Even outer space is in a recession

Taking a break from space travel

The U.S. software mogul who has now made 2 trips into outer space without having to resort to a single Payday Loan in order to pay for tickets, may be the last paying passenger to head into space for several years. Believe it or not, things are tough out there too. And it's not only because of the economic crisis that fewer are willing to stump up the $35-million that Charles Simonyi paid for his second tri p to space.

Sold out

Visitors are banned because it is planned to double the crew on the International Space Station from three to six in May, meaning there will no longer be a spare seat for a tourist on future missions. In other words, the Space Station is full, sold out.

The Space Station

The Space Station is "managed" by Russia's space agency Roskosmos and the U.S. firm Space Adventures since 2001. The joint venture between the two organizations had always seemed unlikely, with the young T-shirted employees from Space Adventures standing side-by-side with the grizzled aeronautics engineers from Roskosmos.

"We have no bookings for visitors at the moment but things can change," said the CEO of Space Adventures, Eric Anderson. Interest has been expressed by the Russian-born founder of Google, Sergey Brin, who has put down a deposit for a future flight. "We have several people who are interested in making a trip, people from all over the world, people who take the long view," said Anderson. ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "Even outer space is in a recession"