Motel 6... Hundred Miles Up

SatelliteBoy writes: "Robert Bigelow, the tycoon behind Budget Suites of America, has founded Bigelow Aerospace. He just announced plans to launch a space station. He claims it can go up within 30 months. Let's see what this costs to visit..."

Comments

Re:Nor should there be.

[bobdehnhardt]

From the Outer Space Treaty, entered into force on 10 October, 1967:

(Article I Excerpt) Outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, shall be free for exploration and use by all States without discrimination of any kind, on a basis of equality and in accordance with international law, and there shall be free access to all areas of celestial bodies.

and

(Article II) Outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means.

and finally,

(Article VI) States Parties to the Treaty shall bear international responsibility for national activities in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, whether such activities are carried on by governmental agencies or by non-governmental entities, and for assuring that national activities are carried out in conformity with the provisions set forth in the present Treaty. The activities of non-governmental entities in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, shall require authorization and continuing supervision by the appropriate State Party to the Treaty. When activities are carried on in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, by an international organization, responsibility for compliance with this Treaty shall be borne both by the international organization and by the States Parties to the Treaty participating in such organization.

The US doesn't own "everything around the Earth". But per the Outer Space Treaty, the US is responsible for the actions in space of any US-based "entities". Thus, proper govenmental clearance must be obtained before any activities can take place.

why bother with the FAA?

[austad]

Why is he even bothering with the FAA and United States legal BS? If he launches from some other country, like one near the equator to decrease the amount of fuel needed to get into orbit, he should have to deal with the FAA and the US government at all.

Isn't there already a launchpad in some african country near the equator, or didn't russia just make some deal to put one there?

Re:why bother with the FAA?

[Docrates]

*SIGH* I saw this coming from miles away...

Are you so arrogant as to think that the US is the only acceptable place for classy millionaires with space travel wishes? well I'll tell you what, pretty much ANY classy millionaire would accept living in a whole lot of places outside the US. Argentina, France, Australia, Canada, etc., and in fact many of them do.

And that only speaks of your lack of knowledge, but I also have a problem with your judgement. I would suspect that any marker research done to establish the demand for space tourism will throw out numbers that would contradict your statement. The Denis Titos and James Camerons of the world wouldn't mind traveling to, say, Brazil, to get on a rocket heading for a space station. Believe me, it is not in Brazil that they will encounter an unconfortable, unsafe environment, it will be in space.

Now I do agree that they'll rather do the whole thing in the states, in spite of all the legal hurdles. Why? well because it's cheaper, to the point where it seems to be feasible. Most of the technology required to go to space, and the knowledgeable people that make it work, are in greater supply in the US. Furthermore, if you read the article, they are counting on someone else to develop a cheaper way of taking people to earth orbit, and most projects heading that way are either in the US or Canada.

I can only think of Russia, France, Japan and maybe Brazil, as viable alternatives, due mainly to the fact that those countries have space launch infrastructure (and I'm sure I left some out). Still I would think that it would be cheaper to do it in the US because of the greater availability of engineers specialized in the field.

But you know what? since I haven't seen the BP for this enterprise, I can't be certain. Unlike you, who seem to know it all...

Re:I wonder

[bungalow]

I wonder if they will have a swimming pool. That would be odd in zero G. a big sphere of water hovering in the middle of the room.

This sounds extremely dangerous; Water containment would be the first challenge; I don't know how surface tension differs, but it would stand to my reason that , a "big sphere" would react to newtonian physics as well - if everyone jupmed in on one side, using the walls as a push point or whatever, then the mass of water would be pushed around quite easily. And break. Then you have perpetual zero-grav percipitation, not a pool.

The bigger challenge I see is orientation and buoyancy. IN a 10' deep pool, most people know to swim "up". In a zero-grav environment, especially where pressure is significantly lower than what people are used to, one would easily become quite disoriented. Without unfamiliar buyancy charqacteristics, people could suffocate themselves by swimming "in" instead of "out".

I'm not saying I'd never swim in outerspace; it sounds like a bit of fun, actually. But I'd want a few lessons beforehand.

Re:Why NASA is pissed.

[dolanh]

The US and Russia have very different economies. You can't compare what it costs to do business in one country with what it costs in another. Chances are many of the subcontractors that NASA uses are paid 10x yearly what the Russian workers make. That adds up quickly.

Why NASA is pissed.

[selectspec]

For the same reason they hated Tito. NASA doesn't want anybody to build a space station for 500 million dollars, because it shows how rediculous their budget is. It was the same deal with Tito. Tito payed roughly 12 million to go into space (despite NASA's attempts to claim the number was really 20 million). The Russian crew was three including Tito. Assuming, that the 12 million was enough to cover the costs of a single crew member (why else would they do it), that suggests that it only cost the Russians at most about 36 million (I'm sure it was less). It costs NASA 600 million for each space shuttle launch ( = Space shuttle annual budget / number of launches). Now, if you are a NASA administrator, and some guys says he's going to spend 500 million on a space station, and you can't launch the shuttle for that, what are you going to say!

Re:Why NASA is pissed.

[WolfWithoutAClause]

Actually Tito probably more or less paid for the whole flight. The entire Russian space budget runs to under $200 million; the cost of each rocket is about $4 million (source: Gary Hudson of Rotary Rocket fame). There will be launch pad costs on top of that, but I doubt they will add up to more than $8 million.

By comparison, the unit cost of a space shuttle launch is $100 million including pad maintenance; but not including development costs.

The rocket that Tito went up on is much less capable of course. The more capable rocket the Russians have Proton V, which can carry a similar payload mass to the shuttle costs about $5 million. The Russians charge $85 million per launch cf $500+ million for the space shuttle.

Re:Summer Vacation in Outer Space

[JEDi_ERiAN]

obviously you've never had sex in space.

E.


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Re:Start saving now!

[swordgeek]

Nah. I never said that Linux would be a huge commercial success. Financially, there's damned little model for producing, updating, or selling the thing.

Nonetheless, Linux is out there, and used successfully in large commercial installations (Google!). In that sense, Linux IS big--bigger than one would have expected in 1997.

Similarly, I'm looking at decades of space research (and for quite a while, neglect) coming to fruition now. The first paying passenger went into space a month ago. We have a permanent space station in orbit. Private interests have been talking space travel for three or four years, and are starting to put up the money.

This is the thin edge of the wedge. Not space tourism yet, but it _is_ starting (and 'starting' is the key here) to happen.

Motel 6's new ad campaign....

[Ronin X]

Motel 6 2003 ad campaign:

We'll leave the life support on fer ya.

Las Vegas, what a surprise...

[kalifa]

Is it just me or did someone else notice that all these crazy megalomaniacs are always based in the most kitsch and megalomaniac city of this world?

Why NASA is scared

[doorbot.com]

NASA also has to be concerned about the safety of the other missions. If a mission fails, and people are killed (which is probably more likely than mere injury), that can cause a very serious backlash against the space industry in general.

"But is it safe?"
"We need to make sure none of our boys/girls will get hurt."
"Let's wait a few years and re-evaluate our current safety precautions/proceedures."

And so on. You can imagine how much NASA would like to continue with their current plans of action, and not have to fend off safety concerns from the general public, people who historically have never understood these kinds of complex issues. All they know is that "something bad" happened and "how are we going to stop it from happening again."

If the mission fails, there will be significant political/public opinion setbacks for NASA. They're worried, and rightfully so.

Nor should there be.

[lazn]

"The papers and forms don't exist for an application like this."

Umm the FAA dosn't own space. Just go.

(I am sure europe would be interested to know the american government seems to think it owns everything around the earth)

==>Lazn

Just what you need on a holiday...

[abdulwahid]

Bigelow said the private space station would be a destination for space tourists and could be used by drug firms.....

Sounds like a perfect holiday location....Nothing for miles except fellow tourists and drugs. But hang on, when you're already floating around and are totally spaced out...who needs drugs?

Club

[goodhell]

Now let's see how many chicks I can get to join the 100 mile high club!

Hilton Hotels on Slashdot

[discovercomics]

Rumors that Hilton hotels had been thinking along the same lines was discussed here on Slashdot back in September of 1999.
This was revealed to be false several days later here on slashdot

I doubt If I see it in my lifetime...

Budget Suites Blows

[kilgore_47]

I stayed at the budget suites in Las Vegas (they have several there, I was at the "Rancho" one) and it was horrible. The maid comes once a week if you get the weekly rate. Since I was there for seven days, I got my sheets changed ONCE. After our second day there they ran out of towels and just kept saying "were waiting on the laundry service". I was there with a decent sized group (for a paintball tournament) and several people outright lost their reservations for no good reason. Though they had previously promised that we could park a 20 ft trailer there, that turned out to be false. While I was trying to talk to the dumb inbred whitetrash bitch at the front desk, she took a call from her mom and started arguing with her about gambling debts. It was incredible!

[end rant]

Anyway, if they new "space hotel" is of enven remotely simmilar quality as their earth hotels, I won't be going anywhere near there!

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Marketting campaign.

[dasmegabyte]

At the end of the day, you're tired from space walking everywhere with the kids, the long ride in the station wagon shuttle on the way to Grandma's house on the moon, all you really want is some rest, clean atmosphere and a vaccuum you can pee into. Here at Space Station Six, we beleive in amenities like artifical gravity, free space suits for the kids and a complementary freeze dried continental breakfast.

So come on down to Space Station 6 next time you're trekking across the cosmos. We'll leave the landing light on for you.

Re:Start saving now!

[redcup]

And it's only a matter of time before some sorority girls start up a "space cam" in their hotel room. Now the question is, who will be the first to join the "100 miles high" club?

RC

PORN

[newt_sd]

ok the real question is how long till the adult industry starts exploring space. They seem to be the first in every other field and successful at that!!! Bring on the space hookers

Publicity stunt

[MarkusQ]

From the article:
The station's viability also depends on developing a commercially practical way of transporting space tourists. Bigelow's company is not involved in that effort, but other companies are.

This sounds like an advertising stunt to me; eventually, they will be told "no" by someone, or they will get everything ready and be "waiting for transportation to become available"...in the meantime, cheap advertising for the real hotels down here.

--MarkusQ