James D'Amore, Auburn aerospace engineering graduate and engineer at Boeing, has dreamed of traveling into space--and that dream may soon become a reality for the average citizen.
"I am truly excited with an abundance of enthusiasm that the commercial sector has decided to begin creating ways for everyday people to get to space," D'Amore said.
Virgin Galactic, a branch of Virgin Atlantic Airways, plans to offer the first space tourist flight by the end of 2012.
"With Virgin Galactic leading the charge in this area, I see that ticket I've been waiting for as a child finally turning into a reality," D'Amore said.
However, there are some disadvantages to commercial space flight.
For example, if Virgin Galactic's promise to fulfill dreams of commercial space travel becomes a reality, it may become less important for NASA to develop new ways to take astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
D'Amore said as a result of the commercial space industry growing and establishing itself, President Obama has canceled the funding of NASA's Constellation program designed to expand the space exploration frontier by working to take astronauts back to the moon and to Mars and beyond.
"While I understand the reasoning behind this move, I think it is lacking in thought from many points," D'Amore said. "With the president's decision to hand over a lot of this power to the private sector, it not only incredibly dims the beacon light of NASA, but it also makes our nation no longer look like the commander of the world's space industry, as we'll have no current way of our own travel into space."
Rhonald Jenkins, a retired Emeritus professor of aerospace engineering and president of The Auburn Astronomical Society, said he believes government support is vital in the success of commercial space travel.
"I think that the most efficient approach for commercial spaceflight is to have a true partnership between government and industry," Jenkins said. "By this, I mean that the government would provide significant startup money so that all the risk would not be assumed by the industry."
Jenkins, who has worked as a faculty member in government agencies, primarily NASA, said he believes the reason a large-scale effort in spaceflight must involve government support is because of the tremendous sums of money involved.
"Personally, I believe that NASA should stick to what is done so beautifully in the past: unmanned exploration of the solar system and basic research," Jenkins said. "The partnership would then concentrate on commercial spaceflight."
John Cochran, professor and head of the aerospace engineering department, said he too believes the government should be involved in the production of commercial flights into space.
"They will have to satisfy government security requirements," Cochran said. "A spacecraft could be used as a weapon and do considerable damage on Earth or to orbiting satellites."
So far, approximately 410 people, most from the United States, have committed to the full price of $200,000 to travel into space.
The passengers would only be required to have two days of training before the flight takes off.
They are invited to many different parties and gatherings around the world to celebrate being a part of the exclusive community who will become the first to commercially travel into space.
During the flight, travelers will go about 120 km above the Earth's surface and will be able to experience zero gravity for five to six minutes.
For now, commercial space travel is in the near future, but developments and further research design is underway.
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