--- description: Opening the door to space tourism, practicing surgery on 3D-printed brains, renewable energy from algae and more. title: Opening the Door to Space Tourism image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Innovation](/tag/innovation/) ## Innovation Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Opening the Door to Space Tourism by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 25, 2015 5:01 PM CUT by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 25, 2015 5:01 PM CUT **1\.** [**This rocket’s launch — and safe return to earth — could open the door to space tourism.**](http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2015/11/24/blue-origins-rockets-sticks-its-landing/ "undefined") By Nathaniel Scharping in Discover **2\.** [**Doctors are 3D-printing a patient’s brain to practice surgery before they perform it.**](http://www.cnbc.com/2015/11/23/new-brain-surgery-innovation-practice-on-a-3-d-model.html "undefined") By Dan Mangan at CNBC **3\.** [**The next leap in clean energy? Algae-power.**](http://www.concordia.ca/news/media-relations/news/media-relations/news-releases/cunews/main/releases/2015/11/24/research-technology-to-harness-electrical-energy-from-plants-algae.html "undefined") By Cléa Desjardins at Concordia University **4\.** [**How data-mining led to a diabetes breakthrough.**](http://www.fastcoexist.com/3052935/the-latest-breakthrough-in-understanding-diabetes-was-made-by-an-algorithm "undefined") By Jessica Leber in Co.Exist **5\.** [**The police took more stuff from people than burglars did last year.**](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/11/23/cops-took-more-stuff-from-people-than-burglars-did-last-year/ "undefined") By Christopher Ingraham in the Washington Post  [_The Aspen Institute_](http://www.aspeninstitute.org/ "undefined") _is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4126929/space-tourism/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4126929/space-tourism/"},"headline":"Opening the Door to Space Tourism","datePublished":"2015-11-25T17:01:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:00:51.809Z","description":"These are today's best ideas","url":"https://time.com/4126929/space-tourism/","keywords":["Innovation","energy","diabetes","space travel"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Aspen Institute","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/innovation/","name":"Innovation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4126929/space-tourism/","name":"Opening the Door to Space Tourism"}}]}] ```