The cost of flying to the international space station aboard a Russian Soyuz spaceship has increased from $25 million earlier this year to between $30 million and $40 million for trips planned in 2008 and 2009.Five space tourists have paid $20 million to $25 million to visit the space station via the Soyuz vehicles through trips arranged by Space Adventures. The company announced Wednesday that two more Soyuz seats have been purchased for tourists to fly in 2008 and 2009. via

Japanese tourists are visiting Alaska this time of year to see the aurora borealis, helping to create a lucrative winter tourism market in a cold, cold state that is primarily a summer destination, and their number is growing. Japanese culture is fascinated with natural wonders, and the aurora borealis is a luminous phenomenon produced when charged solar particles strike the upper atmosphere near the North Pole, is celebrated in travel and adventure shows in Japan. Many Japanese save for years or take out loans to see the aurora. For some, it is almost a spiritual quest. "Some of them have