If it was up to the presidential candidate, Space Sex would be a reality, at least for newlyweds.  Apparently Newt Gingrich has somewhat of an obsession with space exploration.  Mentioned in both his 1984 book, Window of Opportunity, and again in his 1996 book, Renew America, Newt states…  ”I believe space tourism will be a common fact of life during the adulthood of children born this year, that honeymoons in space will be the vogue by 2020. Imagine weightlessness and its effects and you will understand some of the attractions.”

Newt Gingrich, who has gained steam recently in his campaign for presidency, isn’t the only person that has a fascination.  Another is the famed sci-fi author, Isaac Asimov, who in the 70′s also was vocal about the interest in the possibility of weightless sex.

The Commercial Space Travel Industry is getting another boost this February by way of SpaceX says NASA. The national space agency will be teaming up with SpaceX to launch their cargo capsule for the International Space Station. The capsule, called Dragon, is owned and developed by SpaceX, is set to launch Dragon (name of capsule) up to the International Space Station on February 7th. The Dragon’s main purpose is to create a contact and transport system between the International Space Station and Earth.

SpaceX have seen great advances over the last few months in preparation of Dragon’s mission to the ISS. The partnership between companies is part of NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program, which utilizes the services of the private space sector to get supplies to crew members at the International Space Station. The success of this unmanned mission will be a huge step in solidifying a new era in commercial cargo delivery.

Since the shutdown of the Space Shuttle Program this past June, NASA has focused there efforts on relying on other resources to carryout there needs. Along with teaming up with SpaceX, NASA recently announced a multi-million dollar partnership with Virgin Galactic so they can continue to send people and cargo to space.

This isn’t something necessarily new for SpaceX though. They’ve already completed several successful missions including the launch of another Dragon spacecraft in last year. However, if it were to fail, it could result in a huge setback for the private space industry. The upcoming Dragon launch will test systems for future missions to approach and attach to the International Space Station.

“SpaceX is excited to be the first commercial company in history to berth with the International Space Station,” SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said in a statement. “This mission will mark a historic milestone in the future of spaceflight.”

With over 72 accredited Space Travel Agents around the world, this could be the boost of much needed business from an industry that’s been hanging by a thread in recent years.  Travel Agents are now offering services that are far beyond what they probably ever imagined.  With the decline in travel agent services, is space travel agents what they need to revive a once thriving market.

Is Space Travel Agents What Travel Agencies Need?

Business travelers and jet-setters alike use to depend heavily on travel agents.  However, due to the internet, social media and other factors, much of what was considered difficult to acquire, is as simple as logging on Expedia.  Travel agents still have a fan base but there typically either the extremely wealthy who just simple don’t have time or care, or there the older generation of people that still aren’t up-to-speed with the internet.  Anyway you look at it, travel agencies seemed like a dying breed, until now…

The recent demand and interest in Space Travel Agents has sparked a curiosity that have people saying, Huh.?.?.  It’s already mind-boggling to know that in just a few short months, space tourism will become a reality in 2012.  Couple that with the fact that companies have started to offer their services and you’ve got the perfect ingredients for a “Are You Kidding Me?”  And no, Space Travel Agents aren’t the only industry gearing up for space travel in 2012.  Insurance companies are beginning to offer Space Travel Insurance and specialty clothing companies are selling Space Travel Gear.

Indiana’s First Accredited Space Travel Agents

One such travel company that is already offering space travel agent services is travel agent Kelly Shea.  She’s Indiana’s first travel agency to offer space travel agent services.  Kelly states; “I think all of us have a need to explore. It’s in our DNA,” Shea said. “And besides, talk about having a conversation at a cocktail party.”  Regardless of the high price tag ($200,000 per ticket), Kelly thinks space tourism will takoff with the traveling elite.

With the 500th ticket just sold, this could very well be the boost the Travel Agent industry needs.

For Mark Zuckerberg, the chance to go to space soon is as easy as plopping down $200,000.  But now, many Facebook employees will soon have an opportunity to travel to space due to the company hitting Wall Street in 2012.  The most anticipated stock market debut of 2012 could turn over a thousand Facebook employees into instant millionaires.  Facebook, who is reportedly valued at $100 billion, will be making a big splash when the company goes public.  Interoffice discussions at Facebook have revealed that several employees are interested in being one of the first to travel to space.

An undisclosed employee of Facebook said that he’s going to book a ticket to space that will set him back $200,000.  He’s weighing his options of spaceflight companies including that of Virgin Galactic.  Considering that this employee predicts that his stock shares will be worth some $50 million, that’s a drop in the bucket.  The employee had this to say… “If that IPO bell happens, then I will definitely put money down.  It’s been a childhood dream of mine to travel to space.”

Facebook, who is the #1 Social Media website on Earth is sure to spark investors interest come 2012.  This would be the biggest “coming out party” ever for a start-up Silicon Valley company.  Even with big names like Google and Yahoo, Facebook’s current status is on a whole different level.

I think it’s cool that Facebook employees want go to space.  I wish more young entrepreneurs and famous people who are financially stable to shell out that much money, would sign up.  These “kids” are the inventors of our future.  With them being apart of Space Tourism, it can only help out with the industry’s financial backing, not to mention their brains which can likely assist the space travel industry in getting it off the ground quicker and making commercial space travel more affordable.

It’s only right that the first Facebook status update is done by a Facebook employee that helped shape the company to what it is today.

Virgin Galactic is anticipating for a successful start to with their introduction to Space Tourism next year.  Once the test flights are smooth sailing, it will be offering spaceflights as soon as this is cleared.  Virgin Galactic will be the first company to send civilians to Low Earth Orbit by way of commercial spaceships.  2012 will be the year that we finally have reached our technology dreams of being able to send non-astronauts into space.  The expectations are high and Virgin Galactic is ready to prove that it’s able to withstand the pressure and delivery on their promise, literally! 

A seat on Virgin Galactic’s, SpaceShipTwo is costly, setting you back $200,000 but the CEO of Virgin Galactic, George Whitesides believes it’s actually very reasonable when compared to Russian space tourism which will run you in the millions.  Yes, it’s going to take a wealthy person to shell out $200,000 for a trip that only lasts a few hours, however, it’s more about the experience than anything.

To date, only 525 people have ever been to space.  Virgin Galactic already has pre-sold 500 tickets on their spaceflights.  This means that more people will going to space in the next few years than have ever been in our history.  So, what will $200,000 get you?  A four-day training program at Spaceport America located in New Mexico.  This is also where launches will take place.  The flight itself only last 2 hours but it’s guaranteed that you’ll get “space experience” that everybody’s so curious in achieving.

Virgin Galactic has a two-stage launch process; their space vehicle is under-slung on an aircraft that takes the vehicle to 50,000 ft. Once released the rocket engine fires it into space, defined by NASA as 50 miles above sea level, or by others as 100km. “They will be in space,” assures Mr. Whitesides.

Virgin Galactic was founded in 2004 by Sir Richard Branson.  He is so confident in his company and safety measures that the very first flight will be with Sir Richard and his entire family.

See amazing video below of test flights SpaceShipTwo:

Now speeding away from Earth, NASA‘s Mars Science Laboratory and its Curiosity rover aim to land on the red planet next August. Science instruments on board cannot detect life directly. But they can yield evidence of all the key building blocks of life as we know it. They can determine whether Mars is, or once was, habitable — suitable to sustaining microbial life. ”It’s quite reasonable — not guaranteed — but it’s quite reasonable that this will lead to our finding life on Mars or evidence of life on Mars,” said Bill Nye, “the Science Guy” and executive director of the Planetary Society. And that would have a huge influence on our perception of the universe and our place within it. ”It would change the world,” Nye said. “It would absolutely change the world.”

Mounted atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, the high-profile payload blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station with a brilliant burst of flame and a giant whoosh of hot white exhaust. ”It was fantastic. It was perfect,” Nye said. “And it’s that striking thing — when the flame is longer than the rocket itself — that always amazes me.”

The Curiosity rover runs on a nuclear battery — a generator that converts heat from the natural decay of Plutonium-238 into electricity. The Plutonium-238 is radioactive. But it is not the same grade used in weapons. ”When you say ‘plutonium,’ people think about mushroom clouds and that sort of thing. But this is a different kind of plutonium. It’s not the bomb stuff,” said Marvin Goldman, professor emeritus of radiation biology at the University of California at Davis. The chance of a launch accident that resulted in a release of plutonium was 1 in 420. In that unlikely event, the average dose to anyone exposed would have been about the same as a single dental X-ray. Goldman had no qualms about watching the launch a few miles from the pad. He is a member of the independent safety review board that briefed the White House before launch approval was granted.

The Atlas V rocket gave the Mars Science Lab a problem-free first leg of a 354 million-mile interplanetary journey. During the next eight months, flight controllers will keep the lab and its rover on course for an arrival at Mars between 1 and 1:30 a.m. EDT Aug. 6. Then comes what many believe is the most daring, most treacherous part of the mission — landing inside a gaping crater just below the equator on the eastern side of the planet. The Mars Science Lab will hit the upper reaches of the Martian atmosphere at 13,200 mph.

The 2-ton Curiosity rover is about the size of a Mini Cooper. It’s much too heavy to use the type of airbag landing system employed by NASA’s Pathfinder, Spirit and Opportunity rovers. So engineers designed a scheme that combines parachutes, retrorockets and a sky crane to put Curiosity on the ground. The arrival will involve the first-ever guided entry through the Martian atmosphere. The spacecraft will maneuver like a shuttle on its way toward the landing site, using aerodynamic lift and S-turns to bleed off speed. ”We actually have a flying machine now. We fly to the surface of Mars,” said Doug Adams, a senior engineer and entry specialist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. NASA engineers call the tricky entry, descent and landing “our six minutes of terror.” Almost half of all missions to Mars have ended in failure.

“There’s a weight on our shoulders. But it’s one that is happily borne,” Adams said. “It’s our show now, and we hold our own destiny.”

Check out this awesome HD video of Curiosity as he takes off and what he mission will look like on Mars:

IT’S BIG!! That’s likely to be the first thing visitors notice when they set foot inside the Museum of Flight’s $12 million Charles Simonyi Space Gallery, opening to the public Saturday. The gallery, across East Marginal Way South from the museum’s main building, is indeed cavernous: 100 feet across, 140 feet deep and a ceiling 70 feet above the floor. But the main reason it seems so mammoth now is that it’s largely empty. It does have a few temporary exhibit panels, but its star attraction doesn’t take the stage for another six months. ”It’s just a preview for now,” said Museum of Flight CEO Doug King. Entry to the gallery is included with admission to the museum, connected by a skybridge.

By sometime in June, King expects the gallery will complete an exhibit built around the “full fuselage trainer” the museum is receiving from NASA as the agency parcels out space-shuttle equipment, now that shuttle missions have ended. The 121-foot-long plywood trainer, still at NASA facilities in Houston, looks like a space shuttle without wings. It never flew, but every space-shuttle crew trained inside it. King was recently in Houston, where the trainer is being disassembled and prepared for shipment to Boeing Field in five main pieces: crew quarters, tail, fore and aft payload sections, and its base. Each section is so large it will be flown up aboard a NASA guppy, a cargo plane resembling a flying whale.

For Seattle, the trainer is something of a consolation prize. Museum of Flight backers had hoped to land one of the four space shuttles NASA is retiring. The space gallery, with its vast glass east wall facing the street, was designed by SRG Partnership architects and built by Sellen Construction to provide the indoor, climate-controlled site NASA required for the shuttles. But in April, Seattle was among two dozen also-rans when NASA Administrator Charles Bolden announced the shuttles would go to museums in New York, Los Angeles, the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the Washington, D.C., area. Disappointed but not deterred, King said the trainer will offer something an actual shuttle would not — the ability to let museum visitors step inside. Regular museum visitors will be able to enter the craft’s cargo bay, and limited guided tours will enter the crew quarters.

This week, the gallery is acquiring its official name, honoring Charles Simonyi, Medina software innovator, philanthropist and one of the first “space tourists,” who twice traveled as a paying passenger on Russian space missions. The focus of the space gallery, King said, is not simply where space travel has been, but where it’s going. To that end, the museum Friday is hosting “Future of Spaceflight — NASA Future Forum,” which will bring together NASA officials and leaders from private companies exploring space travel and space technology.

The conference, King said, recognizes that in the future, private industry is likely to play a greater role in space exploration, although partnerships with government will still be crucial.