NASA didn’t launch the private crew. The private company SpaceX did, with NASA allowing the passengers to visit the ISS. NASA doesn’t launch anyone to visit the International Space Station. They have to pay others to do it for them, like the Russians or SpaceX. In this case, SpaceX sent tourists up.

The Russians already sent tourists up to the ISS before SpaceX. SpaceX and NASA are just continuing what’s already been going on.

The age of space tourism has begun. It will always be an expensive trip to make, even more than going on a cruise in the Caribbean, or staying in high dollar hotel rooms in Paris. Mostly people with higher means will be making those kind of trips, including younger billionaires.

The price of ticket these days can run around $28 million, but it’s thought in the future a mere half million dollars will get you on a space tourism flight. It’s estimated that there are about 56 thousand people in the world that are millionaires, so there will be no shortage of people willing to pay those kind of prices.

The rest of us will just hear about it and ask questions like this on Quora.