Travel Plans that are Out of This World

To finish my series on travel I thought I would bring out the adventure that was the most out-of-this-world. Space travel! I was one of those kids who always dreamed of being an astronaut and traveling to the moon (either that or a ballroom dancer). Every time NASA had a mission launched, I was either listening to the radio or watching it on TV. I can even vividly account that one dreadful night in 1967. My parents and myself were watching "The Phyllis Diller Show". I think I was waiting for the latest report on the launch. Then it came. The show was interrupted with a news flash, the Apollo/Saturn rocket had caught fire. I was seven, yet I remember that tragedy so well. You see I had favorite "space jockeys" as other kids had their favorite pitchers or running backs. I vaguely remember that I had been following this launch. It was probably because my hero, Ed White, was aboard. As I write this, I have stopped and tried to think why Ed was my favorite of all the astronauts. I can't remember. There must have been something he said in an interview, or something about his attitude, or a certain sheepish grin that he gave only to me. All I know is that my heart was broken.

But I continued following flight after flight: from the Christmas broadcast of Apollo 8 to the lunar landing of Apollo 11 to the nearly fatal and tragic moments of Apollo 13; to be able to fly to the moon, every boy's dream. Well, don't look now but those dreams are becoming a reality. There are a number of tourists' groups forming for the premier commercial space voyage. Now before you put up your 10 million dollars for the next flight to Mars. You had better do your homework. I'm not saying these sites are run by crackpots. I'm just saying that you might a little more space between some ears than what is above their head. Some of these sites look pretty cool, too.

Check out these great web sites: Probably the three best sites are http://www.incredible-adventures.com/dea... http://www.spaceadventures.com/ and http://www.spaceflight-training.com/ - these are training sites for the general public on space flight. The next best thing to being there.

http://www.thespacetravelcompany.co.uk/ - wants to be the travel agency for the planets.

http://www.starchaser.co.uk/ -is preparing a three man (or woman) ship for the space adventurer. On the first mission, one space is filled, one is for sale for US$200,000, and the other is being raffled off ($2/ticket).

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