Space Tourism- A Viable Industry?

While human space tourism may be a relatively new concept, private industry and space is not.  The first object in space that was entirely built by a private company was Telstar 1, a communications satellite launched into orbit by a NASA rocket back in 1962. (VOX, 2014) Hundreds of other private satellites have since been launched by NASA, until 1984 when Congress passed a law allowing private companies to conduct their own launches.  The next law in 1990 actually required NASA to pay private companies to launch their payloads when possible, sparking a huge multi-billion dollar industry.  Following the retirement of NASA’s space shuttle, President Obama directed NASA to create a program that awarded grants to private companies in the development of spacecraft to transport astronauts to and from the space station.

The first civilian space tourist was Dennis Tito in 2001.  Tito hitched a ride with the Russians to the international space station for a mere $20 million.  In 2002, South African Mark Shuttleworth also shelled out $20 million for a ride to space.  In 2004, President Bush signed legislation designed to help the civilian space industry flourish with limited interference from the Federal Aviation Administration by means of a Phased approach to regulating commercial human space flights. (Press B, n.d) The initial set of regulations dealt with crew qualifications and training, and informed consent to passengers.  The next set of rules could not be affected into law until 8 years later (2012), unless an incident causing death or serious bodily harm occurred.  I would have to guess that that legislation allowed private industries to innovate more freely, and not suffocated by the government.  I’m also a strong believer that our government’s role is to protect our citizens from threats, foreign and domestic, not necessarily from ourselves.  If people want to pay $250,000 to The Spaceship Company for a ride to space, as long as they are properly informed of the hazards and risk, fly on. 

With increasing number of companies developing equipment and vessels for space travel, it is almost a certainty that we will see some form of space tourism in our future, and not as expensive as we’d all expect.  A company flying under the radar XCOR, is developing a single occupant (besides pilot) craft that will be able to enter sub-orbit for the bargain price of $95,000. (KGET, 2015) Even at that price, it still may be in the bucket list category, but possibly in the future we may have a new way to fly across the world in record time.  (Great 12-minute video HERE)

The FAA regulations for (space) pilots are fairly generic, at least for now- Pilot certificate, current medical, able to demonstrate vehicle proficiency, emergency procedures so and so on.  The private companies looking for pilots have a little more stringent skill sets required, such as this short list from Virgin Galactic: U.S. citizenship (to satisfy export regulations) a current FAA commercial pilot license and FAA medical clearance. Degree-level qualification in a relevant technical field. Graduate of a recognized test pilot school, with at least two and a half years of postgraduate flight test experience. Diverse flying background with a minimum of 3,000 hours flying, to include considerable experience of large multi-engine aircraft and high-performance fast jet aircraft and low lift-to-drag experience in complex aircraft. Operational experience in an aerospace aviation project or business.

Preference given to those with experience in spaceflight, commercial flight operations or flight instruction. (NBC,2013)  Basically the 1% of the 1%...Good luck

References:

VOX (2014, September 17) How did private companies get involved in space?. Retrieved from http://www.vox.com/cards/private-space-flight/private-spaceflight-history-NASA 

KGET (2015, February 2). Special Report: Mojave Air and SpacePort. Retrieved from http://www.kerngoldenempire.com/news/top-stories/kget-special-report-mojave-air-and-spaceport

NBC. (2011, April 13). Dozens apply for space pilot jobs. NBC News. Retrieved from http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2011/04/13/6466987-dozens-apply-for-space-pilot-jobs

Press, B. (n.d.). Govu0027t Issues Proposed Space Tourism Rules | Space.com. Retrieved From http://www.space.com/1904-gov-issues-proposed-space-tourism-rules.html

Pilot's and Depression

In March 2015, Germanwings Flight 4U9525 departed Barcelona at 10:01am local time with 144 souls on board, destination Düsseldorf. The captain was a 10 year veteran with Lufthansa and Germanwings, and had recorded more than 6,000 hours’ flying time.  The co-pilot however, was German native Andreas Lubitz, with 630 hours, and only 2 years experience. Airbus 320 had reached its cruising altitude 30 minutes after takeoff, and the Captain left the cockpit to use the restroom.  Shortly thereafter, Andreas Lubiz deliberately and entered a 3000’ decent rate into the auto pilot system.  Minutes later, the Captain returned to the cockpit door and attempted to enter using the door code, but Andreas Lubitz had flipped the override switch, disabling the keypad.  The Airbus’ last know altitude was 6000’ 8 minutes later, and what we know now is that it crashed into the side of a mountain in the French Alps in an apparent “suicide/homicide” mission.

    

Lubitz did not disclose any mental health issues to his employer, and records show that he had been seen in multiple clinics in the month’s prior, only described as “diagnostic evaluation” because of privacy laws. (Eddy, M., Bilefsky, D., & Clark, N., 2015, March 27).  He also took several months off during his initial flight training for ‘unknown reasons’.  Investigators later found a doctors note from the date of the incident, torn up in a trashcan at his house, that he was unfit to work.

In March of 2012, Jet Blue Captain Osborn had a very public, and crazy meltdown. While in the cockpit, he mentioned to the first officer that he was “being evaluated” (Jim Avila 
Matt Hosford 
Christina NG 
(2012, March 28) yelled at ATC to be quiet, started flipping switches, and dimming monitors.  Obviously concerned with his crazy actions, the first officer suggested bringing up an off duty Jet Blue Captain from the cabin, but instead Captain Osborn just left the cockpit.  He entered the cabin and began screaming about everything from 9/11, terrorism, Al Qaeta, the plane is going down, bomb, etc.  The first officer quickly locked the cockpit door, while a former New York corrections officer tackled crazy Captain Osborn, and fellow passengers assisted in tying him up with seat belt extenders.  Once on the ground the FBI took custody of Osborn, and he was later charged with with interfering with flight crew instructions. According to the Department of Justice, this charge could be punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Records show that Captain Osborns last medical was 4 months earlier, and has not had any previous incidents.

Currently pilots airline pilots have medial reviews annually (before age 40), and every 6 months after that.  Psychological screening is not part of that process, unless the Doctor has reason to suspect otherwise.  It is left up to the pilot to essentially self-report.  While this may work fine for the mass of pilots that are truly of fit mind, this leaves the door open for those that may have issues, and do not want to risk their certificate, and ultimately their career.  While I don’t currently have a total solution for reform, there has to be some way for pilots to evaluate their current status without fear of punishment.  If it is determined to be a issue requiring professional assistance, then at least the process can take its course with a known outcome. 

On the other hand, if the FAA and the airlines take a liberal approach to pilots with mental issues and psychotic drugs, they open up the doors to future incidents, possible tragedy, and massive liability.  There has to be a balance struck between someone who may be having family issues (which everyone does at some point) and may need counseling, and someone who is bipolar, or someone who is contemplating suicide…or homicide.

References:

Eddy, M., Bilefsky, D., & Clark, N. (2015, March 27). Co-Pilot in Germanwings  Crash Hid Mental     Illness From Employer, Authorities Say. Retrieved September 20, 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/28/world/europe/germanwings-crash-andreas-lubitz.html?_r=0

Jim Avila 
Matt Hosford 
Christina NG 
(2012, March 28), JetBlue Pilot Yelled About Sept. 11 and 'Push It to Full Throttle' Retrieved September 20, 2015.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/jetblue-pilot-yelled-sept-11-restrained/story?id=16017810

Senior Seminar Fall 2015 Personal Introduction

My interest in aviation started as most boys in the 1980's did, with the movie Top Gun.  As corny and cliché as that is, it was true, I wanted to fly F-14 Tomcats and be a Naval Aviation just like "Maverick".  At some point in high school I learned that in order to be a Naval Aviator, you had to first go to college before attending Officer Candidate School, which was exactly that last thing I wanted to do- more school.  I instead enlisted in the Marine Corps, became an infantryman, a scout sniper, close quarter battle team member, among others in the elite Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team Company (FAST Co.).  This is where the Knuckle Dragger term originates.  In the military, the special ops community, infantry (Grunts) are commonly referred as Knuckle Dragging trigger pullers, while pretty much everyone besides us are “of higher intelligence”, especially the pilots.

Following the Marine Corps I worked as a private security contractor for 8 years, taking me all over Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa, U.A.E, and more.  Another heavy influence of aviation for me is when I flew aboard an MD 530 Little Bird for 9 months providing aerial security for US Ambassador John Negroponte in Baghdad.  Best job I’ve ever had hands down.  One of our pilots let me sit right seat on a test flight (which was a completely foreign perspective after so many hours of hanging out of the side on the skids) and let me take the control for about 15 minutes.  Another moment in life when I figured out I was just a knuckle dragger- helicopters are extremely complicated and so much coordination going on at once.

The final big push to pursue aviation came while working in Somaliland, Somalia as the security advisor to a British company conducting aerial geological surveys for gold, minerals, etc.  The Pilatus Porter PC6 we had was outfitted with all that fancy equipment and didn’t have provide enough room to load up the entire team had the need to evacuate that lovey place quickly.  There were however, a King Air or two located at that dirt runway, and without having air support on call, I figured I should probably learn how to fly just in case.  My pilot started letting me sit right seat, then eventually left, and him being a CFI allowed me to log 18 hours, kick starting my path to my private certificate. Too bad I can't count those turbine and tail-wheel time since it was pre-private.

I am now currently working on my commercial certificate, about 20 hours or so left.  My major is Aviation Flight Technology, and I should be ready to graduate EMU spring of 2017, but that may get pushed a semester if I go back overseas for work this winter.

What comes after that? Good question.  The last time I had a definitive plan was back in 1999 when I entered the Marine Corps.  Since, one job has led to another, and another to another.  I had no idea I would be doing some of the jobs I did, or what I would do next.  I certainly didn’t plan on attending EMU when I returned from my last trip; I earned my private certificate part 61 out at Livingston county airport.  I think I’ll wait until the next blog assignment to expand upon that one… I do plan on earning my CFII, and MEI, but not sure if I’ll work out of Eagle Flight, or instruct at all.  I’ve been an instructor of many things for many years; I prefer to apply my skills over instructing.  I would also like to go work for my old boss overseas flying this time to build hours and experience.  I also wouldn’t mind marrying my extensive executive security skills with executive flight, that’s rare and in demand.  Another possibility is law enforcement aviation fixed wing, even better to make the transition to rotary wing.  Long term I’d like to find a corporate, commercial, or private pilot job that doesn’t require relocating, and do repossessions on the side.

As I’ve said before I think the Marine Captain would be an excellent guest speaker to speak to some of the young students.  I know for fact they don’t know how phenomenal of an opportunity and experience that would be, especially if they want continue to be in aviation.  As far as topics I would like to see more of, I like your current plan in the syllabus, with the exception of FAA medical reform and aviation in China.  I would like to see more about UAV’s in the US, and not the little ones for hobbyists. Also more about Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar, I have flown them a lot, super nice.  I did not know about that friendly sky’s agreement you mentioned last week, sounds interesting.