Dreams and realities: the challenges facing development of space tourism

The era of public space travel is approaching faster than most people think , driven by the human desire for adventure, travel and fun, and by the econ omic motivation for creating a space industry. Before this will happen, adv ances in engineering, law and policy, and medicine must be made, as well as considering the issues involved in business and management. Public awarene ss of the possibility must be increased and world-wide excitement about spa ce generated in order to make space tourism a reality. This is a slightly e dited version of the executive summary of the design project produced by IS U students at their 2000 Summer Session Programme in Valparaiso, Chile. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.