Vacation...on the moon?

Did you know that once upon a time, you didn’t have to be an astronaut to go to the moon? In the 1960s, Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) started a program called “First Moon Flights Club” and even issued membership cards to folks who wanted to join up. After the success of the space program during that time, a large portion of the general public believed space exploration as recreation was going to be the norm in the future. Even in the 1970s, folks thought by the year 2000, space hotels would be a popular tourist attraction. How many people can say their family vacationed at the moon?

{official club membership card image via ebay w/ artist's additions}

Unless you count Neil Armstrong and the few others who have stepped on the moon’s surface, nobody can actually say this. Even with all the technological advances we currently enjoy, leisurely space travel just didn’t catch on. For one thing, it’s a lot cheaper to visit the beach or the mountains for a week than to travel in space. Also, regular people don’t have the necessary training that astronauts are required to undergo.

Sadly, Pan Am went out of business in the 1990s, before it was able to make good on its promise to escort the club members to space. We can still imagine what it would have been like though. And we can read books about space, look at pictures and check out Janet’s Planet for fun information too! Maybe one day there will be hotels on the moon. Maybe your children or grandchildren will be able to say they’ve vacationed there! Pretty exciting, huh?

To read more about commercial space travel, check out a recent Janet's Planet post about the Virgin Galactic here.