Help on Tele2, tariffs, questions

2017 is coming to an end, and it’s time to remember what bright and important events happened this year in space. Even though we didn't find aliens or get to Mars, this year brought a lot of interesting things.

1. SpaceX announced a flight of tourists around the Moon

2017 began with long-awaited news: the SpaceX company of American entrepreneur Elon Musk intends to organize around the Moon already at the end of 2018. It was reported that the flight would be carried out on the Dragon spacecraft.

The Falcon Heavy rocket, which could not be tested this year, will act as the Dragon carrier. The launch was postponed to the fall, but Elon Musk recently announced that his company will carry out its plans this year, and the launch of the rocket will take place only in January 2018.

The company said that the launch difficulties were primarily related to the complex design of the rocket, which required constant modifications. Due to the fact that three launch vehicles had to be combined into one, the volume of acoustics and vibration increased, SpaceX noted. It took the developers time to replace the central accelerator.

2. Saturn’s satellite turned out to be a “dumpling”

The Cassini space probe discovered a moon of Saturn with an unusual shape. At close range, a space object called Pan to many. But little is still known about the satellite; it is assumed that this shape could have arisen due to radioactive elements.

Pan, one of Saturn's 62 known moons, is located 950 million miles from Earth. The size of the ice object is about 26 kilometers.

3. NASA created a rover to study Venus

At the annual Innovative Advanced Concepts conference, the American aerospace agency NASA presented a project for a spacecraft designed to study the surface of Venus.

In total, in 2017, the authors of the In-Space website published 544 news items covering the most interesting and exciting discoveries, observations and research of astronomers around the world. On average, each news was read by more than a thousand visitors, but there were those that stood out among the total, but more on that later.

In 2017, In-Space began collaborating with the Hubble and Kepler telescope teams, as well as NASA departments. Now you can read on our website press releases about the most high-profile discoveries at the time of their English-language publications in leading scientific journals.

Artist's impression of ESO's Extremely Large Telescope. Credit: ESO

The most interesting topics of the past year for In-Space readers were observations of Jupiter by NASA's Juno spacecraft, searches for the nature of dark matter, data on the first recorded interstellar asteroid 'Oumuamua, discoveries of exoplanets, photographs of distant stars and galaxies obtained by instruments of the European Southern Observatory and the telescope " Hubble", gravitational waves and, of course, the finale of the Cassini mission. First things first:

10th place. Native asteroids

In 2017 (at the time of publication of the article), 785 asteroids rushed past the Earth at a distance of less than 10 million kilometers, of which 99 are potentially dangerous. The complete list is presented on the page. The most interesting of them were the asroids, and, which on October 12 flew past our planet at a distance of only 50 thousand kilometers.

An artistic representation of the collision of two neutron stars in the galaxy NGC 4993, producing a kilonova flare and gravitational waves. Credit: ESO/L. Calgada/M. Kornmesser

3rd place. Fall of Cassini

A joint project between NASA and ESA, the Cassini spacecraft has provided scientists around the world with unique data about the Saturn system for 13 years. Launched in 1997, the daring explorer studied the gas giant and its moons, transmitting unique data back to Earth and baffling scientists. But on September 15, this event became a landmark for all space lovers around the world.

One of the latest portraits of Saturn from Cassini. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

2nd place. Oh that 'Oumuamua

On October 19, 2017, a significant event for all humanity took place: . At the time of discovery, the guest was at a distance of 0.2 astronomical units from Earth. Observatories around the world pointed their telescopes at the intruder in an attempt to determine the nature of the foreign object. The instruments of the European Southern Observatory have advanced the furthest, determining the size, proportions and composition of the guest.

'Oumuamua as imagined by the artist. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

Subsequently, project scientists hoped for the “intelligent” origin of the wanderer, but no signs of intelligent life were recorded on the asteroid.

1 place. Jupiter and Juno

“Juno”, Juno, whatever is more convenient for you. The spacecraft, named after the ancient Roman goddess of family and motherhood, spent the entire 2017 studying the largest planet in the solar system -. The world has never seen such a giant, hiding the secrets of the origin of the Solar System.

A perspective view of Jupiter's Great Red Spot. Credit: NASA

Probing of the Great Red Spot, radiation spots, colorful photographs and discoveries made by the spacecraft, which traveled to Jupiter for 5 years, became the most significant for In-Space readers in 2017.

2017 is coming to an end, and now is the time to take stock and talk about the most significant events in the field of science and technology for the year.

Scientists have detected gravitational waves from a neutron star merger for the first time. The observations involved not only laser interferometers of the LIGO and Virgo collaborations, but also a number of space observatories and ground-based telescopes capable of detecting electromagnetic radiation generated by the merger of neutron stars. In total, this phenomenon was observed by about 70 ground-based and orbital observatories across the planet, including in our country. The opening was announced on October 16 during an international press conference held simultaneously in Moscow, Washington and some other cities.

For the first time, gravitational waves were detected in September 2015, which was solemnly announced by the LIGO and VIRGO collaborations on February 11, 2016. This event became one of the main scientific achievements of 2016. But then the source of gravitational waves was the collision of black holes. This time, the collaboration detected gravitational waves caused by the collision of two neutron stars - objects whose collision shakes space-time less than colliding black holes.

2. A star system with three Earth-like planets discovered

In February, NASA announced the discovery of a star system in which seven planets are similar in size to Earth, and three of them are also in the habitable zone. There is a high degree of probability that these three have conditions under which life is possible on them. The planets presumably have liquid water, and they themselves have a dense atmosphere.

The cool red dwarf TRAPPIST -1 is located in the constellation Aquarius, at a distance of 39.5 light years. years from us. The system's first three planets were discovered back in 2016 by a team of astronomers from Belgium and the United States led by Michael Gillon using the robotic 0.6-meter TRAPPIST (TRAnsiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope) telescope located at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile. True, the discovery of one of the planets - TRAPPIST-1 d - was later not confirmed. The "rediscovery" of planet d (the third from the star in the system) and the discovery of four more planets occurred later thanks to additional observations using several ground-based telescopes and the Spitzer orbital telescope. Some data about the system was also obtained by the Kepler telescope.

At a press conference on February 22, scientists noted that this was the most important discovery in recent years. Its significance lies not so much in the fact of the discovery of exoplanets, but in the proximity of the exoplanet system to us and the opening opportunities for its study and the study of possible extraterrestrial life on them.

3. Traces of ancient microorganisms were found

Traces of ancient bacteria were discovered by an international group of paleobiologists in the rocks of Nuvvuagittuq (Canada, Quebec). The age of the rocks is up to 4.3 billion years. It was identified in 2012 using samarium-neodymium dating. Moreover, as is known, the age of our planet is about 4.6 billion years.

The tube-like structures discovered by scientists are at least 3.77 billion years old. The fossils are hematite tubes and fibers similar in morphology to filamentous microorganisms from modern hydrothermal vents and fossils in younger rocks. They indicate the activity of iron bacteria that took place here in the distant past. These bacteria are capable of oxidizing ferrous iron to trivalent iron, and the energy released during this process is used to assimilate carbon from carbon dioxide or carbonates. They are believed to have lived underwater in hydrothermal vents. It is noteworthy that at the same time there was liquid water on Mars. This means that there is every reason to hope that life existed on the Red Planet during the same period. An article analyzing the discovery was published in the journal Nature on March 1.

4. Restart of the first stage

On March 31, the American company SpaceX for the first time in history relaunched the first stage of a rocket into space, which had previously been in space in April last year. Then the rocket launched the Dragon spacecraft into orbit with cargo for the ISS crew. The stage that returned from space was successfully landed on a special platform in the ocean, and then delivered to the plant.

This time, with its help, the telecommunications satellite SES-10, owned by the Luxembourg company of the same name, was launched into orbit. The launch, as well as the subsequent return to Earth, were successful. This rocket will no longer fly into space - it will become a museum exhibit. They plan to transfer it to the John F. Kennedy Space Center. In total, Falcon 9 stages are expected to be used up to 10 times. And after thorough maintenance, they can be used up to 100 times, said Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX.

5. Obtaining an image of a black hole

In April, scientists from the Event Horizon Telescope project spent five days photographing black holes. The goal of the experiment is to obtain the first ever image of a black hole.

Astronomers chose two objects for observations. The first is Sagittarius A* - a compact radio source that, in addition to radio waves, also emits in the infrared, X-ray and other ranges. It is located in the center of the Milky Way, at a distance of 26 thousand light years from us. The second object of observation is a black hole in the supergiant elliptical galaxy M 87, the largest in the constellation Virgo. It is located at a distance of about 53.5 million s. years from Earth.

To obtain the images, astronomers created a “virtual” telescope by combining several telescopes located in Mexico, Arizona, Chile, Spain, Antarctica and Hawaii. Each of the observatories participating in the experiment collected 500 TB of data, which fit on 1024 hard drives. The observatories themselves, of course, do not have the ability to process such a quantity of information on site, so the data is located at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA) and at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (Germany). Here they will be processed on supercomputers, as a result of which we will see the first photograph of a black hole in history. However, the first images of a black hole will not appear until 2018.

6. China launched its first X-ray space telescope

On June 15, China's first astronomical satellite was launched from the Juyuan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert. It was the orbital Chinese X-ray observatory Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT), designed to observe black holes, pulsars, gamma-ray bursts and search for new sources of X-ray radiation.

The project to create a telescope was proposed back in 1993 by Chinese academician Li Tibei. The project began to be implemented only in 2000 by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China together with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Tsinghua University.

The observatory is designed for four years of service and can operate both in observation mode at a selected point and in patrol mode. The telescope has one of the widest fields of view among its kind, as well as a wide operating range of frequencies and energies. There are three different groups of photocells on board the orbiting observatory: for analyzing high-, medium- and low-energy X-rays.

7. The unique X-ray free electron laser XFEL was put into operation

In September, the unique X-ray free electron laser XFEL (X-ray free-electron laser) was put into operation. Russia also made a significant contribution to its creation. The launch ceremony, which was attended by a Russian delegation led by presidential aide Andrei Fursenko, took place on the outskirts of Hamburg on September 1. Our country took second place after Germany in terms of share participation in the project: about 27%. Construction with a total cost of €1.22 billion began in 2009 and was completed in 2016.

XFEL is essentially a hybrid microscope with an accelerator. Today it is the most powerful and brightest laser of its type. Its 1.7 km long superconducting linear particle accelerator is capable of accelerating electrons to an energy of 17.5 GeV. The installation is capable of producing 27 thousand flashes per second, and the duration of each will not exceed 100 femtoseconds.

The unique parameters of the laser will allow scientists to make new discoveries in the field of nanoparticles. The instrument is designed to study ultra-small structures, very fast processes and extreme states. With its help, scientists plan to create new drugs and materials; the laser will be used in research in the fields of energy, electronics and chemistry.

8. The Saturnian mission of the Cassini probe is completed

On September 15, the Cassini spacecraft completed its 20-year mission. The automatic interplanetary station, named after the Italian astronomer Giovanni Cassini, was sent into space in October 1997. Cassini's tasks included studying the system of the sixth planet from the Sun, Saturn: the planet itself, its satellites and rings, as well as delivering the Huygens lander to Titan, Saturn's largest satellite. The station arrived at the planet only in June 2004 and became its first artificial satellite.

After spending 13 years in the Saturn system, Cassini took about 400 thousand photographs and sent over 600 GB of data to Earth. Based on the results of his observations, over 4,000 scientific articles were written. Images from the device allowed scientists to discover a new ring of Saturn - the Janus-Epimetheus ring. The probe studied the little-studied satellites of Saturn. These are satellites such as Polydeuces, Pallene, Anfa, Methon, Aegeon and Daphnis.

To avoid a collision between the spacecraft and the planet’s satellites, where life is potentially possible, the spacecraft was sent into the atmosphere of Saturn, where it burned up in the clouds of the gas giant. NASA broadcast the last minutes of the probe's life live.

9. Scientists have created genetically modified pigs

As you know, pigs are much better suited than other animals to become organ donors for humans. Their genome is quite similar to humans, their internal organs are similar in size, and in addition, these animals are easy to breed in large quantities. But there are still many obstacles to the eventual use of organs.

A group of scientists from the American biotechnology company eGenesis managed to take an important first step towards their cherished goal. Scientists were able to successfully remove 25 different endogenous retroviruses from the DNA of experimental pigs using CRISPR-Cas9 technology. As it turned out, these viruses had the ability to infect human cells. Then, using cloning technology - similar to that used to create Dolly the sheep - the edited genetic material was placed into the eggs of a normal pig, from which embryos were formed. As a result, scientists managed to get 37 healthy piglets.

“These are the first pigs free of porcine endogenous retroviruses and the most genetically modified animals available today,” eGenesis explained. But still, the successful removal of porcine retroviruses is a solution to only half of the problems necessary for xenotransplantation - interspecies organ transplantation. Even organs transplanted from person to person, that is, during intraspecific transplantation, cause an immune reaction leading to organ rejection. Now scientists are solving this problem and trying to understand what other genetic modifications need to be made so that the human immune system is more willing to accept pig organs. The results of the experiment were published in the journal Science in September this year.

10. Record success of blockchain technology

The record growth of Bitcoin this year (and it has grown almost 16 times over the year) is an event not only from the world of finance, but also from the world of technology. Over the course of the year, the total capitalization of all cryptocurrencies grew from $17 billion in January 2017 to almost $500 billion in mid-December. At the same time, the cryptocurrency initial offering (ICO) market is experiencing a boom; it can only be compared with the dot-com era of the end of the last century. In addition, Bitcoin itself has already experienced four forks in the second half of the year: Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, Bitcoin Diamond and Super Bitcoin - everyone wants their own Bitcoin.

Perhaps no other application of cryptographic methods has had such success before.
Blockchain, the technology on which Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are based, can be used for other purposes: holding elections and voting, managing decentralized organizations, raising funds, and so on - that is, wherever there is no trust between people and intermediaries need to be avoided.

Experts are inclined to believe that blockchain is the future of the digital economy. The rise in the price of Bitcoin and altcoins, forks and the ICO boom observed this year indicate that many more interesting things await us next year. And even if Bitcoin, as some experts predict, bursts like a bubble, then the next successes of blockchain technology will definitely be on the list of results for 2018.

December is the time to take stock. The editors of the Vesti.Nauka project (nauka.site) have selected the 15 most interesting discoveries that astronomers have pleased us with in the past year.

Observing the source of gravitational waves through telescopes

For the first time in human history, it was possible to catch electromagnetic waves (including visible light) from a source of gravitational waves. This significant event occurred on August 17, 2017.

Visit of an interstellar asteroid

In October 2017, astronomers discovered an object that... Further observations showed that it was an asteroid. It was given the name 'Oumuamua in honor of the Hawaiian deity.

Unlike all asteroids known to mankind so far, this “celestial stone” is not part of the solar system. He arrived from the interstellar abysses and is leaving our planetary system at full speed.

Asteroid threat warning system testing

While Oumuamua is peacefully leaving the solar system, it is circling in close proximity to the Earth. It's no wonder that humanity wants to be prepared for an uninvited visit.

On October 12, 2017, asteroid 2012 TC4 approached Earth. But a few weeks before that, the attentive eyes of specialists were already watching him. Scientific centers around the world exchanged information, and even the US government was notified as part of the exercise.

Meanwhile, it was known in advance that the cosmic block did not threaten the Earth with a collision. The 2012 TC4 was used as a "target" for testing the warning system. Our project is about these unusual teachings.

Determining the age of Jupiter

Jupiter is the oldest planet in the solar system. This is exactly the result the researchers obtained when they finally managed to find out the age of the giant. And the most ancient part of the planet is its solid core.

Of course, scientists would not be able to “get to the bottom” of it. Chemical analysis of “stones from the sky” came to the aid of researchers. We are talking about the connection between the gas giant and iron meteorites.

The Greatest Explosion in the Observable Universe

This is exactly how one can describe an event recorded by astronomers. The energy release of 2.3 × 10 52 erg is indecently high even for a supernova.

At a distance of 2.4 billion light years from Earth, something unprecedented happened. Scientists could not explain this either by the activity of the nucleus of a distant galaxy or by the activity of a black hole. However, they have versions, and we know which ones.

By the way, experts believe that such an explosion is not the only one of its kind. They had been observed before, but due to the enormous distances they were unable to assess the scale of the phenomenon.

Supernova that exploded several times

This would seem to be impossible. A supernova explosion is an irreversible process that turns a star into a cloud of gas. Nevertheless, this is exactly how the iPTF14hls flash behaved. Its brightness increased several times, at its peak reaching a value of 3.5 billion Suns.

Astronomers do not yet have an explanation for this phenomenon, as well as many other mysterious features of the process that can be found.

The TRAPPIST-1 system and a planet ideal for life

Three planets around the star TRAPPIST-1 in the constellation Aquarius were found back in 2016. Well, 2017 turned out to be rich in details.

Firstly, there were a total of seven planets. Secondly, it turned out that . However, not everything is so rosy: it seems that the star’s magnetic field is .

By the way, interesting planets were discovered not only in the TRAPPIST-1 system. Another discovery by scientists, the planet LHS 1140b, looks very tempting: the conditions on it are, in a sense, ideal for life. We're talking about why she's so good.

Discovery of water reserves on Earth's twins

An even more intriguing discovery was made by Hubble in 2017. He discovered water on the planets of the already mentioned star TRAPPIST-1!

Of course, we are not talking about the fact that astronomers saw ocean waves. The telescope recorded a cloud of hydrogen, which experts believe is generated by the decomposition of water under the influence of ultraviolet radiation.

A thread at the center of the Galaxy as possible confirmation of string theory

Just recently, astronomers received unique images of a mysterious object. It is located very close (by cosmic standards) to the black hole at the center of the Milky Way and looks like a long thin thread.

The nature of the strange celestial body is still unknown. We are talking about hypotheses put forward by scientists. Among them is a very bold one: the discovery may confirm string theory.

Let's hope that 2018 will be just as rich in astronomical discoveries, and we will tell you a lot more interesting things.

Follow the news.

Became the first person to conquer outer space. He made an orbital flight around the Earth, spending more than 100 minutes in outer space. This great achievement not only brought the USSR to the forefront of world development, but also marked the beginning of a new stage in the development of mankind.

Modern Russia, of course, cannot boast of successes of such a high rank. The whirlwind of economic and political upheavals of the late 20th century threw our country out of the club of technology leaders. But over time, the wounds are gradually healing, and Russia is once again ready to declare its superiority in space. “Reedus” talks about the achievements of domestic specialists in 2017, as well as their plans for the future.

It is known that all leadership begins with a good education. The most significant educational institution in the Russian Federation that trains specialists in the field of space is considered to be Moscow State Technical University named after N. E. Bauman. However, since 2017, Baumanka is no longer the only world-famous alma mater in the capital where future space explorers can apply. Lomonosov Moscow State University announced the creation of a space research faculty. The first hundred people were recruited here in the fall.

There was admission to master's programs. Including “Methods and technologies for remote sensing of the Earth”, “Public administration of the space industry”, “Intelligent mixed reality technologies for space systems”, “Physical conditions of outer space and planning of space missions”. New master's and specialty programs are currently being developed. In 2018, it is planned to begin enrolling students for the first courses, MSU Rector Viktor Sadovnichy told Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

Not only theorists, but also practitioners - leading specialists from Russian space enterprises and corporations - take part in the training of new explorers of the Universe.

"Sazhen-TM-BIS" for GLONASS

Another significant event in the field of space was the opening in South Africa of the second Sazhen-TM-BIS station produced by JSC NPK SPP (the first such station was installed in Brazil in 2014). This is a radio-laser complex put into operation as part of the global GLONASS system. The complex is designed to perform precision measurements of slant range to spacecraft equipped with laser retroreflectors, with an orbit altitude of up to 25,000 km, and for continuous monitoring of navigation signals of GLONASS and GPS satellites, measurements of current navigation parameters of their movement and reception of navigation messages from satellites.

»The history of relations between South Africa and Russia goes back to more than 25 years of mutually beneficial and successful cooperation and friendship, and the launch of a new high-tech space system produced by the Russian Federation on the territory of South Africa is not only another confirmation of our friendly relations, but also the basis for the further development of scientific cooperation between the Russian Federation and South Africa,” said Sergei Savelyev, Deputy General Director of the ROSCOSMOS State Corporation for International Cooperation, at the opening of the complex.

Development of photonic technologies

In March, the Russian Space Systems holding company began creating microphotonic devices. Photonic technologies are characterized by low energy losses during signal transmission and can radically improve the transmission, storage and processing of information.

In the future, photonics will replace microelectronics.

Communications for scientific missions

RKS has also begun creating a new generation antenna system, which will become part of the network ground-based complex for controlling spacecraft in deep space being created in Russia. These developments are designed to provide communications for Russian and international scientific missions at any distance to the boundaries of the Solar System.

“NRTKs combined into a cluster are significantly superior in efficiency to individual NRTKs based on larger antennas - the operating range of such a cluster can reach the limits of the Solar System. The integration of NRTK clusters into a geographically distributed networked ground-based control complex for long-distance spacecraft with a single control center will allow for continuous monitoring of the spacecraft around the clock,” commented on the new product, General Director of OKB MPEI Alexander Chebotarev.

GLONASS in Nicaragua

And in Nicaragua, the first Russian measuring station of the GLONASS system was opened in Central America.

“This is the first GLONASS station in Central America, and it begins to operate in Managua, which indicates the level of mutual understanding between Russia and Nicaragua,” said the head of the Roscosmos state corporation Igor Komarov at the opening of the station.

Russian scientists have established a new upper limit of the Earth's biosphere

At the same time, ROSCOSMOS scientists discovered viable spores and DNA fragments of microorganisms in orbit of the International Space Station that are resistant to the unfavorable factors of space. Thus, a new upper limit of the Earth's biosphere was established.

“The detection statistics of viable units of spore bacteria (genus Bacillus) and fungal spores (genus Aureobasidium) in the CE “Test” sessions is about 45%. The use of highly sensitive molecular methods made it possible in 70% of cases not only to identify DNA fragments of the genomes of various microorganisms, but to determine their type. Thus, in experiments over different years, fragments were identified: Mycobacteria DNA as a marker of heterotrophic marine bacterioplankton living in the Barents Sea; DNA of the extremophilic bacterium Delftria; DNA of bacteria similar in their primary structure to bacteria identified in soil samples from the island of Madagascar; DNA of plant genomes; DNA of archaebacteria (present in almost all samples) and DNA of fungi Erythrobasidium and Cystobasidium,” reports the ROSCOSMOS press service.

The experimental data obtained are the most important factual material for studying the mechanism of biocosmos dispersion from the Earth's biosphere into outer space.

Launch of a nanoclass satellite

Russian cosmonauts Fedor Yurchikhin and Sergei Ryazansky launched a new Russian professional nanoclass satellite TNS-0 No. 2 during a spacewalk.

“The universal nanosatellite platform, created at RKS by order of RSC Energia, was delivered aboard the ISS by the Progress transport spacecraft in June of this year. The weight of the device with all service systems is only 4 kg, while it can carry on board up to 6 kg of payload,” noted the RKS.

The satellite will remain in orbit for 3 to 5 months.

Equipment operating in infrared ranges

Specialists of the Scientific Center for Operational Earth Monitoring received and processed the first ever image taken by the multi-channel radiometer equipment of the mid- and far-infrared ranges installed on the Kanopus-V-IK spacecraft. Thus, they managed to record heat spots in the Caspian territories of Russia and Kazakhstan.

Note that the equipment of the Canopus-V-IK spacecraft is capable of detecting various thermal objects, including fires with an area of ​​only 25 square meters.

Take a ship into space using 3D glasses

This year, the first in Russia Center for the virtual design of spacecraft and modules was opened at the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation. The center will allow engineers and technologists to use 3D glasses to enter a virtual ship or module and work in an artificially created digital space using the most modern technologies, ROSCOSMOS reports.

Space tourists

In the foreseeable future, ROSCOSMOS plans to create a luxury hotel on the ISS. The hotel, with an area of ​​90 square meters, will have 4 cabins, a dining room and a medical room. Tourists will be able to access the Internet, take photographs in outer space and play sports on special exercise equipment. The cost of such a trip would be approximately $40 million.

Let us remember that the idea of ​​taking tourists into space matured a long time ago, back in the 90s, when the Russian Mir station was leased to one of the travel agencies. Several wealthy people, paying $15 million each, went into space using NASA's shuttles. But soon the profitable business had to be closed because problems arose with transporting tourists into outer space.

Now they plan to transport tourists to the ISS using Russian Soyuz spacecraft.