Space Tourism- Pleasure v.s Prominence

 Space Tourism- Pleasure v.s Prominence?

I gaze into the starry omnipresence above, pondering over it’s insoluble depths, trying to fathom what lies up above. Suddenly, a tumultuous roar penetrates my earbuds, sending my nerves into overdrive, and lighting my nostrils on fire. As I gaze in the direction of the uproar, my cautious confusion is altered into calm curiosity, as I watch as a Gargantuan rocket ship soars up into the space above. Finally, I think, we will discover the potential of outer space. Years and years of research, billions of dollars invested, and it will now be to discover secrets so spectacular that it will all be worth it. The result? Nothing. Absolutely nothing but squandered time, money, and sanity. Aliens? None. We have footprints on the moon, and an even bigger carbon one. Space tourism is a vulgar display of power and wealth, completely unnecessary, and must be prescribed to cease the brutality it unleashes on our ecosystem.

One of the major issues with space tourism is the carbon footprint it discharges into our atmosphere. Space.com wrote, “According to Dallas Kasaboski, principal analyst at the space consultancy Northern Sky Research, a single Virgin Galactic suborbital space tourism flight, lasting about an hour and a half, can generate as much pollution as a 10-hour trans-Atlantic flight. Some scientists consider that disconcerting, in light of Virgin Galactic’s ambitions to fly paying tourists to the edge of space several times a day.” This goes to show that the emissions of one space shuttle in just 90 minutes is equivalent to that of an entire global trip by aeroplane! Experts state that the inhumane production of soot and carbon dioxide emitted from space shuttles, when coming in contact with Earth’s preliminary layers(those before the atmosphere), deposits voluminous quantities of aluminum oxide, as well as other harmful materials contained, into the Earth's higher layer(the atmosphere), creating about 1% of the fuel and emissions burnt by aviation in the last Century! So is a pleasure trip for a couple of tycoons worth cutting the bind that holds our ecosystem together? Propellants and greenhouse gasses that are circulating around the planet and being fed by space travel have a long-lasting effect on our climate, and must be severely regulated.

How necessary is space tourism? Is a gaudy flash of wealth really something that should be permitted? According to the Times of India, despite the positive implications space travel could have on the future generations, all positive innuendos for this alluring “tourist attraction” are whittled away by one key factor: wealth. Less that 0.1% of people can afford the luxury of space travel, and to do so is the ultimate flex. There simply is no use in space travel when the resources that must be pooled in to do so are far too “out of budget”. So when the richest man in the world decides that he wants to take a tour outside world borders, and backlash is immediately launched into space with him, it is for good reason. So what is the solution to this all? Earl Blueaneur, a member of the Tax Writing Ways and Means Community, proposed a form of taxation to require people to travel into space. However, that takes the lure out of it all, doesn’t it? Both sides of the equation lead to disaster. Tried and tested, space tourism is a bust, and upon doing so, Jeff Bezos and other members of the ST community have committed a grave sin- flashing their wealth in the faces of the less fortunate, and abusing their wealth and power to engage in a seemingly useless exhibition.

Indubitably, there are benefits to space travel and the community Jeff Bezos and his rich comrades are creating. For the carbon footprint, it can be argued that Space Tourism only makes up a measly portion of the impact, and that people would be better off focusing on the big picture. Though that is true, according to the NYT, this is just the start of an era, an era that if were to grow, would have cataclysmic results pertaining to our climate. It can also be stated that spending vast amounts of money on something that has positive impacts on “scientific discovery” rather than splurging it on trivial ornaments or jewelry is a much more prominent outcome, and while that may be true, that still doesn't justify space tourism based on the points mentioned in previous paragraphs.

So a rush into space, turning a blind eye to the execrable fuel to climate change, and a profane amount of wealth spent on seemingly nothing but pleasure. The allure and charm of the occult void that is space has drawn billionaires away from the very Earthly problems existing now. Space travel is an execretable demeanor, a slur, and a stab in the back. It must see a means to an end, before the minuscule problems occurring start to skyrocket into oblivion, and before all of humanity is plunged into a similar deep, dark chasm of nothingness.