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Robert Walker

Well, not possible at present, we don’t have that kind of technology. The ISS needs to be replenished from Earth every few months. Russia used to charge $20 - 40 million to fly for over a week to the ISS, but stopped doing that. Space tourism. So at present prices, assuming those prices are reasonable, two to three million dollars a day, but not in a spaceship on your own, that obviously would cost far more, and you’d need to stay close enough to Earth to be resupplied frequently.

Also Russia has increased its prices for US astronauts, although no longer receiving private bookings.

So it might be more like $10 million a day if you could somehow persuade Russia to take you to the ISS as a private citizen. (diagram from Russia is squeezing NASA for more than $3.3 billion — and there's little anyone can do about it)

It is tricky anyway because at present, there are only two ways to get into space; on the Russian Soyuz or as a Chinese Taikonaut. Neither of those are currently accepting paying customers. SpaceX say they will be able to send hundreds of people into space, but they have yet to send their first astronaut. They have had two explosions of their unmanned spacecraft - neither of which would have killed a human crew, they say. Still, it leads one to wonder if they will achieve it and do it as safely and as quickly as they suggest.

You could also start your own space program of course, if you had billions of dollars, and also had a way to get easy access to the rocket technology needed to get into space.

You also have the problem of health. Nobody knows if it is possible to stay healthy in zero g. If it is, then it seems you have to do a couple of hours of strenuous exercise every day to stay less fit than someone who spent the period in a bed in a hospital. We don’t have any experiments yet in artificial gravity through spinning, though it seems an obvious thing to try.

So, sadly, no not very practical at present. Who knows what the future will hold, though? Amongst other things, better closed system recycling would reduce the cost of living in orbit a lot, as you wouldn’t need to be resupplied from Earth so often. Then the cost for launch from Earth is likely to go down a lot. Artificial gravity in space through a spinning tether or centrifuge might mean you can stay healthy long term (probably).

About the Author

Robert Walker

Robert Walker

Writer of articles on Mars and Space issues - Software Developer of Tune Smithy, Bounce Metronome etc.
Studied at Wolfson College, Oxford
Lives in Isle of Mull
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