Elon Musk's Rocket Travel Agency Might Need Tons of Puking Bags and a Brave Pill

Places like Australia and Shanghai, for example. Yes, during his speech at the 2017 International Astronautical Congress (IAC), Musk teased the idea of using the 35-story-tall rocket for intra-planetary journeys as well, saying we could reach any point on our blue and green planet in under an hour.

That sounds excellent, but there's the slight issue of having to board a rocket, and then remaining inside while it launches, lifts over the atmosphere, goes back in and lands. You know, the kind of thing astronauts usually do after years of training. Will that be too much for our couch-rubbing bodies?

Well, according to NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao, it would and it wouldn't. Most of us fear the moment of take-off, imagining it involves g-forces that are too much for the average person. Speaking to Business Insider, Chiao dismisses this myth.

"During launch on a rocket with liquid engines ... the liftoff is very smooth, and one really can't feel it," he says, and he should know having left earth on board of both the NASA space shuttle and the Russian Soyuz rocket.

The first noticeable bump comes the moment the spaceship - the top part of the rocket - disconnects from the first stage rocket and fires up its own engines. "As you get to the last part of the ascent, you feel some G's come on through your chest, but it is not uncomfortable," he notes.

It's when its engines cut off that the most potentially vomit-inducing part begins. At this point you are essentially in outer space, meaning the Earth's gravity is not making itself felt anymore. You might think floating around is cool now, but experiencing it might leave another impression. And, to make matters even more complicated, it's also the worst scenario in which to throw up.

"You feel like you are tumbling, as your balance system struggles to make sense of what is happening, and you are very dizzy," Chiao says. "You feel the fluid shift [in your body], kind of like laying heads-down on an incline, because there is no longer gravity pulling your body fluids down into your legs. All this can cause nausea."

Landing wouldn't be a breeze either, with up to 5 Gs in store for everyone onboard during the preparation phases. Speaking about the whole rocket traveling idea, Leroy Chiao concludes that it "would not be for the faint of heart, and it is difficult to see how this would be inexpensive. But the one thing I've learned from observing Elon is not to count him out."