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Young Minds Speak Article

A 2010 study published by Geophysical Research Letters raised concerns that growing commercial spaceflight
industry could accelerate global warming. This unbalance would cause temperature to decrease by about 0.4 deg
C in tropics and subtropics, while at poles, temperature would increase by 0.2 and 1 deg C. The ozone layer
would also be affected with tropics losing upto 1.7% of ozone cover and polars gaining 5-6%.
A 2010 study from Federal Aviation Administration, titled “The economic impact of Commercial Space
Transportation on U.S. economy in 2009”, cites study done by 'Futron', an Aerospace and Technology-
consulting firm, which predict that space tourism could become a billion dollar market within 20 years. A web
survey by SpaceX suggested that over 70% of those who wanted less than/ equal to two weeks in space, 88%
wanted to spacewalk and 21% wanted a hotel or a space station. Space Adventures suggests that this market
could increase fifteen manifolds by 2020.
The future of space tourism is a hot debate as recent studies show that it is a phenomenon that the wealthy
corporate and individual such as Californian multi-millionaire: Dennis Tito are venturing into with aims of
reaching the Low Orbit Earth. NASA is set to setup a lunar colony on moon in collaboration with China National
Space agency (CNSA). This lunar space mission would begin as early as 2020s, which would use lunar oxygen
and hydrogen for future lunar vehicles. This is an indication that the venture is going to be a well paying tourism
sector and a large goal for many developing spaceship companies such as the SpaceX and NASA. For this
reason, the characteristic of the playground is for rich since there are indications regarding the cost. The future
aspiration is definitely on making it available at affordable rates for the middle class. Just like the rush for space
was five years back, the race for space tourism is currently at its boiling point and hence this tourism industry has
high growth expectations.
“I don't think human race will survive the next thousand years, unless we spread into space. There are too many
accidents befalling life on a single planet. But I'm an optimistic. We will reach out the stars.” Stephen Hawking

Saahil Ahmad
st
B.Sc., 1 year

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