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| EDITORIAL |
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| Year : 2021 | Volume
: 2
| Issue : 2 | Page : 31-32 |
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COVID pandemic, global lockdown, and space tourism
Raman Kumar
Director, Institute of Family Medicine and Primary Care; President, Academy of Family Physicians of, India
| Date of Submission | 06-Aug-2021 |
| Date of Acceptance | 06-Aug-2021 |
| Date of Web Publication | 19-Aug-2021 |
Correspondence Address:
Dr. Raman Kumar
049 Crema Tower, Mahagun Mascot, Crossing Republic, Ghaziabad - 202 016, Uttar Pradesh
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None
DOI: 10.4103/jascp.jascp_18_21
Amidst global lockdown due to the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic, the beginning of commercial space travel is a remarkable event in human history. While commercial air travel is shut down to prevent contagion, a paid ticket to a thrilling ride into space opens up a new chapter in transportation, aviation, and connectivity. We have to wait and see what unfolds in the future after the COVID pandemic, talks about the climate apocalypse, and now liberty of individual space travel.
How to cite this article:
Kumar R. COVID pandemic, global lockdown, and space tourism. J Appl Sci Clin Pract 2021;2:31-2 |
You want to wake up in the morning and think the future is going to be great- and that's what being a spacefaring civilization all is about. It's about believing in the future and thinking that the future will be better than the past. And I can't think of anything more exciting than going out there and being among stars-Elon Musk.
| 2021: Beginning of Commercial Space Travel | |  |
Amidst global lockdown due to ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the beginning of commercial space travel is a remarkable event in human history. While commercial air travel is shut down to prevent the contagion, a paid ticket to thrilling ride into space opens up a new chapter in transportation, aviation and connectivity. The consequences and what the future holds cannot be imagined at present. There are multiple ways to look at it. Ever since Elon Musk founded SpaceX and floated the idea of space tourism, investors have enthusiastically supported it. Other entrepreneurs and billionaires did not want to leave behind. There will be skeptical views and there will be applause. The proponents will present it as an entrepreneurial journey while others will criticize it for show of wealth, waste of resources, and environmental risk. Few may support such ventures as the rights of the rich; letting them do what they wish to do with their money.
| Science Fiction Coming True | | |
At present, both trips, taken 10 days apart, by Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos and their co-passengers look like an ultra-luxury, an epitome of what the rich can afford. From TV screens it looked like a joy ride or roller coaster experience. However, in future, it may turn into a plausible modality to reach out to the livable planets and extraterrestrial objects. Exploration and exploitation of resources that are valuable and scarce on earth. It can become a means of human survival if the environment on earth is destroyed due to unjust human activities. Space travel once upon a time was considered science fiction. Science fiction of today may become reality of the future.
| History of Space Travel | | |
The journey to space is not new to humanity. The first human being to go to space was Yuri Gagarin, lifted by Vostok 1 rocket on April 12, 2021. It sparked a race between the United States and the Soviet Union for space exploration during the period of cold war. From moonwalking, setting up space stations to speculations of star wars, the world has seen that all. As an outcome of war on earth and race to space the Soviet Union disintegrated. There are risks and costs involved.
| Covid Pandemic and Space Travel | | |
The timing of the launch of the commercial space flights coincides with the ongoing global COVID pandemic. A vaccine is now available for the disease and there is talk of vaccine availability in terms of equity and equality. The world is waiting to become normal or gain an equilibrium of new normal. There was a Spanish Flu pandemic a century back but the world has since then entered the digital revolution. The COVID 19 of 2020–2021 is likely to dramatically influence the future of transportation, banking systems, human interaction, human consumption, and lifestyle. Online financial transactions, home delivery, e-commerce, digital aggregators, biomedical sensors, artificial intelligence-driven automated processes mark the present era. Commercial space travel coincides with these events. Jeff Bezos of the richest person of this time and founder of a giant e-commerce company happens to be one of the first people to take commercial space travel.
| Climate Apocalypse and Liberty for Space Travel | | |
This is also the decade of environmental catastrophes and awareness about environmental issues. The Paris agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. We have to wait and see what unfolds in the future after COVID pandemic, ongoing climate change, and now liberty of individual space travel. Out future generations will see whether space travel will lead to a climatic apocalypse on earth or an impending apocalypse will save the human race in the extraterrestrial world through ease of space travel. The consequences and what the future holds cannot be comfortably imagined at present.
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