| |
 |
Explore
space. |
|
 |
| |
|
|
 |
|
I’ve
always dreamed of going into space, but not believing
I had the “Right Stuff” to make it as an astronaut
(or frankly, that much of an interest), I resigned
early to trust in sci-fi prophesy and faithfully wait
for space tourism to become a reality. To my delightful
incredulity, that future seems to be rapidly approaching.
In fact, this year civilian space travel became possible
for the first time (albeit for a whopping $20 million
a ride.) But don’t fret, according to a 1998 report
from NASA and the Space Transportation Association, improvements
in technology could push fares for space travel as low
as $50,000 per passenger within a couple decades, and
might eventually reach the range of $10,000 – $20,000
three or more decades out. Translated into today’s
dollars, that ticket might very well be as low $5,000.
As
exciting as this is, what fascinates me most is the
specific work that’s going on in private industry
to capitalize on what some estimate might be a $10 billion
per year industry. There are already dozens of space
tourism companies planning to build suborbital vehicles,
orbital hotels and lunar cruise ships within the next
two decades. These companies have invested millions,
believing that the space tourism industry is on the
verge of taking off.
Bigelow
Aerospace, for example, founded by Budget Suites of
America hotels owner Robert Bigelow, has committed at
least $500 million to pursuing a half-mile-long space
cruise ship. The Bigelow cruise ship will fly from Earth
orbit to the moon and back. The Bigelow space cruise
ship will offer similar services to that of an ocean
cruise liner. The ship, which will hold 100 passengers,
will also have artificial gravity.
Another
company, Space Island Group, is going to build a ring-shaped,
rotating space hotel that will resemble the Discovery
spacecraft in the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey."
Space Island says it will build its space resort out
of 12 empty NASA space-shuttle fuel tanks, and place
the spacecraft 400 miles (644 km) above Earth by 2006.
The space hotel will rotate once per minute to create
a gravitational pull one-third as strong as Earth's.
Even
Hilton Hotels is researching the possibility of building
or co-funding a space hotel, but has not yet divulged
any specific program.
But,
if you don't want to wait for space hotels and cruise
ships, Space Adventures offers passengers zero-gravity
flights for about $6,000. For about $13,000, you can
ride a Russian Mig-25, flying 82,000 feet (24,994 m)
up to the edge of space. These prices also include a
two-night stay in Moscow.
[August
2002]
|
|
