“Space: the final frontier”.
It has been almost five decades since William Shatner/James T. Kirk voiced those four iconic words as Star Trek took to the airwaves in 1966 – and for the majority of the world’s population, the realm beyond our planet is still very much an improbable dream.
Today will see Major Tim Peake become the first Briton to serve on a mission to the International Space Station, when he blasts off from Kazakhstan. But for all but a fraction of us – 54 years after Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space, and 46 after the moon landings – journeys beyond the strictures of gravity remain science fiction.
Or do they? The concept of space tourism has been growing and shape-shifting since the dawn of the new millennium – and should money be no (massive) object, then there are ways to go where some (if not many) men and women have most definitely gone before.
Of course, the very idea of “space” needs some definition. One being the “Karman Line” – the distant notion which, at 62 miles above sea level, is generally deemed to be the boundary line between the Earth’s atmosphere and what lies beyond. But even if 327,360ft over the ocean is still a little lofty for all but professionals, those with a head for heights may find the following routes to the stratosphere more than a little appealing...
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By Chris Leadbeater
Picture: GETTY
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