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Everything You Need To Know To Plan An Out-Of-This-World Space Vacation

NASA
There's no shortage of adventure in space. Here's a potential view on your planetary trip.

How would you like to go to the moon for the weekend, have a romantic dinner inside the rings of Saturn or jump off ice cliffs from one of Uranus' moons where you can float for 8 to 10 minutes? A new planetary travel book helps you do that -- at least vicariously.

You have plenty of time to plan because the author of "The Ultimate Interplanetary Travel Guide," Jim Bell, doesn't know when planet-hopping will become a reality. "At some point in the future -- could be 50 years, 100 years, 200 years or 500 years -- it will be just as routine to get into a spaceliner and go somewhere in the solar system as it in an airliner."

What To Pack

  • Oxygen  (may be provided by your travel guide)
  • Short sleeves and yoga pants (for warmer climates)
  • Clothing to bundle up for an icy moon
  • Space suit

Travel Time

Right now it takes three days to get to the moon, 6 to 9 months to get to Mars, and a year or two to get to Jupiter and Saturn with propulsion. Bell says it's reasonable to assume that in the future "trips to the moon could be down to a matter of hours. Trips out to Mars or into Venus could be measured in weeks."

However, if you want to go way out to ski on Pluto, Bell thinks those trips will be measured in months because the solar system is big, after all. 

How Much Is It Going To Cost?

Bell says the cost will come down but paying more will get you there faster. He says a first-class ticket might propel you to the moon in a matter or hours. Coach, meanwhile, could take three days.

Must-Sees

  • Hike across lunar craters during a weekend trip to the moon
  • Experience the deepest canyon on Mars
  • Raft down the rapids of Titan
  • Soar through the winds of Venus

Lastly, Bell advises: "Pack well and travel safe."

Ann Thompson has decades of journalism experience in the Greater Cincinnati market and brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her reporting.