Now it’s Netflix that’s following the journey, at the time it was the journalists who were asked. “And the whole point is the idea that the reader of the newspaper will see what that plane could mean for him in the future.”

He expects the same kind of exhilarating message from the passengers of the Inspiration4 mission as those early air travelers. ‘ Like a journalist from the NRC in 1919 after he flew around Amsterdam: ‘Flying is everything to me! “

People were also worried about safety at the time. And not without reason. Derricks: “These first planes were not very reliable. Many of them with passengers and have already disappeared over the North Sea. Often people were very comfortable when they returned to Earth. I can imagine that today’s space tourists share that feeling. We’re not familiar with it yet, it’s a huge hindrance.”

from A to A

But the comparison ends there. Because the criticism now on extraterrestrial pleasure trips wasn’t sound at the time. “About 1920, the airline predicted a new mode of transportation from which the world could gain something. That is, shortening travel times between international destinations. Space travel doesn’t have that perspective at all. It goes from A to A.”

That’s still the case for this mission, confirms space expert Ronald Clumby, affiliated with the Aviodrome’s Space Museum. “This is above all the final form of the landmarks of the city. SpaceX has even replaced the coupling mechanism that usually connects the capsule to the International Space Station with a large viewing dome.”