Bieber Fever may hit space thanks to astronomer Seth Shostak

SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) astronomer Seth Shostak wants to launch Justin Bieber into suborbital space—something we’ve thought about before, but Shostak’s plan includes bringing him back afterwards. The idea isn’t to rid the planet of earth-shattering baby daddy scares and people who play mean pranks on Taylor Swift, but rather to promote the commercial spaceflight industry. And Bieber isn’t the only candidate—Shostak is all for sending a slew of other A-list celebs into space, too. Space tourism won’t be ready to boldly go where no Bieber’s gone before until at least 2013, which gives earthlings some time to debate the moral consequences of exposing the rest of the universe to Bieber Fever.