So now we know - the long-sustained image that "Only extraordinarily fit people can go to space" is - A MYTH. The truth is that anyone can go - or at least anyone who would ride in an aeroplane.

The largest international space meeting each year is the annual Congress of the International Astronautical Federation ( IAF), the 49th of which took place this year from September 28 - October 2 in Melbourne, Australia.

The Space Frontier Foundation, which has been pressing eloquently for better and more commercially-targeted efforts to develop space, recognises space tourism as one of the activities that could play a major role in generating the financial support needed to develop space. At this year's 7th Annual Conference, Tom Rogers, President of the Space Transportation Association in Washington DC (among his various hats) chaired a panel on Space Adventure Tourism during the afternoon of Saturday October 10th at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel, L.A. airport.

Under the headline "Vacations in Orbit" journalist Jeffrey Kluger subtitled Time magazine's first article on the recent activities aimed at realising space tourism "Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin has flown in space twice. Now he's hoping to send you there too."

In Science & Government Report, a newsletter published by Technical

The Report of the AIAA/ CEAS/ CASI Workshop on International Cooperation in Space held in Banff Canada in January 1998 has been published, and it includes strong support for the creation of a space tourism industry.

The Launch Cost Reduction Bill, a new Senate bill that would allow NASA to provide loan guarantees of up to $400 million to help chosen companies raise funding for new launch vehicle development, has become the focus of a fierce controversy.

The Space Tourism Society hosts the Space Fair 98 at the Queen Mary

As Space Future turns one year old today, the two goals of space tourism and space power which are key to paying for human expansion into space, are looking better than ever before. Both topics are substantially more widely accepted today than even one year ago, though there's still a long way to go.

In a recent piece entitled "Skeptics put Glenn, NASA under the microscope" about John Glenn's scheduled flight on the space shuttle, CNN quoted several medical researchers as saying that although Glenn is 77 his flight cannot be justified by medical research into aging. (Among other things, a single case is not statistically useful, and there is little data on his earlier short flight.) Politics and PR seem to be the real reasons behind the plan.