One of the sacred memories of an American childhood is going upscale. M&Ms, those much-loved candy-coated bits of chocolate that could salve any ouchie, are now going premium, which means fancier coatings, fancier flavors, fancier packaging...all at a much fancier price. Why? Blame it on the fancy chocolate market.

My wife is a premium chocolate junkie, which means that, in the eight or so years that we've been together, I've learned more than I ever thought possible about chocolate. I have absorbed information about chocolate liqueur, cacao percentage, cocoa mass, cocoa solids, country of origin, and all the other variables that separate the Dagoba from the Valhrona, the Scharffen-Berger from the Hershey's and the top-of-the-line from the bottom of the barrel.

Personally, though, my tastes have always tended toward the more proletarian. While I appreciate the occasional bar of 72% cocoa solids, dark Belgian chocolate, I still get a big kick out of a couple of Reese's cups, a packet of Kit-Kats, or a handful of kisses. Most of all, like millions of other Americans, I have a big, warm, candy-coated spot in my heart for M&Ms.

Over the years, M&Ms have gone through quite a few transformations. Originally given to soldiers in World War II, the peanut and chocolate candies with a hard shell were later joined by solid chocolate, almond (1988), peanut butter (1990), dark chocolate (2005), and crisped-rice (1998-2005) candies. They have been mixed with a variety of flavorings, super-sized, and even shrunk to miniatures.

That some businesses are working on space tourism isn't that new, but something that really caught my attention recently is that university researchers are studying this? It's not just NASA and members of The Jetsons fan club.

A report on this subject by two professors was recently announced by the University of Delaware. The authors, Fred DeMicco, of UD, and Silvia Ciccarelli, from the University of Rome La Sapiena, co-wrote "Outer Space as a New Frontier for Hospitality and Tourism." They would know -- Ciccarelli is a consultant to the Italian Association of Aerospace Industries, and DeMicco is an ARAMARK Chair in the University of Delaware's Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management Program. (Aramark is an international company specializing in food services for stadiums, arenas, campuses, businesses, schools and someday... space stations?)

So who will be traveling in outer space, two years from now? We'll give you the scoop. (Quick, someone bookmark this story and check back in two years and see if this pans out)