posted 01-22-2009 09:02 PM               

Technology Review has set out to compile the first oral history of space tourism. We asked each of the five travelers who came after Tito to describe the trip. They gave hours of their time, sitting separately for multiple interviews over a six-month period. Most have never met, but they all told essentially the same story of blastoff, weightlessness, reëntry, and revelation. We've distilled, edited, and organized their words to create a composite story of what a space vacation is really like.