Many people visit foreign countries during their holidays. Some go where the sun and sandy beaches are aplenty like Maui or Bali, while others go to where shopping bargains are, like Hong Kong and Thailand. People go on holiday for a variety of reasons: to experience a different culture, to take a break from their daily routine, or for sightseeing. But what about those who have seen almost everything?

Now there is a new holiday destination: space!

Once the playground of highly trained astronauts, some companies have begun offering space as a holiday destination for anyone interested. MirCorp, a commercial space company which uses the Russian Space Agency to provide rockets for them, offers a fee-paying programme for anyone who wishes to visit space. They will provide a rocket that will take you to space, drop you off at a space station orbiting the earth and then bring you home again.

Space has been described as cold and lonely by some astronauts. Yet, they all agree the view of earth from space is second to none.

You do not have to join NASA to be an astronaut to visit space any more. But you do have to go through some preparation before you become a “space tourist”. And I am not talking about packing the correct sunblock or learning some of the local phrases!