NASA - The agency has had plans of opening the floating space station to commercial astronauts and private individuals who would like to see the Earth from up there. The list could include film crew members who would be interested in creating a whole film in space. The making of an advertisement from the ISS is a welcome idea too.
When is this happening? NASA said that the first commercial spacecraft that could possibly send people in space might be launched by 2020.
This plan is to allow private companies to lease out a part of the International Space Station. The project is also set to allow them to employ astronauts for their own commercial work. They could also take their expensive equipment to the ISS. However, all these opportunities should come with a bit of heavy price tags.
In the past NASA as an agency resisted the idea of making its operations including that of the ISS as something that could be made at a commercial level. Previously, all the items, including astronauts, who are taken to the International Space Stations (ISS) has to come with an educational or research component. However, recent times and development have made NASA reconsider the situation.
Jim Bridenstine, NASA administrator, has also suggested that the US government allow US private companies to naming rights to space element slike rockets or maybe even stars. This is part of what the NASA administrator proposes that commercial companies be allowed in space. It is through this that NASA sees to develop technologies in the future with the help of private corporations. Its plan to return to the moon by 2024 with its first woman astronaut in the lunar soil will be a first after a few decades.
NASA hopes that by allowing private corporations in the ISS, they would be able to get more funding for further space explorations in the future. The space agency will continue to use the ISS for all the space research it aims to conduct. The work that they continue to do to achieve its plans to head back to the moon is now fueled not just by the government but by private companies as well.
"This is to develop astronauts and encourage them to develop what will be known as the space economy," Bridenstine said.
NASA also aims at developing a host of private space crafts floating around and above the Earth. These could serve as a home to people, NASA said.
The private astronauts, also referred to as the space tourists by NASA, will go on space missions that will last for thirty days. While they are out in space, they are to perform both marketing and commercial duties that are all guided by the rules set by NASA. These astronauts before leaving Earth will have to pass the medical screening like any other NASA astronaut. They are also to undergo various training procedures to ensure their safety while onboard the ISS.
Further into the future, NASA hopes that private companies are able to use the ISS as a stopover before they find their way into future space explorations that are beyond the solar system.
