Having a Blast at the Dawn of Astrotourism

April 23 -- When Mark Shuttleworth blasts off into space on April 25, he will become only the second "astrotourist" in history.

The 26-year-old South African is paying $20 million for the privilege of spending eight days orbiting the globe on the International Space Station. That works out to $2.5 million per day, which must make it the most expensive vacation in history.

Why would anyone spend $20 million on a trip to space? Currently training for his launch at Russia's Star City, Shuttleworth, who made his fortune by selling his Cape Town-based Internet consultancy Thawte to VeriSign for $575 million in 1999, says he is fulfilling a childhood dream.

"I was always a geek and interested in science," he says. "I just never thought I would be able to go into space."

In recent years adventure tourism has become increasingly popular with the wealthy, who are willing to spend big bucks to go on safari, shoot white-water rapids or climb Mount Everest. And for many, there is no greater test of machismo, or financial one-upmanship, than a trip to space.

$20 Million and a Dream

Of course, since the dawn of the space age, the only way to rocket through the atmosphere was to be an astronaut. This meant years of training and preparation. It was an honor to be selected by your government to go into space, instantly confirming hero status on the lucky few.

Not any more. Now, all you need is $20 million and a dream.

In 2001 California money manager Dennis Tito became the first tourist in space. Following a rigorous eight-month training and, of course, $20 million, the 60-year-old flew on a Russian rocket, Soyuz TM-32, for a 10-day stay at the International Space Station. His price per day? $2 million.

While the steep price tag ensures that the leisure space travel industry will be the privilege of only the very rich for years to come, it is likely that Tito and Shuttleworth will be joined soon by other big spenders.

Lance Bass of the pop group N'Sync has completed his first round of training and even veteran rocker Steven Tyler of Aerosmith is rumored to be considering a trip.

Space Kicks Closer to Home

Getting a taste of space isn't just for millionaires and rock stars, though.

For those who can't or don't want to spend $20 million, space junkies can get their kicks by paying $1,000 for an up-close view of a shuttle launch, $12,000 for a supersonic ride on a MiG-25 or $30,000 to undergo three to four days of cosmonaut training.

So why isn't NASA trying to cash in like the Russians? It now looks like it might be.

Despite its initial resistance to Tito's space trip for various political and economic reasons (the Russians approved his flight without discussing it with the other members of the ISS, and NASA was worried that an untrained astronaut could break something), the agency seems to be slowly warming up to the idea of renting out seats on their flights.