ABSTRACT
Since the latest decade of the 20th century and specially in the early 21st century, geotourism, the geoparks movement and consideration, emphasis and conservation of abiotic nature and geoheritage have been seriously proposed in academic and executive circles. The concept and practice are expanding ever-increasingly and a new topic has been added to the aspects of environment and conservation of human heritage (i.e., abiotic nature). During the last 15 years, about 150 global geoparks have been registered around the globe and all this helps sustainable development.
Attention to the “heavens,” which has long been considered by humans, in novels, and movies during the last 200 years or so, reveals human desire for travel to the moon and into space. Traveling from our planet is no longer just a science fiction story and space tourism is gradually developing and expanding and one day will become one of journeys that people will be able to option. In terms of the aforesaid concept and with due regard to space or planetary geology, being in the scope of human attention, the abiotic aspect of nature and heavenly geosystems like celestial bodies, clouds, light, Aurora, stars, the Moon (lunology), Mars, etc., give us cause to think that in developing and expanding geotourism concepts such attractions and preserving them have been neglected or underestimated and may have no main relationship with geotourism. However, in fact there are some geo-celestial activities in Australia, Iceland, Iran, and elsewhere, and/or within geoparks and space trips; here, the words celestial geotourism and space geotourism are coined and proposed for developing these new sub-sectors. Also, considering the concepts of primary and secondary geosites in geotourism for categorizing 482these new sectors, here those concepts can be applied and classified for proposed celestial and space tourism.
Therefore, from the proposed theoretical aspects in space geotourism, the earth itself is considered as a secondary space geosite and, being in a weightlessness condition and visiting space in sub-orbit, on the orbit and beyond earth’s orbit is proposed as a primary geosite, of which these geosites would require to be protected in the 21st century and future centuries regarding sustainable development and avoiding space contamination. From a celestial geotourism point of view, planetariums, the Meteorite Museums and similar, Astronomy scientists and astronauts’ residences and gravesites, archaeo-astronomical heritage, etc., are proposed as celestial secondary geosites. Celestial geotourism is also applicable in the cities and suburbs (just in free of light pollution areas) and in nature and also adjacent to villages and in polluted cities of the world in order to develop urban geotourism for gazing at sunrise and sunset, etc., affected by pollution, and participating in related interpretive provisions. Such celestial geotourism could help awareness of the public in the cities of developing countries and also help to decrease city air pollution.
From the point of view of managing geotourism, considering the space and time of development of appropriate geosites for tourism, celestial geotourism, both for gazing and for viewing cosmic-like beauties on Earth, and the proper interpretation of the space geology landscape at these geotourism sites, can be used as a platform for the expansion of future public space geotourism.
Geoconservationists can consider new perspectives for developing celestial geotourism in their geotourism development evaluation models and cooperation of geologists, directors of geoparks, institutes of astronomy, observatories, planetariums, universities, and enthusiasts and policy making directors can help the development of celestial geotourism inside geoparks and other urban and natural regions and be a factor for poverty alleviation and income generation for local communities in remote areas of different countries—especially developing countries. Sustainable development of space geotourism provides the study and attentions to atmospheric environmental issues and above atmosphere and in space, when parts of the universe as a geotourism attraction, to be used as space geology in the future. Then the development of celestial geotourism can be a platform for the public development of space geotourism in the world—especially in developed countries.
