With commercial companies like Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin developing spacecrafts that are capable of taking paying travelers beyond the Earth's surface, we'll likely see the launch of the space tourism industry within just a few years.

For the vast majority of human spaceflight history, the only ones lucky enough to reach the stars were professional astronauts hired and trained by government agencies around the world.

If you're taking a suborbital flight, which is what companies like Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin are offering, your ride will be a quick up-and-down to reach space, rather than a full orbit of the Earth.

While the journey will be short, it's going to be a relatively easy ride for you compared to what professional astronauts experience. The training programs for suborbital space tourist experiences are relatively minimal, perhaps only a few days in length at most.

Dr. Parazynski says: "This is a really big life experience, and though you don't need to be an Olympic athlete or a Super Bowl champion to fly in space, it helps to be fit. After all, your body will be experiencing quite a range of new sensations during your spaceflight. The more you can be engaged in the experience, the more you'll remember of it — it'll be more impactful to you."

While it takes quite a bit of effort (and time and money) to get into space to experience weightlessness, you can actually experience the sensation right here on Earth — or rather, just slightly above it. All you need to do is book a reduced-gravity flight, where a plane flies in a series of parabolas (or arch-like shapes) during which passengers experience simulated weightlessness through free fall.

"Don't worry about taking your photoes! As far as taking photographs, I don't know that I would recommend it," says Dr. Chiao. "You're not going to be very good at it, first of all, because it takes a little bit of practice to get used to zero-G. Don't waste that time taking photos. Get your memories, look out those windows, and enjoy the whole experience of being weightless." Plus, given the price tag of these spaceflights, we're pretty sure that your operator will provide you with photos and videos of your journey anyway.