Within the decade, the vast reaches of space may be opened to anyone -- if you can pay for it.

Early last week, SpaceShipOne won the $10 million Ansari X Prize, awarded to the first private design team that could create a spaceship capable of flying into space and returning safely twice within 14 days.

As a result, SpaceShipOne's designers have already been awarded a $25 million business contract, which could lead to civilian space travel for about $200,000 a person by 2007, said Ryan Kobrick (graduate-aerospace engineering).

Kobrick, an intern at the X Prize Foundation, was in California last week to watch SpaceShipOne's historic, award-winning flight.

Through this internship, he has had a crucial role in developing the X Prize Cup, an annual competition similar to the X Prize that is slated to begin in 2005 or 2006.

Already, another award similar to the X Prize is being developed that would challenge a spacecraft to go into space, orbit Earth and come back safely twice within two weeks, Kobrick said.

He said NASA has been very supportive of the work of the spacecraft designers and the X Prize. NASA will benefit from the extra knowledge gained through the competition without needing to use money in its limited budget, he said.

David Spencer, associate professor of aerospace engineering, explained that the awarding of the X Prize could generate a manned space travel industry.

"It's going to bring space exploration and space travel back into the limelight and allow people to really feel like an average citizen can do something that has only been opened to professional astronauts and, more recently, very rich people," he said.

In past years, several wealthy civilians have traveled into space with the Russian space agency at a cost of $20 million each.

Jim Pawelczyk, assistant professor of kinesiology and physiology and a former astronaut, said that the space-flight competition will further advance human space travel.

"The X Prize is a great catalyst. Competitors to stimulate ideas in the private arena are exactly what we need," he said. "The NASA brass and everyone was pulling for them to make this happen."

The space-flight competition requires participants to think outside the box and use novel, creative ideas to succeed and manage risks, Pawelczyk said.

He said the biggest benefit to the X Prize competition is how it has changed public thinking toward space travel.

"The inspiration/exploration component is very important. We have a tendency in society to think of 'can't do' things," he said. "Part of what excites us as a people is to find something novel and new and push further than anyone has before."

Spencer likened the achievements of SpaceShipOne to those of Charles Lindbergh. When he flew across the Atlantic, he had no idea what it would mean for commercial aviation, Spencer said; the same may prove to be true for SpaceShipOne.

Pawelczyk said any time there is competition, it is a good thing. Competition was a large part of Americans walking on the moon, and now that nations like China and private designers in America are both pursuing manned space flight, the whole industry will benefit, he said.

Through this competition for manned space flight, the possibility of a space tourism industry has attracted both investors and critics.

The main issue in space tourism is safety, Pawelczyk said. Since SpaceShipOne was barely outside the Earth's atmosphere, there is still a long way to go before any civilian can fly in outer space. Safety backups will have to be developed for every aspect of each trip, he said.

One example, Pawelczyk explained, is the pressure shell on the ship, which could be backed up by having passengers wear spacesuits.

Even though civilians may someday head into space with little formal training, Spencer believes that it will not undermine any of the training or challenges that astronauts must go through and overcome to fly into space.

"Astronauts do undergo a great deal of extensive training, but there is a lot they are doing that someone who pays their way is incapable of," he said. "Space tourists just basically ride up, then float around and take pictures."

Spencer also explained that if space travel and tourism becomes a lucrative business, it will help scientific exploration, making more flights available to send up scientific equipment and experiments.

Regardless of where you are exploring, the most important aspect, Pawelczyk said, is coming back. If an explorer does not return, no one would ever know what he or she has found.

Spencer agreed that safety was the biggest concern. He said he hopes the Federal Aviation Administration would still maintain oversight on the safety issues involved with civilian space travel, as they do currently for commercial airlines.

Andrew Gowisnok (junior-electrical engineering) believes the success or failure of civilian space travel is dependent on how closely it is monitored.

"It all depends on how and which ways our government regulates [space tourism]. If they cannot find an effective way to do it, it may not last long," he said. "But really, as long as the spaceships don't blow up, it will probably be a success."

Spencer said students currently at Penn State could be among the first to take advantage of civilian space flight.

"It opens a whole new regime of space, and there are all-new opportunities for students to find a way to build a career off of the tourism or spin-off technology associated with civilian travel," he said.

Gowisnok thinks that regardless of the contributions of SpaceShipOne and other X Prize competitors, space exploration is different from space tourism.

"It's too early to tell whether or not it will lead to further exploration," he said. "Flying vehicles into space is one thing, but flying to the moon or Mars is a lot different."

Spencer added that it's impossible to know whom civilian space travel will affect and what it might mean for the future of human space exploration.

"I may have had the first person to land on Mars in my class last year. I'm sure when Neil Armstrong was an undergraduate his professors had no idea that he would be the first person to walk on the moon," he said. "There very well may be a Penn State student now who will be affected by [space tourism]."