How about going on your own space odyssey in 2040?

TOKYO -- The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's successful landing of a probe on the moon on Jan. 20 highlights people and governments' ongoing interest in space exploration. One aspect of that exploration is space travel, which is about to become accessible not just to a tiny number of ultrawealthy people but to a much broader slice of the public, thanks to recent technological advances.

Virgin Galactic a private, U.S. aerospace company, conducted its first space tourism flight last year, with each passenger paying $450,000 for the trip.Other companies are offering space tours for as little as 3 million yen. Technological advances are likely to keep lowering the cost of an out-of-this-world trip.