Space Tourists

Who wants to be thought of as a tourist? The adventurers who prefer to be called “private space explorers” are literally miles away from fat guys in flowered shirts with cameras. Whatever you call them, these thrill-seekers pay upwards of $20 million to fly to the International Space Station (and back) on cramped Soyuz spacecrafts. Though opposed by NASA, the U.S. based company Space Adventures organizes these journeys in conjunction with the Russian Federation's space agency. SPACE TOURISTS charts the physical and mental odyssey taken by travelers such as Iranian-American businesswoman Anousheh Ansari as she prepares to fulfill her life's dream. By capturing the faded glory of the site of the Soviet space program in remote Kazakhstan, SPACE TOURISTS makes it clear that economic considerations go into allowing wealthy untrained astronauts to take flight. As Kazakh scrap metal collectors wait on the steppes for space junk to fall from the sky, Anousheh takes majestic space photos aboard the ISS. Unfortunately, Pan Am has had to abandon the waiting list for future moon flights that it established in the 60s. However, we understand Space Adventures is still taking names. Next! –B.B.