Customer Reviews

Space Tourism: Do You Want to Go?: Apogee Books Space Series 49

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Today we are on the cusp of a space tourism industry as being witnessed by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galatic announcement to forge the Southwest Regional Spaceport in New Mexico into a significant launch facilities for hundreds of fare paying passengers before the end of the decade. Nonetheless, John Spencer's book is wonderfully imaginative in the Part 2 (Chapters 4,5, and 6). I commend the book to those who dare to think beyond the traditional. It takes this type of fanciful scenraio-building to create the reality many of us hope for in the next decades.

John Spencer offers a fascinating vision of what space settlement can entail, with solid, practical exercises that help people work through the intellectual and creative process that's required to make space habitation a reality.

For someone new to the subject and concepts of space tourism, this book is an excellent introduction to what may very well be the near future. John Spencer seemingly captures the essence of all that's good and pure with venturing into space. This book is well organized at presenting a past, present, and future perspective on space tourism. The discussion on obstacles and how to overcome those factors is very intriguing, as the role of politics and economics take center stage. The wide array of design concepts for space tourism is most intriguing.

As a book full of great ideas, future concepts, and an overall fun read, I highly recommend this book.

John Spencer (with Karen L. Rugg) has produced a landmark volume on the subject of Space Tourism at Apogee Books. The book is organized in three well-thought out parts: 1) "Space Toursim", in which the author offers a pragmatic and thorough analysis of the nature and challenges of space tourism - above all its technical and economic issues -; 2) "The Space Experience" in which the reader is effectively "transported" to 2033 on a journey onboard Orbital Super Yacht DESTINY for the experience of a lifetime - very cool -; 3) "The Space Toursim Quest", a valuable historical review of the milestones of Space Tourism to date, with a discussion of where this burgeoning industry will go next - investors and future space tourists, take note!-. The book also comes with an insightful forward by retired NASA Astronaut Rick Searfoss, nice color plates, and very useful Acronyms and Index lists.
John Spencer makes a convincing case that the Age of Space Tourism has finally come. He offers an authoritative and comprehensive look at this new field of human endeavors. The vision is forward-looking and optimistic, but the approach is, for once, grounded in realism and basic economic and business principles. This is a well-written instant classic that will appeal to laymen and aerospace professionals alike, from visionary entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, to engineers, space program managers, policy makers, and all citizens of our planet who wish to share in our exciting human future in space.

This was a fun and engrossing read. The book took a look at several things, including the state of affairs in space tourism over the last 20-30 years, design studies for future orbital yachts, and current efforts to engage the tourism and entertainment industries with the "space geeks".

The description of efforts by space tourism enthusiasts was inspiring. These "true believers" kept the fire alive through the 80s and 90s. One detail I hadn't known was how they played an important role in hooking up Dennis Tito with MirCorp.

I was impressed by the design studies of orbital space yachts. They are quite imaginative and cool, and would make for a great experience. My only qualm is that they're a bit Star-Trekky with all the dependence on AI.

I enjoyed the discussions of the cruise line industry, which I hadn't known much about before. And it was great to see how John Spencer is engaging the tourism indutry to get them interested in space. His work will be very valuable in making these ideas go mainstream, hopefully in the near future.

John Spencer outnlines the ways that the average citizen will be able to go into space. He gets down to the details, including how the automated systems will function, and what the physical architecture will be. It may not actually happen this way, but it should!

John Spencer has made a valuable contribution to the source of his life-long passion -- Space Tourism. He has produced a thoroughly enjoyable story to read, a solid reference book, a plan and a vision that should have wide appeal to everyone from young sci-fi readers to old aerospace crumudgeons and most people in between. Emphasizing that Space Tourism is an "experience business" rather than a space business puts it into clearer perspective. His modeling the nascent Space Tourism industry after the super yatch and cruise industry is an example of how he "thinks outside the sphere". As a long-time space professional, I highly recommend this book as an important addition to your library or as a fitting gift to an adventuresome friend.

Jack Flannery, President
National Space Science & Technology Institute