Last month, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Apollo moon landings, the first time humankind landed on the moon. But 50 years ago tomorrow another historic but far less widely publicised event took place. The three Apollo 11 astronauts who had manned the moon landing mission were allowed to leave quarantine. This was significant because while the moon landings proved that travel to the moon was possible, the release of the astronauts back into their normal lives proved that survival on the moon was possible too. 

In its own small way, this realisation has helped fuel the colossal impact the 1969 moon landing has had on the human imagination. Despite, or perhaps because of the fact that few people have returned to the moon since, space travel remains the final frontier of human endeavour and the awe it inspires still captures the imagination of billions of people across the world today.  

Now holidays are upon us, how close are we to a time when space, or even the moon itself, becomes a vacation destination? Is this still firmly within the realms of science fiction? Or is it something we might be likely to see in our lifetimes? And if it does ever happen, what infrastructure and construction activity will it require here and, more fantastically, in space? 

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