Speaker: Space tourism coming soon

Near routine space flights for private citizens are on the horizon, according to Dr. Jonathan Clark, former space shuttle flight surgeon, and consultant for several space flight ventures, including Elon Musk's Space-X company.

Clark made the remarks at the Institute for Humans and Machine Cognition Evening Lecture Series Tuesday in Ocala.

When Clark asked how many in the packed audience would like to travel in space now, about 30 people raised their hands.

Clark lost his wife, Laurel, in the Feb. 1, 2003, Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. According to a NASA biography, Laurel Clark was a Navy captain and was awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor posthumously and three Navy Commendation Medals. The couple have a son, Iain, now 24.

He said she died doing what she loved, with those she loved while serving her country and he continues in his pursuit of space flight and safety to honor her.

"I feel like you can't stop your dream. I want to carry on the torch in her honor and honor her sacrifice," Clark said.

A biography and information sheet provided at the talk states that a Japanese billionaire, Yusaku Maezawa, has "chartered" a flight from Space-X to circle the moon possibly by 2023.

Clark said six men and one woman have been what is called space flight "participants" and flown in Russian launches.

Clark said technology like reusable rockets tied to the Falcon 9 system and competition between several companies has accelerated the race for affordable space tourism. He said space ports are established in Florida, Texas and Arizona.

"Science fiction is turning into science fact," said Clark, 65, who has studied the effects of space flight on astronauts and has worked in making space travel safer. As well as consulting with companies such as Musk's Space-X, he also works with Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic, which is involved in the commercial space flight industry.

Clark served at NASA from 1997 to 2005.

His biography states that Clark is a senior research scientist at IHMC at the Pensacola center,  an associate professor of neurology and space medicine at Baylor College and an advisor for the National Space and Biomedical Research Institute.

Clark , a self-described Army brat, moved extensively as a youth and spent time in Germany. He attended a Sea Camp at Marathon Key when he was 17 and developed an interest in marine biology.

Clark joined the Navy in 1975 and severed for 26 years. He was a medical officer attached to the Marines and served as a Cobra helicopter door gunner in the Gulf War. He went to medical school while in the Navy at Bethesda, Maryland, and completed in 1980.

Clark said many early concerns about space travel and health, like eyeballs popping out or not being able to chew in a weightless environment, have "no significance" now and he pointed to paralyzed scientist Stephen Hawking, who Clark said took as many as eight flights in a row in an aircraft that flies in an arcing manner to provide a brief period of weightlessness.

"John Glenn flew into space at age 77 and did great," Clark said.

He gave an example that during some lift-offs the G-force would be about equal to having an adult sit on your chest for about seven to eight minutes.

Clark said much of the preparations for a space flight have to do with healthy lifestyle and "no smoking, no drinking."

Clark said humans are very adaptable and live in some extreme environments on Earth.

"Some (space travelers) adapt well, rookies have more trouble than veterans," Clark said. He said he has seen very healthy astronauts return from missions and you "wouldn't know they'd been in space."

 Peggy Goldberg of Ocala, a guest at the lecture, worked at Goddard Space Flight Center in the 1960s during the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions as a physicist. She said she feels suborbital flight will be the next frontier and drastically reduce travel times between points on Earth.

 Clark said important space flight health concerns include behavioral health in the confined craft and making sure people are compatible; the effects of radiation and concern about bone density in the space enviroment; and lack of movement.

 He said people typically lose about 1 percent of their bone density annually but in space travel a human might encounter a 1 percent per month bone loss. He said that can be overcome with resistive exercise.