NASA opens space station to citizens for private astronaut missions

(CNN) – You no longer have to be an astronaut to travel to space — you just need quite a bit of money.

NASA says as many as two private astronauts a year could stay up to 30 days at the international space station.

The space agency plans to charge private astronauts about $35,000 a night for food, storage and communication.

The first such space tourist could arrive as early as next year.

NASA is also looking to open the space station for more commercial interests, including filming ads there to raise revenue as NASA seeks to return astronauts to the moon by 2024.