Mars Panel Sees Affordable Space Travel   

Forget about Hawaii or the slopes of Aspen, future vacations could truly be an out-of-this-world experience. This is what some scientists believe may be the future fad in holiday travel. They claim everyday space travel could become affordable for tourists and sightseers within a few years. This group of entrepreneurs and scientists made their case Wednesday at a hearing on travel to the moon and then to Mars. The meeting at the Georgia Institute of Technology is part of a series of public hearings before a presidential commission about the feasibility of the moon-Mars concept. The commission will forward its findings to the president in June.

Peter Diamondis, chairman of the X Prize Foundation, was one of the attendees at the meeting. He said space flight should become more of a private industry that is profitable for businesses and practical for people who aren't professional astronauts.

"What we need is a vibrant, real marketplace," said Diamondis, whose foundation is offering a $10 million award to a team that can pull off a space flight twice within two weeks. "We need thousands and millions of flights."

Progress is difficult, Diamondis said, when whole programs stop after a disaster like the Challenger or Columbia explosions. Jeff Greason, CEO of XCOR Aerospace, believes space travel would become more reliable if it were more common. He said the current 1-in-50 chance of a catastrophe is unacceptable. The panel agreed and said NASA should bid out many of its needs to private industry.

"We're looking for the model by which the private sector would invest in this," said commission chairman Pete Aldridge. "It does have something of value to the entrepreneurial spirit."

FMI: www.moontomars.org