| 0s | In late 2018, tourists will be heading |
| 4s | into space and there is a race on to get them |
| 7s | there. I've done lot of adventurous |
| 9s | things on Earth... but going into space is |
| 11s | kind of the ultimate adventure. |
| 14s | Virgin Galactic would at last take |
| 16s | paying customers beyond the stratosphere, |
| 18s | but their efforts might be eclipsed by |
| 21s | SpaceX... a company planning to send two |
| 24s | tourists around the Moon... taking them |
| 27s | further into space than any human since |
| 29s | in 1972. Science fiction is becoming |
| 33s | science fact. And that's what we're gonna see next year. |
| 46s | The first that will happen when you are in space is just a feeling |
| 48s | of weightlessness. Being free like a bird, |
| 53s | |
| 56s | watching the beautiful Earth, the blue |
| 59s | waters, the land masses, the darkness of |
| 63s | the universe in the back. I can't think |
| 67s | about a better place to be. There's a new |
| 70s | breed of would-be astronauts for whom |
| 73s | the sky is no limit. It's very difficult |
| 77s | to be an adventurer on Earth today. Most |
| 80s | of the world is already discovered. |
| 81s | I've certainly done my part in traveling around |
| 83s | world, but space, that is where the true |
| 87s | frontier is for us in 2018, being an |
| 91s | adventure, that's where we've gotta go. But |
| 94s | it's not in everyone's reach. Multi-millionaire |
| 97s | entrepreneur Per Wimmer will |
| 100s | be one of the first tourists to go into |
| 102s | space with private company, Virgin |
| 104s | Galactic. Going to space ain't cheap, I've |
| 107s | certainly spent more than a million |
| 110s | dollars. The ticket itself and then you got |
| 113s | training and it starts to add up. If all |
| 117s | |
| 119s | Virgin Galactic will launch Mr. Wimmer |
| 121s | to the edge of the atmosphere, where |
| 123s | he'll be able to look back down on Earth. |
| 129s | But Elon Musk's aerospace company, SpaceX, |
| 132s | plans to go one step further on a flyby |
| 135s | loop around the Moon. It's orders of |
| 138s | magnitude more difficult to get to orbit |
| 141s | or to go around the moon. |
| 142s | The energies, the fuel, the power the |
| 145s | materials are on a whole different level. |
| 148s | We have a liftoff. 32 minutes past the |
| 151s | hour, liftoff on Apollo 11. |
| 153s | Only 24 astronauts have ever made the |
| 156s | almost 240,000-mile to Earth's nearest |
| 160s | neighbor. In 2018, two paying customers |
| 164s | could be the first humans to venture |
| 166s | that far into space for over 40 years. |
| 169s | But this mission is shrouded in mystery. |
| 174s | They've not disclosed who's actually |
| 176s | going but someone with the means of |
| 178s | paying for private-rocket launch and a |
| 181s | trip that has never been done before. |
| 184s | There are serious doubts whether these |
| 186s | ambitious targets can be reached in 2018. |
| 189s | SpaceX has yet to carry out fundamental |
| 192s | tests on the launcher. But if these |
| 195s | missions do go ahead, they'll be |
| 197s | dangerous ventures. Only about 550 people |
| 201s | in total have ever been to space. And |
| 204s | launching is still a risky endeavor. |
| 207s | |
| 210s | Until we get that perfected, it's gonna |
| 212s | be one of the challenges private |
| 214s | space companies face. Obviously a major |
| 218s | malfunction. 18 people have died in |
| 221s | spaceflight and one of Virgin Galactic's |
| 223s | own test pilots lost his life in |
| 225s | |
| 228s | Once you're in space, everything from |
| 231s | orbital debris traveling at 17,500 miles |
| 234s | an hour to the loss of bone and muscle |
| 237s | density, which could have detrimental |
| 239s | effects to your health. You have got to |
| 242s | take risk, you are pushing the boundaries. |
| 244s | Family, friends, they tend to be more |
| 247s | concerned. I have signed a letter of |
| 251s | consent, I take on the risk, but I'm |
| 254s | aware what I'm doing. This boom in the |
| 257s | commercial space industry marks a new |
| 259s | era in space travel. The fact that the |
| 263s | private sector has to compete with one |
| 265s | another requires they innovate and that |
| 268s | will help drive down cost. This is extremely important for revolutionising |
| 274s | access to space. As more and more people go to |
| 277s | space and we master space tourism... |
| 280s | that's gonna enable whole new |
| 282s | economies in space. We'll be able to go |
| 285s | to the moon, to asteroids, to Mars |
| 289s | all because we lowered the cost of |
| 291s | |
| 292s | I could see space travel being open to |
| 295s | the masses within a decade. And opening |
| 299s | space out to the masses may have an |
| 301s | impact on the way humans see the Rarth |
| 303s | itself. When Apollo 8 came around the |
| 307s | dark side of the Moon and saw Earth for |
| 309s | the first time as a whole disc, that gave |
| 312s | us a sense of how small we are. Space |
| 316s | tourism has the ability to help change |
| 319s | humanity's perspective on what it means |
| 321s | to be human and what it means to take |
| 324s | |
| 325s | |
