According to a recent report in the London Daily Telegraph, space tourists are now able to purchase tickets to travel on a NASA-aproved rocket to the international space station, but liars, drunks and delinquents need not apply.
NASA has reluctantly agreed to allowing more amateur astronauts make the voyage into space after originally being against the idea of the first space tourist going into orbit. NASA’s new attitude comes with a list of requirements to become eligible for a space visa.
The published guidelines make it clear that applicants can be denied the visa if they are found to be criminal, dishonest, delinquent, or infamous. Potential space cadets will also be disallowed if they are found to have displayed “notoriously disgraceful conduct,” or if they have made intentional false statements or committed fraud.
Applicants, who must be able to read and speak English, can also be denied for alcohol and drug abuse. Additional criteria for visitors to the orbiting outpost include medical exams, behavioural assessments, and training sessions in Houston and Moscow.
Mark Shuttleworth, a South African business tycoon, is next in line as a space tourist. The second ever paying customer for a trip to the heavens has apparently shelled out $19 million U.S. to fly to the station on a Russian rocket in April.
