Tired of Sun 'n Surf? Try a Space Vacation

Want to take your next vacation in space?

Well, you're in luck. Cambridge Travel Consultants, a travel agency in Holyoke Center, will soon be taking reservations for eight-to-12-hour earth orbits.

The price? A mere $52,000. And the cruise date? October 12, 1992, the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's discovery of America.

The firm behind the venture, Society Expeditions of Seattle, Wash., plans to operate two or three flights a week on its fleet of specially built spaceships, each carrying 20 passengers. The only restrictions are that passengers have to be "of normal health" and capable of enduring a normal jet flight, according to company officials.

Prior to the trip, passengers will have to go through a three-day orientation and training program at a luxurious resort complex near the launch pad.

Then, on Day 4, passengers will orbit the earth five to eight times. Sitting in cozy armchairs, they will be served meals and enjoy views of the scenery through the windows and on video screens. Officials say they'll encourage people to unstrap themselves and to experience the weightlessness of space.

It's not the first time the 11-year-old Society Expeditions has offered a trip to a weird place. Previous tours have included Easter Island, Antarctica and Mongolia.

One Harvard expert, though, isn't totally impressed. Touring space is a "hell of a roller-coaster ride," said David W. Latham, the associate director of the Center for Astrophysics.

"I have trouble thinking of people going up and eating delicious cocktails and roast-beef sandwiches. It might be pretty hard on their tummies," Latham said. "If astronauts go through all that training and still get really sick, I'm not sure this is going to be a real joyride."

But, he added, "How many people can say they've been in space? The dramatic visual impression and strikingly beautiful view might actually be worth it--as long as you're not too sick to care what the view is."

And one official at Travel Consultants, who declined to give his name, said more people seem to be interested in the advertisement than the trip itself: "If we could have charged $50 per poster, we'd probably have sold 100 of them.