Next stop, Mars: Latest holiday trends are out of this world

Posted on Friday 18 January 2013 in Family, France, Paris, United States of America, San Diego

By Rory MacTavish

Forget Paris holidays. Hold off on booking those San Diego hotels. Now is the time to start planning your trip to outerspace. No longer a venture just for astronauts, space tourism is growing by the day, and NASA has been pushing to get private "space taxis" to the International Space Station in the next five years, according to National Geographic.

While the push to get vacations to space still needs time, there are a number of private companies working to make it happen. Here are some possible ideas for holidays beyond our planet that will certainly delight the curious child in everyone:

SpaceShipTwo
​The jet-propelled spacecraft developed by Virgin Group, the London-based airline headed by Richard Branson, is finishing orbital tests and intends on offering suborbital flights at about 96 kilometres above the surface of the Earth by the end of 2013.

The futuristic spaceship has been in the making for years, and now Virgin Galactic has begun to take bookings for the out-of-this-world flight.

Golden Spike
NASA scientists backing the Golden Spike Company have big goals but aren't afraid to accomplish them, and plan to by the end of the decade. Their vision to launch routine trips to the moon will be available to anyone (at a hefty price) who may want to explore or discover new ground in science, for commercial development, entertainment or simply as a personal achievement.

"We're not just about America going back to the Moon," Alan Stern, former NASA science chief and chief executive officer of Golden Spike, told Composites World. "We're about American industry and American entrepreneurial spirit leading the rest of the world to an exciting era of human lunar exploration. It's the 21st century. We're here to help countries, companies and individuals extend their reach in space, and we think we'll see an enthusiastic customer manifest developing."

Martian camp, anyone?
Would you volunteer to live on Mars for the rest of your life? Nonprofit organization Mars One intends on building a permanent human settlement on the red planet by the year 2023, which would become the new home for those who volunteer to be a part of the project. Sound crazy? According to National Geographic, about 1,000 people offered to live on Mars, even though the project means they get a one-way ticket.

If you're thinking that planet Earth seems to suit you just fine, there are plenty of holidays just a normal plane ride away.

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