There can't be a hobby without
hobbyshops and now the internet offers plenty of places
to shop for space hobby related stuff.
Some of these space shopping
sites provide a general
catalog of space items while others specialize.
Space bookstores
are also popular.
Now a number of space
services are available as well. These consumer
services include direct-to-home satellite TV, 2-way
broadband internet to the home, digital satellite radio,
and GPS.
Interior of the Bigelow
Aerospace Genesis 1 spacecraft in orbit. The company
is
accepting items from the public for placement inside
the next Genesis module
to launch to space in the fall of 2006.
Space
Travel for People
Several companies now offer tickets to fly on suborbital
spaceflight vehicles. The first such vehicles are expected
to begin test flights by late 2007. It is also possible
to obtain a flight to the ISS for around US$20M. The
Space
Tourism section provides lots of information about
this kind of service.
Here is a list of travel agencies that provide not
only spaceflight packages but also astronaut training,
"zero-gravity" on airplanes flying parabolas,
tours of spaceports, etc.
Space
Adventures - space tours, ZERO-G flights, suborbital
and orbital flights
SpaceWander
Virtual Space Trip! - this adventure and space
tourism travel site also offers a cool interactive
multimedia trip from earth to Mars.
Wildwings
is a UK based travel company that offers various adventure
tours, such as trips to Antarctic. It is now developing
a space
tours package. WildWings is the UK Sales Agents
for Space Adventures Inc. (see above) and is taking
deposits on suborbital flights.
WhereInTheWorld
- Final Frontier - this adventure tourist company
will reserve you on a sub-orbital flight, Space Camp,
Shuttle launch and more.
Items
flow in Space, Small Payloads
Several companies now sell rides into space for small
payloads such as school science projects, collectables
and memorabilia, etc. Most of these companies currently
provide only suborbital spaceflights.
Bigelow
Aerospace - place photos and other small items
in their orbiting modules
Bigelow flew personal items on the Genesis II
spacecraft launched in June of 2007. However,
they have suspended the program for future spacecraft.
Masten-Space
Systems - suborbital flights on a vertical-takeoff-and-landing
vehicle. Still in vehicle development stage. Low
altitude flights could begin in 2010.
Final Frontier Jerky
- Gregory Nemitz, businessman and space activist,
ran the firm Beef Jerky.com. He succeeded in 1996
in sending a package of his Final Frontier Jerky
to Mir via the shuttle mission STS-79. By all reports,
the jerky was a great hit with the astronauts and
cosmonauts.
An article in Space News (April 23,2001) reported
on his efforts to get a delivery of his popular
space food to the International Space Station.
Space
Burial
Portions of cremated remains of the deceased have been
launched to space as a memorial and tribute to their
lives. Currently, at least one company offers this service.
Here is a sample of stores that
sell space related items. Note that many science museum
shops will sell such items as well.
U.S.A.
All
the Right Stuff
Online shop for space gifts including including toys,
figures, space food, etc. They also have a special section
of space
party items.
Museum
of Flight Giftshop
This Seattle museum emphasizes aviation but has some
space items as well. Check out the giftshop for their
space merchandise.
Smithsonian
Store
Unfortunately the Air & Space Museum doesn't seem
to have an online gift shop of its own. However, the
Smithsonian Store has a number of space related items.
Note that the store in the Smithsonian National Air
& Space Museum itself is very large and offers a
huge variety of space items.
The
Spacestore
The Space StoreTM was begun as a family business
owned and operated by Dayna Steele-Justiz, a radio talk
show host in Houston, and Charlie Justiz, a research
pilot for NASA. The SpaceStore eventually became part
of Spacehab. However,
it is still run by Ms. Steele.
The storefront is designed like a small gift shop,
selling posters, T-shirts, and even space suits—currently
modeled by a mannequin that Clark has nicknamed Marsha
White. More importantly, the Emporium will offer tickets
for suborbital flight—near-space sightseeing flights
set to begin by 2015—for the hefty fee of $100,000
to $200,000 a person.
The facility also provides a
a library for Space Society members and a
space-travel supply shop and will host Space Society
workshops, meetings and events.
Sounds like a great place for space enthusiasts to hang
out.
Armagh
Planetarium, N. Ireland
The Armagh
Planetarium (College Hill, Armagh, Co. Armagh,
BT61 9DB, N. Ireland) provides an online store with
astronomy and general space items for order. Departments
include: AstroGifts Globes Postcards,PostersCharts
SlideSets Videos
The
Space Shop - UK Collectables NASA Special And Rare Editions.
Flown In Space. Display Desk Models And More.
Space
County Souveniers - Located near Vandenberg AFB,
Space Country "supply image products in support
of government and commercial space programs. Space
Country Souvenirs is a leading producer and wholesale
distributor of space program patches, emblematic jewelry,
caps, t-shirts, and other memorabilia for NASA, the
aerospace industry, the military, dealers, gift and
souvenir shops worldwide."
The following space shops specialize
in areas such as clothes or in items that support a
particular project. Some of these are general stores
that have a specialty sideline not offered by many other
general stores.
Most of the sections at HobbySpace
offer links to stores selling items related to particular
topics. Examples include:
Spacecraft
Films
This company provides an on line store of DVDs with
a wide range of space documentaries, historical footage,
and other space related video.
In addition, some productions are enhanced with "high-quality
computer generated images matched to actual mission
audio to provide stunning realizations where video or
film footage doesn't exist."
Space Theme Pens
Here are pens with space related designs.
Fisher Space
Pen
Learn about and purchase the famous Fisher space pen
that was developed for NASA. It is "a ball point
pen that will write smoothly in a vacuum. at any angle,
underwater, over grease, in hot and cold temperatures,
with an estimated shelf life of over 100 years."
Tranquility
Posters - " dedicated to reproducing the
most stunning images of modern history in art quality
poster format. Each image is paired with the insightful
words of great visionaries that, when combined with
the images, give more profound meaning to both."
Space
Posters * Images * Prints
Many of the stores listed on this page carry various
space related posters and high quality prints. Here's
a short list of some particular poster/print sites:
Artifactory
Replicas - From the Ground Up - makes
and sells reproductions of NASA blueprints taken from
source materials in the public domain. They call them
Aero Art Prints. The "digitally enhanced
prints eliminate water stains, wrinkles, and tears,
resulting in a pristine work of art".
Astrographics
- Astronomy, remote sensing, and other types of space
photos, posters and calendars.
SpacePhotos.com
- "More than 40 000 Astronomical and Space pictures
on our site, all available in superb High Resolution
prints for professional or private use. Also find
many other products on the subject of Space (the famous
Space Pen, Scale Models, Telescopes, Slides, Astronomy
maps, etc.)."
Tranquility
Posters - " dedicated to reproducing the
most stunning images of modern history in art quality
poster format. Each image is paired with the insightful
words of great visionaries that, when combined with
the images, give more profound meaning to both."
SkyImageLab
- "Digitally mastered astronomy photos and images
of the Earth, its Sky, the Planets and their Moons,
our Star, the Stars, our Milky Way, and Galaxies near
and distant...."
