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20 Comments
- Chairboy, on 06/12/2008, -0/+12Space tourism is one of the keys to expanding out into space, and this is a good thing. 50 years of government-only quasi-sacred space travel has left us stuck in an old space station that's orbiting so low it has to be continually reboosted to avoid burning up in the atmosphere.
Aviation grew as fast as it did because lots of development money went into it, and lots of development money went into it because passengers and rich curiosity seekers made it worthwhile to do so.
I anticipate that this thread will contain folks that:
1. Moan about all the good that could be done if the money was spent 'better', with better being defined as the way THEY would say. Unless this complaint is made during a brief break while donating plasma between shifts of volunteering at the soup kitchen, it's kinda hard to take seriously. Not only that, but the money spent doesn't just explode into space, it goes into providing food and shelter for thousands of families that work for the russian space industry.
2. Suggest that tourism somehow besmirches the purity of space and how this is a shame. My response, we've seen how good of a job government only does it. Let's see what happens when private industry sniffs opportunity. I'd be A-OK if NASA decides to rent baggage space on a Space Hilton bound shuttle if that lets them do more with their money.
3. Make cracks about russian space safety. The Russians have a slightly better safety record in space than we (I'm in the US) do. Those guys deserve more respect than many give them. - kuz2r, on 06/12/2008, -0/+5Depsite the risk, I would wanna go.
- Chairboy, on 06/12/2008, -1/+5How do you think we'll get to that point? Are you betting on magic pixie dust, or does your prediction require some sort of lamp with a genie in it?
The early adopters fund the technology that others can later buy at low prices. The first commercial passengers in airplanes paid prices that, adjusted for inflation, you would be aghast at.
The $X million spent today is helping build a foundation for future spaceflight that I can afford. I'm not so shortsighted as to dismiss this because I don't get immediate results, I know that it'll pay off in the long run. - astrostudio, on 06/12/2008, -2/+6Fly me to the moon
Let me play among the stars
Let me see what spring is like
On a Jupiter and Mars - JasonCox, on 06/12/2008, -0/+3NASA is gonna s*** their pants when they hear about this...
- Chairboy, on 06/12/2008, -1/+4How did you know about my panti-
oh... nm. - o0joshua0o, on 06/12/2008, -0/+3You have to admit...one thing Russians do really well is space travel. Their overall track record is probably much better than any other country's. How long was Space Station Mir the only operational space station?
- Veni_Vidi_Vici, on 06/12/2008, -0/+2I'm glad I'm getting my degree in aerospace engineering. I'll certainly be able to find a job in the future.
P.S. If you're a U.S. citizen, call your congressman and tell them you want more attention given to Space sciences and NASA. I would also check out the blog http://actionforspace.blogspot.com/ which has links to current legislation. Notably, there is a bill in the house right now which would reauthorize the use of the shuttle until 2015 (or until the next gen spacecraft are completed) so that we are not dependent on Russian support to get our people into space. The bill would also allow us to keep our word and deliver some billion dollar modules like the CAM and AMS to the space station. - inactive, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1Around 14 years wasn't it?
- Zirdante, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1Thats cheap, a "normal" one week stay at the ISS costs 20 million give or take.
- shadowman99, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1Sounds too much like the Super Adventure Club.
- sabroskie, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1I never said to dismiss it entirely so stop getting your panties in a bunch. Yeah, it's great for the people who can afford it, but I won't be too excited yet.
- liuite, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic wants $40k to put you in space for a few minutes...I'd rather spend my money scuba diving in Roatan, Honduras or the Great Barrier Reef. The undersea world is teeming with life and seems just as alien.
- inactive, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1This is why poetry and space don't mix.
- JQP123, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1"My response, we've seen how good of a job government only does it. Let's see what happens when private industry sniffs opportunity."
If private industry wants to spend $100+ billion to create their own
floating space hotel, I have no problem with it. Unfortunately, that's not what we have here.
In the long run, this sort of thing won't help NASA. This is a public relations nightmare in the making ... and NASA deserves and will hopefully receive full credit for it. - sabroskie, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1I'll get worked up when they make space flight available to the average person.
- JQP123, on 06/12/2008, -1/+1"... call your congressman and tell them you want more attention given to Space sciences and NASA."
Yes, we need more hotel rooms in space for rich tourists. - brownbagdog, on 06/12/2008, -0/+0Lance Bass must be feeling pretty giddy these days ... first he's legally allowed to marry his fellow gay man and now he can redeem himself and that failed attempt at going into space.
- leetninja, on 06/12/2008, -3/+1ok so you idiots digg me down because i actually have news? real news and not some BS onion story, or a comic of some kind, or a MrBabyMan submission stolen from reddit? Real nice! guess the /b/tards really are 90% or more of this site now ... ive steadily watched the decline of Digg as a whole over the past 4 years and its quite pathetic ...
- leetninja, on 06/12/2008, -4/+1This is related - apparently it costs 5million to get on the flight and Sergey is the first that will be on the first flight
http://digg.com/space/Space_Adventures_has_it_s_fi ...
So if you nice folks don't mind digging my relevant story ... that would be great :)
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