sleep, alertness, and performance.

A 10-minute self-test of vigilance and attention assesses the effect of fatigue on performance. Astronauts write in journals as a safe place to vent frustrations and provide researchers a tool to study behavioral issues that are on the minds of crew members who are living and working in isolation and confinement.

Researchers are also looking into using virtual reality to simulate relaxing environments to help improve the mood of crews in isolation. Engaging in relevant, meaningful activities, including learning a language or learning new medical skills, could help ward off depression and boost morale. Crews may even tend to a  space garden , which could have positive behavioral health benefits in addition to providing a fresh source of food and helping to purify the air.

Researchers are using Earth-based analogs to investigate how much   privacy and living space will be needed on longer missions where crew members will be restricted in a relatively small spacecraft together. NASA is also determining strategies to formulate the best  crew  by studying individual and team attributes, composition, and dynamics.

The space station orbits 240 miles above Earth. The Moon is 1,000 times farther from Earth than the space station. In contrast, Mars is on average  140 million miles  from Earth. With a communication delay of up to  20 minutes  one-way while on Mars, astronauts must be able to solve problems and identify solutions as a team without help from NASA’s mission control.

The types of food and medicine to be packed for a multi-year trip without access to a grocery store or pharmacy are also important to consider. Unlike space station crews, which regularly receive supplies from cargo flights from Earth, astronauts going to Mars will have to bring all of the food, equipment, and medical supplies they need.

The Key:  NASA is using its human spaceflight experience on the space station to figure out what types of medical events happen in space over time and what types of skills, procedures, equipment, and supplies are needed so that they will have a good idea of what to pack for future missions to the Moon and Mars.

Space station astronauts already receive medical training before and during space missions that teach them how to respond to health problems as they arise. For example, astronauts learn how to use onboard space station equipment to produce an intravenous (IV) solution from purified water, which can be used for medical administration.

Crew members also perform  ultrasound scans  on each other to monitor organ health. If one crew member becomes sick during the mission, crews are ready to perform laboratory testing to help make the right diagnosis and guide treatment.

NASA is working on developing a medical data architecture for spacecraft that enables the capabilities of  clinical decision support tools , which could use artificial intelligence and machine learning to further help diagnose and treat various illnesses. Researchers are also looking into the role that virtual assistants could play to help crews identify and respond to spaceflight anomalies quickly for more distant missions.

Additionally, the agency is studying and improving  food formulation , processing, packaging, and preservation systems to ensure the nutrients remain stable and the food remains acceptable for years. Space-resilient medications and packaging systems that preserve the integrity of pharmaceuticals for long-duration missions are another significant part of NASA’s research.  

Astronauts will encounter three different gravity fields on a Mars mission. On the six-month trek between the planets, crews will be weightless. While living and working on Mars, crews will be in approximately one-third of Earth’s gravity. Finally upon returning home, crews will have to readapt to Earth’s gravity.

Transitioning from one gravity field to another is trickier than it sounds. It affects spatial orientation, head-eye and hand-eye coordination, balance, and locomotion, with some crew members experiencing space motion sickness.

Landing a spacecraft on Mars could be challenging as astronauts adjust to the gravity field of another celestial body. When shifting from weightlessness to gravity, astronauts may experience post-flight orthostatic intolerance where they are unable to maintain their blood pressure when standing up, which can lead to lightheadedness and fainting.

NASA has learned that without Earth’s gravity affecting the human body, weight-bearing bones lose on average  1% to 1.5%  of mineral density per month during spaceflight. After returning to Earth, bone loss might not be completely corrected by rehabilitation; however, their risk for fracture is not higher. Without the proper diet and exercise routine, astronauts also lose muscle mass in microgravity faster than they would on Earth.

Moreover, the fluids in the body shift upward to the head in microgravity, which may put pressure on the eyes and cause vision problems. If preventive or countermeasures are not implemented, crews may experience an increased risk of developing kidney stones due to dehydration and increased excretion of calcium from their bones.

The Key:  By analyzing how the body changes in weightlessness and after returning to Earth’s gravity, NASA is developing protective measures against these changes for a Mars mission.

Functional task testing is in place to help detect and improve balance control after landing on a gravitational surface.  Fine motor skill testing is done to detect any changes in the ability of astronauts to interact with computer-based devices.

Distribution of the fluids in the body is closely monitored to help evaluate any connection to changes in  vision. Compression cuffs worn on the thighs help keep the blood in the lower extremities to counteract those fluid shifts. A lower-body negative pressure device could help draw fluids from the head into the legs as well.

Back pain, which some astronauts have reported experiencing during spaceflight, is monitored by obtaining  spinal ultrasounds . Muscle size and bone density are assessed for deterioration using MRI and high-resolution imaging techniques, before and after flight. Crew members perform periodic fitness self-evaluations  to help researchers better understand the decline in heart function that can occur during spaceflight.

Medicines that NASA is studying, such as potassium citrate, may help combat the physiological change that could increase the risk of developing kidney stones. Bisphosphonate medications have been shown in NASA studies to be effective in preventing bone loss.

NASA has also designed an efficient way to collect and measure how much urine a crew member produces in space, which is essential to human research since it reveals key information about a person’s health. For example, researchers can analyze different levels of certain substances in an astronaut’s urine to determine whether they are at risk of developing a  kidney stone  in space, and make modifications to the diet, exercise routine, and water intake as preventive measures.

Aerobic and resistive exercise has been shown to keep the heart healthy,  bones and muscles strong , the mind alert, as well as maintain a more positive outlook, and may even help with  balance and coordination . Software-generated workout partners could be used to help motivate astronauts to exercise regularly for longer space missions. NASA has even completed a joint Earth-based bed rest study to determine whether centrifuge artificial gravity  may be an effective way to counter the physiological effects of weightlessness.

NASA has learned that the ecosystem inside the spacecraft plays a big role in everyday astronaut life in space. Microbes can change characteristics in space, and micro-organisms that naturally live on the human body are transferred more easily from person to person in closed habitats, such as the space station. Stress hormone levels are elevated and the immune system is altered, which could lead to increased susceptibility to allergies or other illnesses.

Earth-based analogs do not perfectly simulate the spaceflight environment, making them insufficient for studying on the ground how human immune systems react in space. However, NASA-funded Antarctic analog studies could provide insight into how certain spaceflight stressors may affect the human immune system. What is known is that spaceflight changes the immune system, although crews do not tend to get sick upon returning to Earth. Even though astronauts’ acquired immunity is intact, more research is needed into whether spaceflight induced altered immunity may lead to autoimmune issues, in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the healthy cells, organs, and tissues present in the body.

Beyond the effects of the environment on the immune system, every inch and detail of living and working quarters must be carefully thought-out and designed. No one wants their house to be too hot, too cold, cramped, crowded, loud, or not well lit, and no one would enjoy working and living in such a habitat in space either.

The Key:  NASA is using technology to monitor the air quality of the space station to ensure the atmosphere is safe to breathe and not contaminated with gases, such as formaldehyde, ammonia, and carbon monoxide.  Thermal Control Systems  function to maintain temperatures of the space station and keep astronauts comfortable.

Blood and saliva samples are analyzed to identify changes in the immune system and the reactivation of latent viruses during spaceflight. NASA uses advanced molecular techniques to evaluate the risk of microbes that may cause illness for crew members. Various parts of the body and the space station are swabbed regularly for analysis of the microbial population that inhabits the environment. Crews change out air filters, clean surfaces, and treat the water to prevent illnesses that may result from the accumulation of contaminants.

Astronauts are advised to get a  flu  shot to boost their immunity and are  quarantined  before their missions to avoid catching any sort of illness before launch. During the Twins Study and One-Year Mission, Scott Kelly administered a flu vaccine to himself while his brother received his on Earth. The immunization proved to work as well in space as it does on Earth, which is a good finding for longer missions to the Moon and Mars.

Living quarters and work environments are carefully planned and evaluated to ensure that designs balance comfort and efficiency. Lighting onboard the space station is similar to what would be experienced naturally on Earth, thanks to the new  LED  lighting system.    

NASA is taking action on all of these risks and working to solve the challenges of human spaceflight with some of the most brilliant minds in their fields. The results garnered from laboratories, ground analogs, and space station missions will provide more insight into these adaptations and present a stepping stone for longer missions.

On upcoming Artemis missions to lunar orbit and the surface of the Moon, even more data will be collected as this work continues. On future longer duration missions to the Moon and Mars, astronauts will benefit from years of research that will ensure they will be able not just to survive, but thrive on their spacefaring missions.

Click here for an infographic summarizing the risks of human spaceflight and the safeguards against them .

NASA’s  Human Research Program , or HRP, pursues the best methods and technologies to support safe, productive human space travel. Through science conducted in laboratories, ground-based analogs, and the International Space Station, HRP scrutinizes how spaceflight affects human bodies and behaviors. Such research drives HRP’s  quest  to innovate ways that keep astronauts healthy and mission-ready as space travel expands to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

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