Something about this ride at the Divo Ostrov (Wonder Island) amusement park in St. Petersburg, Russia, seems a little bit off. Things start off pretty normal on the "Wind Shear," but as you'll notice about a minute into the video the ride throws all of the riders for a loop - or rather an upside-down nonsensical twist. Just watching the video is enough to make stomachs turn, especially when coupled with some knowledge on the park's not-so-great track record. In 2010, ten riders on a rocket-shaped attraction at the same park were left dangling 229 feet above ground from a single thread when a cable snapped. Luckily, rescuers were able to safely unload passengers without any injuries being reported. Two years prior, however, a 12-year-old girl was not so lucky. She was seriously injured on a trampoline ride in an accident also involving a broken cable. Knowing the park's disconcerting safety record, would you be likely to try a whirl on the Wind Shear? Perhaps a news report on the rocket ride incident (after the jump) will make you think again.

Falling asleep on the New York City subway at 3 a.m. is usually not a good thing. I've lived in a few places in the world that have subway systems - San Francisco, Prague, Paris, Rome - and I've had the good fortune to have never conked out on the subway, waking up miles past your stop in a semi-drunken daze and wondering what strange land beyond your usual station you've drifted off to. That is until recently. I was temporarily staying with a friend in Brooklyn and one night, after an evening of drinks and dinner (and, um, more drinks) with friends, I got on the D train to head back home.

It seemed like one minute I was trying not to stare at the drunken couple making out across from me and the next I was blurry-eyed and slumped over - the magazine I had been reading still affixed to my now sweaty palm. I was deep into a Brooklyn I'd never encountered before. I glanced at my phone: it was 3:13 a.m. I got off at the next stop and began wandering. The streets were quiet enough to hear a bagel drop. I was hoping to find a car service but I had no idea where I was. A minute later, though, I turned a corner and, as if a chorus of angels were belting out a heavenly note from above and a divine light beam were cast down from the clouds, there was right in front of me a brightly lit sign: CAR SERVICE.

Space Tourists airs tonight on the Documentary Channel at 8pm & 11pm

When Anousheh Ansari boarded the International Space Station on September 20th, 2006, she became the first self-funded female, the first Iranian citizen, and the fourth human overall to enter the Earth's orbit as a coveted 'space tourist'.

After building and selling a large telecom business, Ansari had decided that she would pay over $20 million USD to take a ride on the Russian Soyuz TMA-9 and orbit Earth as a crew member of the International Space Station for 8 days. While training as a backup for Daisuke Enomoto, who failed to meet the required medical qualifications, Ansari was notified that her lifelong dream would be fulfilled - with only one month remaining before liftoff.

Meanwhile, without Ansari's knowledge, a charismatic Swiss filmmaker had begun to collect material for a documentary that explored the peculiar circumstances of the Russian space tourism industry. Gathering footage at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia and at the Baikonur Cosmodrome (the Soyuz's launch facility), filmmaker Christian Frei began to lay the foundation for what would become the first documentary to uncover a highly exclusive and secretive world.

The finished product, Space Tourists, debuted in the US at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. Thought it never had an overwhelming reception in North America, it is arguably one of the most fascinating travel-themed documentaries to have been produced in recent years and a must-see for anyone with a sense of adventure or a distant dream of venturing to space.