The space industry should aim to fly thousands of people in orbit at once, according to billionaire Jared Isaacman, who recently spent three days circling Earth on his own Inspiration4 trip aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.
鈥淭he number one key performance indicator that we should all be following is the number of people in orbit at one time,鈥� says Isaacman. 鈥淲hen we flew on Inspiration4, it set a new record with 14 people in orbit 鈥� but that鈥檚 not a lot. I think the years ahead are going to see 14 become 140 become 1400.鈥�
Isaacman, part of a new generation of civilian astronauts flying with private rocket companies, spoke to New 杏吧原创 at a gathering of astronauts past and present at the Science Museum in London on 3 May, held to commemorate the 50th anniversary of NASA鈥檚 Apollo 16 mission to the moon. Charles Duke, the 10th man to walk on the moon as part of the mission, says opening up the pool of people travelling to space is paramount.
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鈥淛ust look out the window 鈥� that view that you see out that window for 5 or 10 minutes鈥� it鈥檒l change your life,鈥� says Duke. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 imagine the beauty of space from just a few hundred miles up, it鈥檚 incredible.鈥�
Nicole Stott, a NASA astronaut who flew on two space shuttle missions to the International Space Station (ISS), agrees that an increase in astronaut numbers could spur change down on Earth. 鈥淭he more people we take to space, whatever capacity they鈥檙e in, that view is going to bring them back to Earth with a call to action to be more aware and more involved with life around them.鈥�
The near future of space travel won鈥檛 just be fuelled by an increase of private rocket companies; state-funded trips such as NASA鈥檚 Artemis programme, which aims to put the first woman on the moon, are also on the rise.
This will culminate in an active, expansive lunar base, according to European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake, who flew to the ISS in 2015. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have exploration of the moon and we鈥檙e going to have permanent lunar stations there. People will be spending up to a year, two years maybe, on a mission to the surface of the moon.鈥�
Looking further afield, all the astronauts agree that putting people on Mars, while difficult, was likely by the 2070s. 鈥淲ithin that 50-year time frame, I鈥檓 quite confident of saying we will have Mars missions,鈥� says Peake.
Isaacman thinks there is no question that people will get to Mars in our lifetime if SpaceX鈥檚 Starship crewed missions to the moon are successful, the first of which is due to launch next year. But he concedes that there are some 鈥減sychological and societal issues that you鈥檙e going to have to work out鈥� if we want to establish a permanent Martian base.
Duke, who has seen first-hand how much effort is required to travel to another celestial body, is also optimistic, but recognises the challenges ahead: 鈥淚t鈥檚 orders of magnitude harder to get to Mars with people than it is to land on the moon.鈥�
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