Credit: Planetary Resources
The big name space tourism companies are still working on getting off the ground, but that shouldn't stop you from getting some pretty great vacation photos of you making duckface with the Earth in the background.
For that, there's Arkyd. It's a space telescope that will allow private individuals to snap photos of the cosmos as well as grabbing space selfies, thanks to an on-board display screen and camera.
There's a Kickstarter underway right now to fund the telescope project, and Planetary Resources is already almost halfway to their goal of $1 million.
The ARKYD is a technologically advanced, orbiting space telescope that will becontrolled by YOU, the crowd, through your pledges and community involvement! You can even direct your telescope time to non-profit science centers and universities for use in your communities! Just think about the true impact of this endeavor for a moment. Together we can provide access to technology that costs tens of millions of dollars into the hands of students, scientists and a new generation of explorers, who will use it in ways we can't even fathom yet! At Planetary Resources, our primary focus is mining asteroids, and we're pushing the boundaries of what is possible by vertically integrating and applying innovations from consumer-based industries. It's our goal to reduce the cost of space observatories many times over, allowing anyone to access them for their own use. We want to empower the crowd to solve the big problems of our time — and this is the first step to making that a reality.
Bonus: The Arkyd has competition. The Silicon Valley–based Moon Express company is sending a privately funded telescope to the moon for online viewing of Earth.
Here's the Kickstarter video:
Disclosure: I'm an investor in Planetary Resources, the company that is building the Arkyd.
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