Senior Seminar in Aviation

1.      The idea of space tourism really began in the 1960’s. “During the 1960s, space tourism was viewed of as an industry that would one day balloon. Defunct U.S. airliner Pan-Am maintained a waiting list for eventual trips to the moon, while futurists forecasted that lunar colonies would be established by the year 2000”  (Blum, 2015).  Space tourism has developed slowly. There have only been 551 people who’ve been into space, with only seven of them private citizens. The first major accomplishment was in 1984, when a non-government employee ventured into space as a payload specialist for McDonnell Douglas. The next major accomplishment regarding space tourism was in 1998, when Space Adventures was founded. Space Adventures has been the only company to ever send private citizens into space at a cost of between $20 million and $40 million for a 10-day adventure and trip to the international space station. The first major hurdle came in 1986, when the Challenger ship disintegrated

UAVs are currently being used by civilians for purposes of recreation, business, photography, crop monitoring, . I have actually done research on this topic recently due to my recent acquisition of a high-end drone so I'm well aware of the requirements. These UAVs are currently regulated under two categories. There's Part 107 under the FAA, and there's the more recent announcement from congress with the Special Rule for Model Aircraft (Public Law 112-95 Section 336). The civilian UAV's are mostly regulated under the Special Rule for Model Aircraft, assuming the activities only include recreation. The UAVs used for recreation have had a conflicting past regarding registration with the FAA. According to the FAA Modernization and Reform Act (2012), it states that the FAA "may not promulgate any rule or regulation regarding a model aircraft". This means that the FAA cannot require recreational drone users to have to register their aircraft. However, the FAA in 2