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Every Space Tourism Package Available in 2021 Ranked: From $125K to $60 Million

From virgin galactic's suborbital ride to spacex's multi-day orbital voyage, we've rounded up every space tourism package available..

2021 is a historic year for commercial space travel. A record number of civilian orbital and suborbital missions launched successfully: Elon Musk ’s SpaceX launched four amateur astronauts into Earth’s orbit for the first time; a Russian film crew spent 12 days on the International Space Station shooting the world’s first movie in space; and two multi-billionaires flew to the edge of Earth’s atmosphere as the first passengers of their respective space companies to show the public that their new spacecrafts are safe and fun.

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As with everything in its early stages, space tourism today is unattainably expensive (although demand appears to be strong enough to keep existing companies in this market busy for several years). But eventually, as technology matures and more companies enter the industry, prices will hopefully go down. As a space tourism entrepreneur told Observer this summer, going to space in the future “will be more and more like going to Europe.”

Below, we’ve rounded up every space tourism package that is either available now or in the near future. We have listed them in the order of price and compared them by travel duration, maximum altitude, passenger cabin amenities, and value for money—if you can afford it, that is.

Space Perspective: “Hot Air Balloon” to Stratosphere

Price: $125,000 Flight altitude: 30 kilometers What you’ll get: A relaxing six-hour ride to the stratosphere in a balloon-borne pressurized capsule. Date available: 2024 Value for money:  ★★★★ (4/5 stars)

Founded by the team that launched Alan Eustace in 2014 for his Guinness World Record space jump , Florida-based Space Perspective in June began selling tickets of its yet-to-be-licensed “Spaceship Neptune” flights.

A pressurized capsule designed to carry up to eight passengers and one pilot will be slowly lifted by a hydrogen-filled balloon the size of a football field when fully inflated to 19 miles (30 kilometers) in the sky, about three times the altitude of commercial planes. The passenger cabin features a bar, a bathroom and huge windows specially designed for sightseeing.

The balloon will hover at its peak altitude for about two hours before slowly descending to a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean, where passengers and will be picked up by a recovery ship.

Because the space balloon moves at only 12 miles per hour during ascent and descent, no special training is required before the ride. Space Perspective completed a test flight in June. The company expects to begin flying paying customers before the end of 2024.

Virgin Galactic: Suborbital Joy Ride

Ticket Price: $450,000 Flight altitude:  50 km What you’ll get: A 90-minute ride to 50 kilometers above sea level in a SpaceShipTwo spaceplane. A few minutes of zero-gravity experience during descent. Date available:  Now Value for money: ★★ (2/5 stars)

If you like a more thrilling space experience provided by a company with a little bit of a track record, Virgin Galactic (SPCE) ’s 90-minute suborbital flight might be your choice.

In July, the company’s founder, Richard Branson , became its first passenger and flew to the edge of Earth’s atmosphere in a VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo spaceplane along with two pilots and three Virgin Galactic employees.

A pioneer in the nascent space tourism industry, Virgin Galactic began selling seats in 2013 at $250,000 apiece. By the time it halted sales in 2014 (after a test flight failure), the company had collected deposits from more than 600 aspiring customers. Ticket sales resumed in August this year at a higher price of $450,000. Virgin Galactic said it has since received 100 reservations.

Each VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo can carry up to four passengers. Virgin Galactic expects to fly paying passengers three times a month in 2023. At its current reservation volume, it will take the company a number of years to clear its wait list. So, patience is your friend here.

Blue Origin: Quick Rocket Trip to the Kármán line

Ticket Price: Reportedly $28 million Flight altitude: 100 km What you’ll get: A 12-minute ride to the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space. Date available:  Now Value for money: ★ (1/5 stars)

Blue Origin offers a similar suborbital flight package to Virgin Galactic’s. The main difference is that Virgin flies passengers in a plane while Blue Origin launches amateur astronauts in a real rocket.

On July 20, a few days after Branson’s spaceflight, Jeff Bezos became the first customer of his own space company as well, blasting off to 107 kilometers in the sky in a New Shepard booster-capsule combo. The same spacecraft launched another crew of four passengers, including Star Trek actor William Shatner , on October 13.

Blue Origin began taking reservations in May. The exact ticket price is still a mystery. Bezos has said Blue Origin will price New Shepard flights similarly to its competitors, which led us to speculate that it would likely fall in the range of what Virgin Galactic charges. But, according to Tom Hanks , the ride would cost $28 million, which he said was the reason he turned down Bezos’ invitation to fly on the October mission. Hanks may have been joking, but $28 million was how much an auction winner paid to fly alongside Bezos in July. Of that total, $19 million was donated to various space organizations, Blue Origin said. If the remaining amount went to the company itself, it was still a hefty $9 million.

Blue Origin said it has raked in $100 million from private clients, but refused to disclose how many tickets have been sold.

SpaceX: Multi-Day Orbital Voyage

Ticket Price: Estimated $55 million Flight altitude: 574 km Date available:  Now What you’ll get: Three-day stay inside SpaceX’s Dragon capsule circling around Earth with three crew mates. Value for money: ★★★ (3/5 stars)

SpaceX has more experience launching humans into space than any other company in this roundup. Its civilian package, rightfully the most expensive of the bunch, provides the closest experience to true space exploration.

In September, four amateur astronauts blasted off into space in a modified SpaceX Dragon capsule, equipped with a 360-degree glass dome, and spent three days flying in Earth’s orbit. The crewed spacecraft shot up to an altitude of 357 miles, about 100 miles higher than the average orbital altitude of the International Space Station.

The trip was paid for by tech billionaire Jared Isaacman, who was also one of the passengers. SpaceX didn’t disclose the exact amount he paid. It was estimated in the $200 million ballpark, given that NASA pays about $55 million for each seat on SpaceX’s regular crewed missions to the ISS.

Axiom Space/SpaceX: Vacation on International Space Station 

Ticket Price: $55 million Flight altitude: 408 km Date available: 2022 What you’ll get: A 10-day trip to the International Space Station, including a weeklong stay in the orbital lab. Value for money: ★★★★★ (5/5 stars)

Next year, another four-person, all-civilian mission is expected to launch with a SpaceX Dragon capsule, this time to actually dock at the International Space Station and let the crew live in the orbital lab for a week. (The Inspiration4 mission stayed in orbit only.)

The trip is marketed by Houston-based Axiom Space , a company led by former NASA official Michael Suffredini. Dubbed Ax-1, the mission will be piloted by former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría. Three passengers—Larry Connor, Mark Pathy and Eytan Stibbe—have reportedly paid $55 million each for the remaining seats.

Axiom has three more flights planned in 2022 and 2023. Under NASA’s low Earth orbit commercialization policy, two ISS civilian missions no longer than 30 days are allowed per year. Axiom actually aims to eventually build a stand-alone space station to replace the aging ISS. The first major module is expected to launch in 2024.

Roscosmos: Customized Trip to International Space Station

Ticket Price: $50 million to $60 million Flight altitude: 408 km Date available: Now What you’ll get: A 12-day trip to the International Space Station. Value for money: ★★★★★ (5/5 stars)

If you don’t feel like buying your first space trip from an inexperienced private company, Russia’s national space agency Roscosmos has a ISS getaway package very similar to what Axiom and SpaceX have to offer.

In October, Roscosmos sent an actress and a director to the ISS for a 12-day trip to shoot scenes for what will be the first movie filmed in space. On December 8, another civilian, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, known for having booked a SpaceX Starship flight around the moon in 2023, will travel to the ISS in a Russian Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft, set to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Maezawa will fly with his assistant, Yozo Hirano, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin. According to Space Adventures , a Virginia-based company currently working with Roscosmos on future commercial flights, a seat on an ISS-bound Soyuz spacecraft will cost in the range of $50 million to $60 million.

• SEE ALSO : What Melinda French Gates’s Philanthropy Could Look Like Post-Gates Foundation

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Space tourism: What are the pros and cons?

Space tourism has its fans — and its critics.

Private companies are offering many opportunities to make the leap off Earth , ranging from a quick suborbital hop to a multi month stay on the International Space Station (ISS). But the advent of the space tourism industry has spurred a vigorous debate: Is it helping to propel humanity to the stars , or is it just letting rich people have a little fun while providing no real value?

Here's a look at the pros and cons of space tourism.

Related: How SpaceShipOne's historic launch 20 years ago paved the way for a new space tourism era

The pros of space tourism

A handful of private individuals, colloquially known as space tourists,  managed to purchase tickets to the ISS or Russia's Mir station. However, with the end of the space shuttle program in 2011, NASA canceled any further opportunities. That picture changed with the emergence of private spaceflight companies headed by various billionaires, including Elon Musk's SpaceX , Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic .

Of the three, only Virgin Galactic has a stated long-term goal of promoting space tourism, offering quick suborbital flights just above the Kármán line — the arbitrary but internationally recognized edge of space. Paying customers can get a similar experience with Blue Origin, but that company hopes to pivot to orbital industries. With SpaceX, you can get a multiday stay in orbit, but you'll have to bid against numerous government contracts for the opportunity.

Promoters of space tourism have suggested various benefits of the industry. For example, many space tourists are actively running and participating in experiments, such as examining the effects of microgravity on human health , plant growth and material properties. This is real science that needs to be done to propel humanity to the stars.

There's also financial propulsion, with hundreds of millions of dollars of investment going into the newfound industry. Companies are developing new equipment, techniques, technologies and more so they can offer tickets to space. And the more we invest in space in general, the better off our shared ventures will be.

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The frequent launches of space tourists, including celebrities such as William Shatner , have caught the media by storm. This, in turn, fuels more public interest, which can lead to more discussion, more awareness and more funding.

The cons of space tourism

On the other hand, critics of space tourism point out that the industry is catering solely to exceptionally wealthy individuals. Ironically, this can lead to a sense of public disillusionment with space: Instead of opening it up to everyone, it might cause people to roll their eyes at the inaccessibility. Basically, it's just rich people doing rich-people things.

Because of the enormous cost of a ticket — anywhere from hundreds of thousands to tens of millions of dollars — it's hard for most people to see the value in space tourism as an industry. They simply don't get to participate in it. 

And while some space tourists have conducted experiments during their expeditions, those experiments haven't exactly been revolutionary or consisted of anything that couldn't be done by astronauts on the ISS. So space tourism isn't really advancing human spaceflight in any significant way.

Lastly, space tourism is a niche business. While some companies have developed technologies that are specific to this industry, those technologies will not necessarily transfer to other space-related activities, like industrial or scientific applications. We could be spending all this time, money and resources on a business venture that never grows significantly and never leads to anything else.

The bottom line

The bottom line is that space is hard — it's difficult to get to space, and it's difficult for humans to remain in space for any length of time. Most space tourism companies have folded well before their first attempted launch, and it's not clear that this business niche will grow all that much. Only roughly 60 people have been to space as tourists, and the vast majority of them have gone only on quick suborbital joyrides with a few minutes of weightlessness. 

There are only a few launches, at most, every year dedicated to space tourism, and a peek at planned launch schedules reveals that this number will not change much over the coming years.

— Do space tourists really understand the risk they're taking?

— The rise of space tourism could affect Earth's climate in unforeseen ways, scientists worry

— Most Americans expect routine space tourism by 2073, but few would actually try it  

Most people will never get the opportunity to become a space tourist; it will likely remain a niche industry serving a select set of very wealthy individuals. It's not a game changer in any direction. It will continue to be a component of the overall human interest in space but not a major driver of innovation or expansion.

But hey, if you're ever given the chance, go for it!

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Paul M. Sutter is an astrophysicist at SUNY Stony Brook and the Flatiron Institute in New York City. Paul received his PhD in Physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2011, and spent three years at the Paris Institute of Astrophysics, followed by a research fellowship in Trieste, Italy, His research focuses on many diverse topics, from the emptiest regions of the universe to the earliest moments of the Big Bang to the hunt for the first stars. As an "Agent to the Stars," Paul has passionately engaged the public in science outreach for several years. He is the host of the popular "Ask a Spaceman!" podcast, author of "Your Place in the Universe" and "How to Die in Space" and he frequently appears on TV — including on The Weather Channel, for which he serves as Official Space Specialist.

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• GregB03 In its early days aviation was something that only the rich could afford to do. It took a while for it to reach prices that were affordable to the general population . It's early days for commercial space travel. Reply

GregB03 said: In its early days aviation was something that only the rich could afford to do. It took a while for it to reach prices that were affordable to the general population . It's early days for commercial space travel.

Osbert said: If these people were going someplace, I might agree with you but UP and then free-falling, is not a "destination". It's not a destination if you arrive, basically where you started from. Let's start launching people UP and over/out too actually land some place >> because they wanted to get to that/some place. Also, UP and freefall is not space travel. Far from it, lol. It's a fair/carnival ride - period. Nothing but an uncontrollable joy-ride in a tin-can - WEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

ChrisA said: The Writght brothers were not rich. Their dad was a preacher and they owned a bicycle shop. In the early days, the people in the field were skilled tradesmen. The first passenger to die was a young army officer. But later when aviation was commercialized, yes ticket prices were high

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Top 11 space travel destinations

Jun 27, 2012 • 5 min read

Fire up the jet pack, suck in some thin air, get a taste of zero g – it’s time to take one small step for yourself, and a giant leap for humanity. Here are 11 destinations related to space travel, whether you'd rather observe from the ground or head up there yourself.

1. Palomar Observatory, USA

High on Palomar Mountain, at an elevation of 1800m to avoid light pollution, the Palomar Observatory in San Diego is simply spectacular – as large as Rome’s Pantheon . It’s almost as beautiful as the Pantheon, too, with a classic design dating from the 1930s. The Observatory houses the world’s once-largest telescope, the 5.1m Hale Telescope, operated chiefly by computers now rather than humans. These days the observatory is chiefly used to track near-earth asteroids and is open to the public daily.

2. Kennedy Space Center , USA

Located on the famous Cape Canaveral in Florida , this is the granddaddy of all space facilities, the launch pad for the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programmes, as well as the various space shuttles. Remember masses of spectators gleefully cheering on astronauts ascending to the heavens; the Challenger shuttle falling to the sky to the horror of those watching…that’s all Kennedy. You too can witness history: select a launch date and park beside the highway a few miles away for free views. Or pay to get inside the VIP visitor’s area on the cape for the ultimate view.

3. Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan

Fans of Borat may laugh, but Kazakhstan has at least one genuine tourist attraction: the Baikonur Cosmodrome, still under lease to the Russians. This is the world’s oldest facility for launching space vehicles ( Gagarin blasted off here) and has been a backdrop in Star Trek and William Gibson stories, among others. Join a tour and geek out at the obligatory space museum, as well as seeing the facilities where rockets are prepared and the actual rockets themselves.

4. Arecibo Radio Telescope, Puerto Rico

The Arecibo Observatory houses the world’s largest radio telescope, a beautiful structure (a work of art to many) featuring a huge, spherical reflector dish, 300m in diameter, composed of 40,000 perforated aluminium panels embedded into the surrounding jungle. Suspended by cables almost 140m above is a 900-tonne platform housing an extremely complicated system of antennas and units for focusing radio waves received from deepest space. It’s all far too complex to do justice to in 100 words. The telescope features in the films GoldenEye and Contact . Thankfully, it is open to the public (or at least an observation platform is).

5. Very Large Array , USA

Like Arecibo, the VLA in New Mexico is also featured in Contact, as well as in 2010 (sequel to 2001) and Independence Day – all films about alien contact. The VLA consists of 27 radio antennas, each 25m wide, arranged in a Yshape, with one arm of the array extending 21km. Each antenna can be moved to various positions on locomotive tracks and the output of the entire array syncs together, effectively functioning as one super-antenna with an area of 36km.

6. Star City, Russia

If you were a civilian visiting here a few decades back, you might have been shot or detained indefinitely, for Star City, Russia ’s cosmonaut-training complex, was strictly off-limits while the Cold War was yet to thaw. These days you can book a tour to Star City, which has its own shopping centre, post office and train station. While you won’t be able to peer in at the cosmonauts’ living or training quarters, you will be able to visit the awesome Space Museum , with its 20,000 exhibits including space suits, space vehicles and assorted Gagarinalia.

7. Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre, China

This gargantuan launch facility, 1500km from Beijing in the remote Gansu province, is where most Chinese space vehicles leave Earth. The centre’s huge – about 3000 sq km – and, China being China, is strictly off-limits to nonrocket types. Still, you can visit Jiuquan, the small town it takes its name from. It’s in the desert, but because of the whole space infrastructure, it’s not as primitive as other isolated Chinese towns. And it boasts thoroughfares with names like ‘Space Road’, so you know you’re in the right place.

8. RSC Energia Space Museum, Russia

The RSC Energia Corporation built the Salyut and Mir space stations, the Soyuz rockets and numerous other extraterrestrial vehicles – the backbone of the Soviet space fleet. Now they’ve put this exceedingly rich history on display in Moscow , showcasing everything from rusting descent modules to gleaming satellites and massive booster stages. The ‘60s selection is surely the best, featuring those exotic, grandiose, bulbous designs that seemed a million light years away from NASA’s functional hardware. Marvel at how three cosmonauts squeezed into a space the size of a closet; lie down on Mir’s bunk beds and dream of Mars.

9. International Space Station, Low Earth Orbit

The ISS has been inhabited since 2000 and was assembled in space; construction is ongoing. A joint project between the USA, Russia, Japan, Canada and the European Space Agency, the ISS promises to usher in a new age of spacey cooperation. Do you want to visit? Then shell out $US20 million like Dennis Tito, the world’s first space tourist, who spent seven days, 22 hours and four minutes aboard this box in the sky.

10. Tanegashima Space Center, Japan

No, it’s not the complex where Ernst Stavro Blofeld launched his secret rocket fleet, only to be foiled by James Bond. In fact, Japan has a legal space programme plan and Tanegashima is a vital cog in that, mainly used for satellite launches. Located on Tane Island, 100km south of Kyushu , the centre is open to the public, except when Japan’s space agency is shooting complicated hunks of metal into the air. Visit the launch complexes and interact with the wonderful full-scale simulacra of the Japanese Experiment Module.

11. Spaceport America, USA

The launch pad for Virgin Galactic, Spaceport America , is in New Mexico . Flights are expected to begin in the next couple of years, so you have just enough time to save up the  $200,000 needed for a ticket.

Further reading : our travel editors recommend good places to gaze at the stars .

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Travel Space Holidays , based in Guwahati (Assam), is a prominent tour operator in North East India. Came into existence in 2015, the company was formed by Ms. Piyali Kar Mazumder. It is her smart business strategies and hard work that make the company carve a niche for itself in this travel domain. Under her guidance, we have been growing speedily and became a preferred choice of holidaymakers.

Travel Space Holidays is a crew of travel experts. Our team members are professionals in their work and owing to their sheer dedication; we have been successful in establishing a sizable clientele within a short span of time. We mainly organize tours for various destinations in North East India including Assam, Guwahati, Kaziranga, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Gangtok, Darjeeling, etc. Our tour packages are offered under the categories of romantic tours, hill station tours, beach holidays, wildlife discovery, pilgrimage, etc. Besides designing tour packages, we specialize in offering the affordable services of making reservations in hotels/motels/luxury resorts/guest houses, flights, and trains, providing cars on a rental basis, and getting passports & visas, and travel insurance.

All our efforts rotate around our customers and our sole objective is to give them the ultimate travel experience and incomparable quality services. We work as a travel guide for our customers available at any time with complete travel information that is accessible from any part of the country.

Remaining economical, reliable, and at the forefront of technology and its commitment & customer-centricity allow Travel Space Holidays to better understand & satisfy customers’ needs and deliver consistently.

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8 space-themed trips for families, from astronomy stays to NASA space launches

For kids inspired by India’s landing on the moon, here are eight destinations where families can explore the stars, space and beyond.

If India’s landing on the moon this August has ignited or renewed your family’s fascination with the stars and space exploration, there are countless ways to indulge this interest while travelling. Museums, reserves, festivals and historical attractions all over the world celebrate the secrets of the universe, while autumn and winter skies also provide the best opportunities for stargazing. Here are eight trip ideas to inspire budding astronauts and astronomers.

1. Kennedy Space Center , Florida

Organised into chronologically grouped attractions and tours based around mission launches from the US Space Program, the NASA-operated Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is a must for aspiring astronauts and space-lovers. Hands-on experiences range from live presentations delivered by astronauts to the new Astronaut Training Experience Center. At the latter, children aged 10 to 17 (with an accompanying adult) can experience the sensation of spacewalking and navigating Martian terrain.

Top tip:   The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is the closest place from which the public can view rocket launches at Cape Canaveral, for which it provides seating stands and commentary; check the website for scheduled launches to plan your trip around.

2.   North York Moors, Yorkshire

One of only 21 International Dark Sky Reserves in the world — designated as such because of their pristine skies — this lovely part of England is host to one of the UK’s family-friendly National Parks Dark Skies festivals. Well timed to coincide with the latter part of autumn half term in England (27 October to 5 November 2023), the North York Moors Dark Skies Fringe Festival includes bat-box making, sessions in night navigation, evenings with winter owls and moonlit coastal walks.

Top tip:   If you miss this one, plan ahead for the bigger North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales Dark Skies Festival in February 2024.  

3. Pic du Midi, French Pyrenees

There are few observatories in the world where you can eat a delicious dinner, spend the night stargazing before retiring to a cosy cabin, then get up to watch the sun rise above the clouds. Getting to the Pic du Midi Observatory   from Toulouse is also an adventure in its own right, involving a ride on two cable-cars up to 9,440ft. Once there, guided astronomy sessions help kids discover Saturn and its rings, clusters of stars in deep space and solar flares on the Sun’s surface via some of the world’s most powerful telescopes.

Top tip: If you’re flying to France, wait at least a day before travelling up to Pic du Midi, to avoid the possibility of altitude sickness.

4. Mount Teide, Tenerife

The most popular of the Canary Islands, there’s more to Tenerife than beaches and whale-watching. It’s also home to the largest solar observatory in the world, sitting at an altitude of 7,840ft on Spain’s highest mountain, the Teide volcano. Ride the cable-car up for a scientist-led tour, which includes the chance to observe the Sun through portable solar telescopes. The special family visits include a fascinating 90-minute workshop exploring how observatory astrophysicists carry out their research.

Top tip: For a longer immersion, book a 6.5-hour night tour with Volcano Teide Experience — a guided hike up through Teide National Park, spotting bats and volcano cones, stopping for a picnic before a star-gazing session.

5.   Jantar Mantar, Jaipur

A key stop on India’s classic ‘Golden Triangle’ itinerary alongside the Taj Mahal, the colourful city of Jaipur is home to UNESCO-listed Jantar Mantar — a unique astronomical observation site built in the early 18th century, featuring about 20 large-scale instruments that look like something straight out of a surrealist painting. Set in the heart of Rajasthan’s state capital, kids can clamber around the sculpture-like installations in an open-air setting; a highlight is the world’s largest sundial.

Top tip: Visit at midday, when the position of the sun vertically ahead makes it easier to interpret the readings of each instrument.

6.   Jodrell Bank, Cheshire

One of Cheshire’s biggest attractions is the University of Manchester’s UNESCO-listed, world-leading science research institute, centred around the Grade I-listed Lovell Telescope. There’s lots of interactive fun and learning across several indoor exhibition spaces, including new permanent displays about the history of Jodrell Bank , the Clockwork Orrery working model of the solar system and its hands-on science displays in the Space Pavilion. It also has a programme of family-friendly events, including the annual summer Bluedot festival, which brings together live music and science workshops.

Top tip: Bring a picnic to make the most of 35 acres of grounds including an arboretum, ponds, guided pathways, a playground and outdoor exhibits such as a pair of giant ‘whispering dishes’ for kids to call between.  

  7.   Atacama Desert, Chile

Home to one of the most powerful astronomical tools in the world, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array telescope, this arid northern region of Chile has some of the globe’s clearest skies and best star-gazing potential. Adventurous families can take night tours from San Pedro that use high-end computerised, hand-held telescopes to scan the high-altitude skies, with guides who explain how the ancient people of this region related to the cosmos.

Top tip: Plan your trip to avoid the period around the full moon — there are five nights a month when it’s typically so bright that star-gazing tours can’t run.

8.   EPCOT, Walt Disney World, Florida  

One of four Disney theme parks in Orlando, EPCOT   — which stands for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow — celebrates technological innovation, futurism and the universe. At the Mission: SPACE pavilion, for example, the main attraction is two rides that simulate what an astronaut might experience aboard a spacecraft on a mission to Mars. Afterwards, families can refuel in the pavilion’s Space 220 restaurant, modelled after a space station, with themed dishes such as starry calamari. In 2022, the park also opened an area called Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind with characters from the film, the park’s first rollercoaster and entertainment bringing space travel to life.

Top tip:   At Mission: SPACE,   kids looking for a gentler experience should choose the Green Mission simulator; Orange Mission offers a more heart-pumping, intense ride.

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Space travel comes with risk − and SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission will push the envelope further than any private mission has before

University Distinguished Professor of Astronomy, University of Arizona

Disclosure statement

Chris Impey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

University of Arizona provides funding as a member of The Conversation US.

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Space is an unnatural environment for humans. We can’t survive unprotected in a pure vacuum for more than two minutes. Getting to space involves being strapped to a barely contained chemical explosion .

Since 1961, fewer than 700 people have been into space. Private space companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin hope to boost that number to many thousands, and SpaceX is already taking bookings for flights to Earth orbit.

I’m an astronomer who has written extensively about space travel, including a book about our future off-Earth. I think a lot about the risks and rewards of exploring space.

As the commercial space industry takes off, there will be accidents and people will die. Polaris Dawn, planned to launch early in September 2024, will be a high-risk mission using only civilian astronauts. So, now is a good time to assess the risks and rewards of leaving the Earth.

Space travel is dangerous

Most Americans vividly recall the disasters that led to the loss of 14 astronauts’ lives. Two of the five space shuttles disintegrated, Challenger in 1986 soon after launch and Columbia in 2003 on reentry.

In total, 30 astronauts and cosmonauts have died while training for or during space missions.

There have also been dozens of close calls . Two astronauts are currently staying on the International Space Station for an extra six months because NASA declared their Boeing Starliner vehicle unsafe for the return journey. Starliner has had many problems during its development, including flammable tape, stuck valves and inadequate parachute systems. But a critical thruster malfunction is what caused NASA to abandon it as a return vehicle.

It’s not always safe on the ground, either. In addition to the three Apollo 1 astronauts who died in a 1967 launch pad fire, about 120 people died in the launchpad explosion of an unmanned rocket in Russia in 1960, and hundreds died in 1996 when a Chinese rocket veered off course and crashed into a nearby village.

The fatality rate of people traveling in space is about 3%. That sounds low, but it’s higher than extreme sports such as BASE jumping or jumping off a cliff wearing a wingsuit. The only recreations that rival the risk of space travel are solo free-climbing and climbing above 19,685 feet (6,000 meters) in the Himalayas.

Civilians in space

The 2020s have kicked off the era of civilian astronauts. After the death of schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe in the Challenger disaster , NASA stopped sending civilians into space. But for commercial space companies, it’s part of the business model.

The first all-civilian crew to reach orbit rode a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft in 2021, the Inspiration 4 mission. Since 2020, 69 private astronauts have gone to space, although only 46 reached the Kármán line – the formal definition of the edge of space.

The commercial space industry’s safety record is not perfect. No civilian has died in space, but one pilot died and another was seriously injured in a test flight of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo craft in 2014. This accident followed three deaths and three injuries in an explosion during a prelaunch test of the SpaceShipTwo rocket in 2007.

SpaceX, the largest commercial space company with 13,000 employees and a market value of US$180 billion, has seen no fatalities in flight, but it has recorded one death and hundreds of injuries in the workplace.

The Polaris Dawn mission was planned to launch Aug. 27, 2024 , though a helium leak and bad weather has delayed it. It will push the envelope of risk for civilians in space. This SpaceX flight will reach an altitude of 435 miles (700 kilometers), higher than any astronauts since Apollo.

The Polaris Dawn’s four-person civilian crew will receive a hefty dose of radiation , getting as much in a few hours as they would in 20 years on the Earth. NASA is doing research to understand the extent of the health risks from radiation.

The mission will also include a spacewalk – the first for nongovernment astronauts. It will use spacesuits never tested in space. Since the spacecraft they’re using – the SpaceX Dragon – has no airlock, the inside of the capsule will be exposed to the vacuum of space, with all the crew members wearing spacesuits.

Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov nearly died during the first spacewalk in 1965, and other spacewalks have led to temporary blindness, near drowning and nearly being lost in space forever. A spacesuit is like a miniature spacecraft, and it has to withstand rapid temperature changes of hundreds of degrees when moving in and out of direct sunlight. Even a small tear or puncture can be fatal.

But while space travel comes with dangers, it also has rewards. Since Polaris Dawn will travel higher than any previous mission that did not go to the Moon, the crew will be able to do research on high-radiation environments . They will investigate the effects of spaceflight on the human body and evaluate how future deep-space travelers might diagnose and treat themselves.

A less tangible but potentially profound benefit is the overview effect – many astronauts report a feeling of awe from experiencing the Earth from space.

Space is booming – hopefully just metaphorically and not literally. SpaceX makes money by launching Starlink satellites and ferrying supplies and people to the International Space Station, with estimated revenues of $15 billion this year. Blue Origin sells rocket engines and has contracts with NASA.

Both companies sell rides into space to high-net-worth individuals, but that’s a small fraction of their revenues. Space tourism is not available to the masses yet. Virgin Galactic offers a short, suborbital ride for $450,000, but getting to Earth orbit will cost you $55 million.

The space tourism market was $750 million in 2023, and that’s projected to grow to $5.2 billion over the next decade. Reusable rockets have made the cost of launching a spacecraft 10 times cheaper than it was a decade ago.

For space tourism to take off with a demographic broader than multimillionaires and thrill-seekers, it needs to be safe – both in perception and in reality. Many space entrepreneurs expect space travel to follow aviation’s arc, which also started by attracting rich people and thrill-seekers.

Since 1930, improvements in technology and safety features have lowered the number of fatal accidents in the aviation industry per million miles flown by a factor of 3,000. A more realistic target may be to make space travel as safe as driving . That’s a more lenient target, since driving is more dangerous than flying . Your annual odds of dying in a car crash are 1 in 5,000, compared with annual odds of 1 in 11 million of dying in a plane crash.

In the United States, the government has kept regulations light on the commercial space industry to encourage entrepreneurs.

Elon Musk’s dreams of millions of passengers and a city on Mars may not become reality. But if the cost of a jaunt to Earth’s orbit comes down to the cost of a high-end cruise, many people could experience the thrill of weightlessness and of seeing the Earth as a beautiful planet from above.

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Polaris Dawn Astronauts Launch on Ambitious Private Mission

The mission is taking people farther from Earth than anyone has traveled since the end of NASA’s Apollo moon missions.

SpaceX Launches Polaris Dawn Private Spaceflight Mission

Polaris dawn successfully launched tuesday morning with four nonprofessional astronauts aboard..

4, 3, 2, 1. Ignition. Two minutes into flight, everything continues to look good. Stage separation confirmed. I believe this view here is — Yep, it’s of the trunk. You can see it separating from the second stage. A gorgeous view.

By Kenneth Chang

On Tuesday morning, Jared Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur, launched to space for a second time. The mission, known as Polaris Dawn , is a collaboration between Mr. Isaacman and SpaceX, the rocket company led by Elon Musk.

“Send us, SpaceX,” Mr. Isaacman said with just over 30 seconds left in the countdown.

At 5:23 a.m. Eastern time, a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Less than 15 minutes later, the crew of four astronauts inside the Crew Dragon capsule — that will be their home for the next five days — were in orbit.

“We’re going to get to work now,” Mr. Isaacman said in an exchange with the launch controllers on the ground.

The Polaris Dawn mission will mark some milestones for private spaceflight — the first spacewalk conducted by nonprofessional astronauts, and the farthest journey from Earth by anyone since NASA’s moon landings more than 50 years ago.

Why was the flight delayed?

The launch was scheduled for Aug. 28, but was called off because of a helium leak. After that, unsettled weather around Florida has proved troublesome — not so much for the launch, but for the splashdown on the sixth day.

The Polaris Dawn mission carries limited amounts of air, food, and other supplies. “Unlike an I.S.S. mission, we don’t have the option to delay long on orbit, so we must ensure the forecast is as favorable as possible before we launch,” Mr. Isaacman explained on X , referring to the International Space Station.

On Tuesday, the weather outlook improved, and the Polaris Dawn astronauts boarded their spacecraft. However, they had to wait on the ground. Because of rain showers near the first launch opportunity, at 3:38 a.m., it was skipped. Then the skies cleared up enough for the launch.

Who is on board?

In addition to Mr. Isaacman, the crew consists of Scott Poteet, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel and pilot who is a longtime friend of Mr. Isaacman’s; and two SpaceX employees, Anna Menon, a space operations engineer, and Sarah Gillis , an engineer who oversees astronaut training.

How high above Earth will Polaris Dawn travel?

The launch put the spacecraft and crew on an elliptical orbit that comes within 118 miles of the Earth’s surface and then swings out to an altitude of 745 miles. That is the farthest from Earth that anyone has traveled since the Apollo moon missions.

Several orbits later, a thruster firing will push the farthest point of the orbit even farther out, to 870 miles. That will be higher than the 853-mile altitude that the NASA astronauts Pete Conrad and Richard Gordon reached during the Gemini XI mission in 1966, the record for astronauts on a spaceflight that was not headed to the moon.

The elliptical orbits will provide new insights into the bombardment of radiation and micrometeroids farther out in space.

Another thruster firing will drop the Crew Dragon into a lower orbit for the rest of the mission.

What will happen during the spacewalk?

It is scheduled for Thursday, the third day of the mission, although a time has not yet been announced.

All four crew members will put on their spacesuits, and then all of the air will be let out of the capsule. The hatch will then be opened and the inside of the spacecraft will become part of the vacuum of outer space.

Only two people — Mr. Isaacman and Ms. Gillis — are to leave the capsule to do the walk. Mr. Poteet and Ms. Menon will remain in the capsule to manage the umbilical cords and monitor the readings to make sure everything is proceeding properly.

The main goal of the spacewalk is to test the spacesuits, which SpaceX developed for this flight. The spacesuits are an evolution of those worn on earlier SpaceX missions, adding capabilities like protection against micrometeroids and temperature controls for the astronauts.

After Mr. Isaacman and Ms. Gillis return inside and close the hatch, the inside of the capsule will be repressurized.

What else will they be doing in orbit?

Before and after the spacewalk, the crew will conduct about 40 experiments, including obtaining magnetic resonance images of the astronauts’ brains and attempting to take X-ray images without an X-ray machine by using the natural showers of radiation that stream through outer space.

The mission is also raising money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis.

How is this different from Mr. Isaacman’s first space trip?

In 2021, Mr. Isaacman led and financed a mission that he named Inspiration4 . It was the first trip to orbit without a professional astronaut aboard. Instead of bringing friends, Mr. Isaacman provided seats to a former cancer patient at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital , who now works there as a physician assistant, and to two space enthusiasts who won contests .

The Inspiration4 mission went into low-Earth orbit for three days and then splashed down off Florida.

Mr. Isaacman described Polaris Dawn as a “joint effort” with SpaceX, seeking to develop new technologies that could be used for Mr. Musk’s dream of sending people to Mars someday. He declined to say how much he or SpaceX was investing.

Kenneth Chang, a science reporter at The Times, covers NASA and the solar system, and research closer to Earth. More about Kenneth Chang

What’s Up in Space and Astronomy

Keep track of things going on in our solar system and all around the universe..

Never miss an eclipse, a meteor shower, a rocket launch or any other 2024 event  that’s out of this world with  our space and astronomy calendar .

Four private astronauts aboard an ambitious space mission  led by a billionaire entrepreneur traveled farther from Earth than any other human being in more than half a century, reaching altitudes not visited by any astronaut since the Apollo moon missions .

A spacecraft operated by the European Space Agency and Japan made its closest approach yet to Mercury, sending back sharp, black-and-white images of the planet’s barren, speckled surface at sunrise .

Leaving behind the two NASA astronauts it took to the International Space Station three months ago, Boeing’s troubled Starliner spacecraft is set to begin  its return to Earth soon.

A speeding star is traveling through the Milky Way at around a million miles an hour. It could be moving fast enough to break free from the gravitational clutches of the galaxy .

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The most popular holiday trips revealed, according to google flights.

Travel trends are constantly changing, and the destinations people choose to visit change every year.

Google Flights has revealed the most popular flights at the moment, with many travelers looking to get away for the holidays.

Orlando, Cancun, New York, Tokyo and London were the most popular destinations people are searching for between Nov. 24 and Dec. 1, in that order.

Looking at fight data departing from US Airports between Dec. 22 and Jan. 5, the most popular trips for Christmas and New Year’s Eve include destinations of Tokyo, Orlando, Cancun, Miami and New York.

“If you’re traveling within the U.S. for Thanksgiving, our aggregate data shows that the cheapest fares are usually available in early October,” James Byers, group product manager, search at Google, told Fox News Digital .

Though many of the cities overlap for the different holiday destinations, Orlando seems to be the popular favorite, taking the number one spot for most popular destination for Thanksgiving and the number two spot for Christmas and New Year’s Holidays.

It’s likely this is due to the year-round warm weather with the attractions of theme parks such as Disney World and Universal Orlando.

Cancun, Mexico, another sunny destination, also topped both lists, coming in second for Thanksgiving and third for the December holidays.

But despite the lack of warmth, New York came in third place for popular Thanksgiving destinations, perhaps in part thanks to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and other seasonal activities, like ice skating at Rockefeller Center.

Airlines have been trying to keep up with these travel trends by updating their routes.

American Airlines has added new flights to warm and sunny places like St. Lucia, St. Maarten, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, while JetBlue and Southwest are bringing their services to the Bahamas and Puerto Rico.

Top destinations for Thanksgiving

• Los Angeles

Top destinations for Christmas and New Year’s Eve

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With no crew aboard, spacecraft Starliner lands without a hitch

Nell Greenfieldboyce

This image, taken from NASA video, shows the Boeing Starliner capsule coming down through the darkness over New Mexico. NASA hide caption

The beleaguered Starliner spacecraft, built by Boeing, successfully landed in New Mexico just after midnight Eastern time, ending a crucial test flight that proved to be a real headache for NASA.

Officials at the space agency feared that Starliner’s thrusters might malfunction during its return, just as some thrusters had on its journey to the International Space Station.

That’s why, when the gumdrop-shaped space capsule parachuted down to Earth, it carried only cargo — and its first crew remained safely on board the International Space Station.

Leaving them there “was a tough decision to make. It was really hard to determine whether to be uncrewed or not,” Steve Stich , the program manager for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, told reporters earlier this week.

But there was enough uncertainty with regard to how the thrusters would perform that NASA officials preferred to err on the side of caution. The space agency, after all, remains haunted by two past disasters, the loss of space shuttles Columbia and Challenger and their crews.

This handout image supplied by NASA shows Boeing and NASA teams work around NASA's Boeing Crew Flight Test Starliner spacecraft after it landed uncrewed at White Sands Space Harbor, on Friday at White Sands, N.M. Aubrey Gemignani/NASA via Getty Images hide caption

After Starliner made a picture-perfect landing, Stich told reporters that the spacecraft did well during its return flight.

"It was a bullseye landing," he said. "It's really great to get the spacecraft back."

Asked by a reporter if he had any second thoughts about NASA's decision not to fly astronauts home on Starliner, Stich said "it's always hard to have that retrospective look" but "I think we made the right decision."

He said while he and others on the team felt happy about the successful landing, "there's a piece of us, all of us, that we wish it would've been the way we had planned it" with astronauts on board when it landed.

"I think there's, depending on who you are on the team, different emotions associated with that," he continued. "I think it's going to take a little time to work through that, for me a little bit, and then for everybody else on the Boeing and NASA team."

Starliner launched on June 5 with astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on board, and Boeing and NASA initially said their test flight would last about eight days.

Boeing faces hard questions about Starliner and its future in space

Instead, the mission stretched out for weeks as Boeing and NASA workers tried to understand why some thrusters had failed as Starliner approached the station.

The decision to bring Starliner back without its crew means that the astronauts will have to live on the station until February.

“Since we knew this was a test flight, with intention we put them through long-duration space station training,” says Dana Weigel , NASA’s program manager for the station, who adds that the astronauts have been helping out with chores and science experiments. “We had them well prepared to move into this role.”

The astronauts will be going home on a previously scheduled flight by Boeing’s competitor, SpaceX. NASA had to rejigger its plans to make sure two seats would be free in that SpaceX capsule.

What’s more, in case the space station suffers an emergency that forces an evacuation before that capsule arrives, the station’s crew had to jerry-rig two extra seats in a different SpaceX spacecraft that’s currently docked there.

All of this has been a blow to aerospace giant Boeing. Starliner had two previous flights, without a crew on board, and both experienced problems — its first flight, in 2019, didn’t even make it to the station.

SpaceX, meanwhile, received less money from NASA to develop a commercial space taxi service, yet nonetheless managed to develop a vehicle that’s been taking astronauts to and from the station for years.

NASA started its commercial crew program to encourage industry to take over the job of ferrying astronauts and cargo to the station, so that it could focus on going back to the moon and beyond.

Opinion: Think you have a rough travel story? Try 52 days stuck in space

Now that Starliner is back on the ground, Boeing and NASA will further analyze the thrusters to see if modifying the spacecraft or how it's flown could keep the thrusters from overheating in the future.

Mission managers put the thrusters through their paces after Starliner undocked from the station and before it piloted itself to a safe landing at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.

“Many parts of the flight went extremely well, and Starliner is a great spacecraft,” Stich said. “What we really need to go do is look at the things that didn’t perform the way we expected.”

SpaceX launches private mission that's expected to feature the first all-civilian spacewalk

A SpaceX capsule carrying four private citizens blasted off early Tuesday on a five-day mission that is set to include the first spacewalk carried out by an all-civilian crew.

The mission, known as Polaris Dawn, lifted off at 5:24 a.m. ET from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 

The journey is designed to carry the four crew members to the highest orbital altitude that humans have reached since the final Apollo moon mission in 1972: 870 miles above Earth’s surface. That’s more than three times higher than the International Space Station.

While in space, the group will test new spacesuits and technologies that could pave the way for future long-duration missions to the moon and eventually Mars.

The four-person crew is made up of billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, founder and CEO of the payment processing company Shift4; retired Air Force Lt. Col. Scott “Kidd” Poteet; and SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon. Isaacman, who funded and took part in the first all-civilian SpaceX mission to orbit in 2021, is bankrolling the Polaris Dawn mission in partnership with SpaceX.

The crew members rode to orbit in a Crew Dragon capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket.

Shortly after the capsule reached orbit, Isaacman thanked everyone who had supported the mission and went out to watch the liftoff.

“We appreciate it. We’re going to get to work now,” he radioed to mission controllers on the ground.

The spacewalk is scheduled for 2:23 a.m. ET Thursday. SpaceX will stream the event live. The company said there is a backup spacewalk opportunity Friday if needed.

Isaacman and Gillis are expected to exit the Crew Dragon spacecraft on a tether, but because the spacecraft does not have a pressurized airlock, the entire capsule will be depressurized and exposed to vacuum conditions. All four astronauts will wear and test newly designed spacesuits during the spacewalk.

If successful, the outing will make history. Previously, only astronauts from government space agencies have ventured into the vacuum of space to build or upgrade space stations in orbit, repair satellites and conduct scientific experiments.

During the mission, the Crew Dragon capsule’s orbit will be distant enough for the spacecraft to pass through the inner regions of the Van Allen radiation belt, a zone of high-energy radiation particles trapped by Earth’s magnetosphere.

That will allow scientists to study the effects of space radiation on the astronauts and the vehicle. The findings could help SpaceX plan missions to the moon and Mars, which would require astronauts to fly through the inner and outer Van Allen radiation belts.

In a post-launch statement on X, the Polaris Dawn crew described their lofty goals.

“Our collective interest in space should neither be too big to fail nor too costly to succeed,” the crew members wrote. “It should be an enduring effort to unlock the mysteries of the universe and in the process, make life better here on Earth. As we embark on our journey today, know that we wish all of you Godspeed as we explore together.”

The Polaris Dawn launch was initially planned for late August, but it was postponed after a helium leak was detected  at the launch pad, then delayed again because of poor weather off Florida, where the SpaceX capsule would splash down to end the expedition.

Isaacman launched the Polaris program in partnership with SpaceX to test technologies and maneuvers for exploration beyond Earth’s orbit. Polaris Dawn is the first of three planned spaceflights that the billionaire is funding. He has not disclosed the cost of the program or the possible objectives and timing of the other missions.

Denise Chow is a science and space reporter for NBC News.

Tourist discovers space rocket debris when snorkeling in Honduras

• Mike Irmen found a piece of a rocket ship while snorkeling in Honduras.
• The debris is likely the fairing of a rocket, which is a shell that protects the rocket during lift-off.
• Irmen posted photos of the debris on Reddit, where it has gone viral.

When Mike Irmen went snorkeling during his August trip to Honduras, he expected to discover stunning marine life, but what he ended up finding was a piece of a rocket ship.

In a now-viral Reddit post , Irmen – an aerospace engineer from Dayton, Ohio – shared what he discovered when he and his family spent one day of their vacation exploring the small islands known as the Cochino Cays Marine Sanctuary , a protected Marine Natural Monument west of Roatan. The family chose to visit Honduras after Irmen's co-workers said the scuba diving was pristine.

"We heard the snorkeling was really good right near there," he told USA TODAY. The family rented a boat, hired a guide and loaded up their snorkeling gear.

Love Mexico? Visit Nicaragua for its beaches and adventure without crowds.

The boat had stopped at an island approximately 200 yards long and Irmen's daughter wanted to wander around before the family jumped in the water. Irmen said the island seemed uninhabited, with only several trees and an abandoned hut. Standing from the hut, Irmen noticed a large piece of "debris on the ground."

Learn more: Best travel insurance

With his background in aerospace engineering, Irmen quickly recognized the object to be made of carbon fiber. "The fastener material, the nuts and bolts and things, this is obviously something," he said. "That allowed me to go, huh, that's something aerospace-esque related."

Upon returning home, he posted photos of the debris on the subreddit r/space, "thinking it was part of a rocket."

When he woke up the next morning, Irmen realized the post had blown up. As of Tuesday afternoon, there are over 57,000 likes and around 1,400 comments. "Overall, it's been a fun experience," he said.

As seen in the photos, there's a logo on the debris that reads Arianespace, a French-founded launch company. Arianespace did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for comment. It's possible the debris is the fairing of a rocket, which is a shell that protects the rocket during lift-off and later drops off as the rocket ascends through the atmosphere.

The Key Points at the top of this article were created with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and reviewed by a journalist before publication. No other parts of the article were generated using AI. Learn more .

The best time to book Thanksgiving and holiday travel is coming up, plus tools and tips to save money

Check out top holiday destinations and learn about the best time to book.

As people say farewell to summer and set their sights on fall travel , with the holidays creeping up just behind it, Google has new statistics on everything from top trending destinations to flight-booking tips and tools for travelers to save money on seasonal getaways.

Use the insights below as a guide and resource when you're ready to start making travel plans.

2024 Holiday travel trends: Top destinations for Thanksgiving and Christmas

Popular Thanksgiving destinations show more domestic locations represented in the data from Google Flights , including Chicago, Phoenix, and Dallas-Fort Worth.

Between Christmas and New Year's, people are more likely to travel abroad to places like Manila, Sydney, Mexico City or Madrid.

Best time to book flights for Thanksgiving, holiday travel

With flight prices constantly in flux, it can be hard pinpoint the lowest prices. According to Google's data, it's best to book travel further in advance, especially if you need to be on a specific flight.

If your top priority is cheap airfare, look at the historical patterns by searching Google Flights for a specific destination and dates of travel. The tool will show the cheapest time to book based on that information, so travelers can decide whether it's better to book immediately or wait for prices to drop.

Based on four years of aggregated Google Flights data, the trends show that U.S. travelers who book domestic trips score the lowest prices 38 days before departure, on average. The historical low price range is 21-52 days before takeoff.

Expert's top travel tip for booking flights: Follow the 21-day rule

For international flights, Google data found it's better to book as early as possible with average prices at the lowest 101 days before departure and the historical low price range 50 days or more before takeoff. The average airfare prices abroad from the U.S. usually start to rise within 50 days of the flight itself.

For domestic travel during Thanksgiving, prices tend to be the lowest 45 days before departure, with a range of 26 to 59 days out. The best time to book cheap flights is early October for anyone planning to fly right before or after the turkey-centric holiday.

At Christmas, it's better to plan a bit further ahead with prices for domestic flights at the lowest 58 days prior to departure, and the low price range 36 to 72 days out. The best time to book a cheap flight around Christmas is the later part of October.

Trips to Europe from the U.S. tend to be cheapest 94 days before departure, Google found. But don't wait for prices to drop, the historical low price range is 50 days or more before takeoff, which is the same as the general advice for all international travel.

How to save money booking travel with tools on Google

"With Google, you can quickly find and compare prices for all your travel options, whether you need to book a flight or find the perfect place to stay," James Byers, group product manager of Search for Google, said in a statement .

He also shared "a few of our favorite, tried-and-true ways to save money with Google's travel tools -- right in time for your holiday travels."

Score deals browsing maps, dates with Google Flights

As most travel experts often reiterate, the more flexible your plans can be, the more opportunities there are to find savings.

Use the Explore map to browse deals globally

If you don't have a specific destination in mind, tap the Explore icon to look at a map with various flight prices based on a starting airport. From there, use filters to adjust results based on factors like budget, trip length or flight duration.

Look at the date grid and price graph

For any travelers that know where they want to go and have flexible dates, use the grid and price graph to quickly scan when prices will change depending on when you are able to fly. The date grid on Google Flights shows how prices change with any slight adjustments to the departure or return dates.

Additionally, looking at historical prices, the cheapest days of the week to fly are Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, which are typically 13% cheaper than flying on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. If you exclude international trips, the potential savings jump to 20%.

Finally, if you're willing to opt for a layover versus nonstop flight, Google says you're likely to get a better deal: On average, nonstop flights have been 25% more expensive than flights with stops, according to Google data.

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Since the first astronauts spent time in space, scientists have known that space travel affects the human body in strange ways. Muscle and bone mass decrease; telomeres, the protective end caps on chromosomes, shorten; and the risk of conditions usually associated with old age, such as cancers, cataracts and cardiovascular disease, ticks up.

Why the human body should decline faster in space is still largely a mystery, but one that researchers are tackling with increasing urgency as civilian space travel becomes more feasible.

Their discoveries could not only allow future space travelers to stay healthier and journey farther, but also treat a variety of ailments in Earth-bound humans.

In a recent study that involved sending muscle samples to the International Space Station, some 250 miles above Earth, researchers from Stanford Medicine found that the lack of gravity in space impairs the normal regenerative ability of skeletal muscle.

The samples were grown from muscle cells donated by healthy volunteers on scaffolds of collagen to resemble the bundled structure of muscle fibers. They spent seven days growing in space, then were frozen until their return to Earth.

The researchers found intriguing similarities between muscle that had spent a week in microgravity (gravity aboard the International Space Station is about 0.1% of gravity on Earth) and muscle in older adults with sarcopenia, a muscle-wasting condition that develops over decades.

The impaired regeneration could contribute to why astronauts' muscles weaken even with regular exercise.

"Microgravity is almost like an accelerated disease-forming platform and environment," said Ngan Huang , PhD, associate professor of cardiothoracic surgery and senior author of the study published recently in Stem Cell Reports . "It's important to understand how microgravity is affecting different tissues in the body, with skeletal muscle being one of the most essential ones because of how much of it we have in our bodies."

Most of the aging effects astronauts experience in space, such as muscle and bone loss, can reverse once they return home.

Huang's team also tested drugs that partially prevented these impairments in the muscle samples, which could benefit terrestrial seniors and space travelers -- perhaps even senior space travelers -- alike.

Markers of aging

"It's difficult to do clinical research on aging, because you cannot tell the FDA that you've come up with a drug that can prolong life by five to 10 years -- it's very difficult to design that trial for logistical reasons," said Joseph Wu , MD, PhD, director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, the Simon H. Stertzer, MD, Professor and professor of medicine and of radiology.

Instead, researchers focus on specific markers associated with aging, such as cognitive decline, walking distance or sarcopenia, Wu said. Space provides a unique opportunity to study these markers on a shorter timeline.

His lab is separately investigating microgravity's impact on the heart and has sent three batches of samples to the International Space Station: heart muscle cells in 2016, 3D-structured heart tissue in 2020 and heart organoids (simplified mini-organs made up of different cell types) last year.

They've found that microgravity causes weakening of heart tissue, similar to that seen in patients with heart failure. They are analyzing the results from the 2023 launch , in which half the samples were treated with drugs to counter these effects.

Impaired regeneration

Huang's team found significant genetic changes in the skeletal muscle samples that had been to space, with over 100 genes upregulated and nearly 300 downregulated compared with identical samples kept on Earth. The changes indicated a shift toward more lipid and fatty acid metabolism and more inclination toward cell death. Certain muscle cells, known as myotubes, became shorter and thinner in microgravity.

These changes pointed to impaired regeneration and showed some similarities to sarcopenia, the muscle-wasting condition that affects 10% of people over the age of 60.

"It's believed that with every decade of life, you start losing some percentage of your muscle mass and gaining body fat," Huang said. "It becomes much more apparent in the later stages of life, over the age of 60."

Even Huang was surprised by how quickly these changes happened in space. "It's notable that in just seven days in microgravity, you see these profound effects," she said.

Some of the samples, infused with drugs known to promote regeneration (insulin-like growth factor-1 or 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase inhibitor), were less impaired.

Ultimately, Huang, who is also a principal investigator at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, hopes to find ways to enhance muscle regeneration to heal traumatic muscle injuries, like those many veterans suffer in combat.

"When we have small muscle tears, which happen with exercise, or some type of mild injury, muscle is normally quite regenerative," she said. "The muscle itself harbors stem cells that turn into what we call muscle progenitor cells. And those cells give rise to new muscle."

But if a large chunk of muscle is destroyed in a traumatic injury, that muscle doesn't grow back.

The new study proves that space can be a valuable platform for testing therapies that boost muscle regeneration, Huang said.

Other space dangers

While it's not yet clear exactly how microgravity leads to these profound changes, what's certain is that all life on Earth evolved in the presence of gravity.

"It's one of the foundational stimuli that every life form is subjected to," Huang said. "It's not until we suddenly take it away that we realize it's so important."

Though Wu is confident that microgravity is the major factor in these studies, he said we can't ignore other challenges of space travel.

The stress of being launched into space then returning to Earth might affect the tissue samples, for example. And in space, cosmic radiation ­-- high-energy, charged particles produced by stars, including our sun -- can penetrate space capsules and cause damage. 

To isolate the effects of microgravity, Huang plans to try the same experiments in a device that simulates microgravity -- a random positioning machine that spins samples on two axes simultaneously, generating a sense of weightlessness.

(In fact, gravity at the relatively low altitude of the International Space Station is only slightly lower than on Earth's surface. The microgravity aboard the station is largely due to the velocity of its orbit around Earth, creating a constant sense of freefall.)

For humans to eventually embark on years-long journeys to distant planets, scientists are looking into hibernation, inspired by the ability of squirrels and bears to sleep through long winters without eating. Hibernating space travelers might be able to stall aging during a long trek.

"If you can address microgravity, cosmic radiation and hibernation, then you can imagine a future in which an astronaut or civilian can hop from one planet to another planet to another planet," Wu said.

Along the way, researchers could find ways to slow aging, treat radiation-induced toxicity in cancer patients or even allow terminally ill patients to hibernate until treatments are found.

"It sounds like science fiction," Wu said. "But 100 to 200 years from now, this could all be possible."

For more information

This story was originally published by Stanford Medicine SCOPE .