Gopi Thotakura- India's first space tourist: Understanding the profession of space tourism

Gopi Thotakura, a pilot and entrepreneur has been gaining all the limelight these days as he becomes the very first Indian to ever enter into space as a tourist! The Blue Origin's NS-25 mission comprised six crew members of which Gopi Thotakura was one of them. Blue Origin Enterprises, L.P. is actually an American aerospace manufacturer and space technologies company that was founded by Jeff Bezos back in the year 2000.

What makes the piece of news even more essential is the fact that in case the mission goes smoothly and successfully, Gopi Thotakura will become the second Indian to ever step into space. It is known to all that the very first Indian to ever go into space was Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, who went to space in the year 1984 on a Soviet spacecraft. The launch date of the mission is not announced yet. 

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Understanding the profession of space tourism

In case you think that the tourism industry is only limited to exploring what's on the planet, you may be thinking less. Space tourism is also a thing- it is a part of the aviation sector that gives an opportunity to tourists to experience the wonders of space travel and become astronauts for business or leisure purposes.  It can be easily understood that space travel is mainly done for recreational reasons. Now, there are many forms of space tourism such as lunar, orbital, or suborbital space tourism. Tourists experience the joy of looking at Earth from space. Viewing the planet from afar is only one of the many joys. The experience of super high speed and feeling completely weightless for some time are also reasons why man travels to space as a tourist. Understanding space and science better through experience can also be one of the important motivators for people to choose the path of space tourism. All in all, the unique unusual experience of going into space as tourists is unmatched.

Now, talking about the types of space tourism, then sub-orbital space tourism actually takes space tourism passengers beyond the Kármán line. It takes the passengers to the boundary between the atmosphere of the Earth and the outer space. In this type of space tourism, the passengers get the opportunity to spend some time in outer space and then return to Earth.

On the other hand, in the case of the orbital spacecraft, the passengers are taken much beyond the Kármán line. Moreover, unlike in the sub-orbital case when the passengers spent only a few minutes in space, the orbital spacecraft allows the passengers to spend a couple of days in space.

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