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2nd Space Tourist To Visit ISS In April 2002
Anonymous Coward writes "Another continent is represented in space: It has just been announced that Thawte founder Mark Shuttleworth is in the final stages of securing a seat on the next Soyuz launch in April. Press Release says he plans to do a lot of Science up there, with a whole bundle of other stuff. SpaceDaily seems to have broken it first of the commercial news, haven't seen it anywhere else yet. Go, Africa, Go! (Oh, and he reads Slashdot religiously ... Good Luck Mark!)" Looks like it's getting cheaper, too. I think it's time for a Slashdot staff meeting in space...
I so want to slashdot a server in space
An Education is the Font of All Liberty
Yeah rob, i guess you guys would have to resurrect the show just for that ;-)
Anyways, congrats to mark... at least he's doing more then the last tourist, and not just breathing valuable air.
-Michael Roy Some people are like Slinkies. Not really useful, but you can't help smiling when you see one tumble down
Isn't the eventual goal to have "average Joes" go to space?
Yes, I'm envious, but until the cost comes down to maybe the price of a luxury cruise, then I could care less.
Yeah, right.
But wait first.
========================================
Death will come, and will have your eyes
-- Pavese
Is anyone else confused by this phrase in the post? What is it supposed to mean? Is the poster just issuing general support of the contenent of africa? If so, why?
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
that someone rich funds research on the effects of space travel on the poor an out of shape!!!!
someone like well.... ME
sincerely
lordDarcy
What would the Slashdot team do in Space that they couldn't do here on earth?
Learn to spell?
If guns kill people, then CmdrTaco's keyboard misspells words.
Must...resist...temptation...
Shuttle...worth...ugh.
========================================
Death will come, and will have your eyes
-- Pavese
Seems like an awful lot of money to spent unless he has planned research? Or is this just one really sweet vacation? Just seems as though south africa could use the hosptials and schools more than the rocket trip.
Still pretty sweet,
Rob
Shuttleworth had to go through a lot of haggling to get into space. For one, he had to cut back on his original plan of staying two weeks to only ten days. There were also difficulties in resolving what would happen if Soyuz failed to dock with the ISS - would he get a free repeat flight or not? In addition, Shuttleworth insists on being the first African in space - however, South Africa isn't part of the ISS consortium.
The difficulties appear to have been resolved though, and through the magnificent power of over $20 million, a just about anyone can get into space.
But please, don't by claim that now we have "geeks in space" - the original Gemini, Mercury, and Apollo astronauts were the original ueber-geeks, and their hacks saved many missions from failure.
I volunteer to go up into space and conduct a scientific experiment to determine whether a 2 week vacation in space increases or decreases the productivity of an opensource programmer upon return to earth.
However, it seems as though most nations' space programs don't feel the same way about that egalitarian vision. They don't think space is the final frontier for everyday citizens; they don't want space travel to become commoditized. NASA, and now the Russian space agency, want to use space as a perk to sell to very wealthy businessmen. They want money, influence with politicians, or both. Regardless, these agencies are using taxpayer money to pamper the rich, and it is high time to stop this abuse.
Mind you, I am not against rich people. My brother has a net worth of over three million dollars. I am simply against letting the government use its considerable power to reward those who have already been rewarded by the capitalist system. Why reward people twice for the same deed? I don't win an award or see the government kissing my behind every time I collect a paycheck. Why should really rich guys be any different?
Astronauts are hired because of their physical strength and courage, their technical abilities, and their personalities. They should not be selected on the basis of their bank account balances. We should work toward letting astronauts do their jobs, without interference from wealthy joy-riders who feel like they have to ride into space before they die, just because they can.
df
Just in case they're looking for a tour-guide there.
bash$
It's time to make 'Geeks in space' a reality? ;-)
--
Steve VanDeBogart
Heh, if we got you guys into space, I think it would motivate you to finally do another geeks in space... you could called it "Revenge of the Pun" or something.
or not.
If you do shuttle up the slashdot folk, don't let Katz go. The last thing I need to hear is him whining about the corporatization of space, or how the 'jock' astronauts bully the poor geek space tourists, or how difficult is is to find a TV station airing buffy the vampire slayer up there.
First I find that everyone just knows "I had a candle light dinner with Ashley Judd on Film" Wil Wheton is a reader. Now some Anonymous Coward knows a millionaire in the news for being the next space tourist religiously reads slashdot.
I must be on the B list. No, make that the R list.
I PRAY that you read this before you read the message.
Yes
And the PR is great. This guy is quite obviously doing something a huge number of people want to do, and he's doing something useful whilst he's there. Which is of course irrelevant, but true. Now the point is that he's not an idiot; he's likely to have a slant on what he sees there which is both different to the average selected astronaut, and useful. Clearly he's good at making money.
I don't see the problem, unless it's that certain Slashdotters just can't keep their elitism down. Personally, I'd like to congratulate this guy, and eventually do just what he's doing now.
[BLOCKQUOTE]And the PR is great. This guy is quite obviously doing something a huge number of people want to do, and he's doing something useful whilst he's there. Which is of course irrelevant, but true. Now the point is that he's not an idiot; he's likely to have a slant on what he sees there which is both different to the average selected astronaut, and useful. Clearly he's good at making money. [/BLOCKQUOTE][P] Who cares what slant he has on what he sees? This is about wasting billions in US capital investment so the Russians can make a few million using the ISS as a hotel instead of a research facility. Sure, if I were this guy, I'd be doing the same thing. And if I could get the USAF to sell me a F-14 under the table for $50 bucks, I'd do that too. But it is graft either way. The people going up to the ISS should be selected based on who will perform the best science there. Anything else is misappropriation of taxpayer money. Of course, the Russians don't care, because it's really American taxpayer money. The Clinton administration used ISS for years as a cheap foreign aid package. I guess the Russians still view it that way.[/P]
I volunteer to go up into space and conduct a scientific experiment to determine whether a 2 week vacation in space increases or decreases the productivity of an opensource programmer upon return to earth.
To make that more towards the realm of science, you'd need a control person or group. Depending on what you're testing, lack of human interaction, some sort of weightlessness impacting code openness, typing speed, who knows... you'd want your control group to experience something similar only without that which you are testing. So, if you're going of the weighlessness impacts coding, you'd need to lock some people up in a small place, limit their diet to things rehydrated, limit their interaction with outsiders.... oh wait, that sounds like most coders lives I know... drat.
Wheeeee
Nerds have no business being in spac...oh wait, never mind.
lobo is DOPE!!!!
We wave the flag of freedom as we conquer and invade.
First a disclaimer, I am an American, not a Russian, these are just the facts as I have come to know them. First off, Russia spent a shitload of money on ISS, not as much as us but it was a significant contributor, I think second overall as far as money spent goes. Secondly, if it hadn't been for the knowhow that the Russians acquired with Mir ISS wouldn't have gotten off of the ground, their biggest contribution by far was the technical knowledge and experiance they brought to the table. Back to money though. What money Russia did spend it really didn't have, the Russian government is in economic straits and space gains them nothing in the short term. So they figured out a way to recoup some of their losses, Tito. He never even touched the American side of the station so Americans (including me) have no right to bitch about it. The Russians have gotten plenty of science done in space, more than us actually because for the longest time we didn't have a station and they had Mir. In conclusion, don't sell the Russians short. Their contributions to the ISS have been substantial and if they need a way to subsidize their part of the station and they can do it than I say more power to them. Neither Americans nor Russians are being kept out of the station because of these extra visitors, so don't worry about it.
"A witty saying proves nothing." - Voltaire
Dude, see my above post, this isn't using any of our money in a substantial way. Believe me if it was I'd be _really_ pissed off.
"A witty saying proves nothing." - Voltaire
It`s a great idea to send Mark Shuttleworth into space. While he`s there he can gaze down upon the continent of Africa and ponder why it is that a white South African can waste millions turning himself into a artificial satellite while millions more black South Africans slowly die because they don`t have the money to buy anti AIDS drugs. Nice to know he`s got his priorities right.
hehehe! geeks in space! hohoho! hahaha! lets say it again and maybe it will be funny this time!
if the slashdot team ever had a meeting in space, i would surely try my best to depressurize their capsule and watch everyone explode.
Oh, he's surely worth a shuttle. Eh-eh-eh.
I think you need to look a lot more carefully at Mark Shuttleworth. While his motives aren't altruistic (if I was an unemployed, ex .com'er, and had $575mil in my pocket, I'd also be going into space), he nearly didn't get to go because he insisted on being allowed to conduct scientific experiments, and held a competition in South Africa to find the best experients. NASA's primary complaint is that they didn't want him doing experiements... It was OK if he just sat there and enjoyed the view.
I'd hardly call his trip wasting the precious US investment (which would have been a lot less if the Russians had built it, because they don't squander money like NASA).
Regards,
-Jeremy
If all these rich people have all this money and power, why don't they work together and build themselves a "privatized" space station and space program, so they can stop abusing the government funded ones that cost us taxpayers billions of dollars to put up. Lets get real if Bill Gates and some of his richer buddies got together on an idea like this they could probably have an even more impressive "space hotel" than the ISS, I wouldn't doubt it, and their own shuttle to go with it (seating for 30).
I say let the rich people build their own space program if what they want are "vacations and joy rides".
Come to think of it why doesn't Microsoft with all its money not dabble more in the communication industry, particularily satellites and other space ventures, if they really want to be innovative I think this is where its at...
Nathaniel P. Wilkerson
www.haidacarver.com
Since the Mark is going by way of Soyuz, what is a trip on the Shuttleworth?
"Shuttleworth"
Almost as good as a dog trainer I know called Jack Russel
and with a solution like yours, human spaceflight will never shown to be profitable. ISS is a pig, research-wise, especially in light of it being a 3-person capacity indefinitely. There isn't enough manpower onboard to effectively do much research, just enough to keep systems running. If the Russians are making money, on both their investement and ours, more power to them. The more people that fly, the better. The more profit that is made, even by a pseudo-govt-owned company like Energia, the better for the future of private spaceflight. Private space is the future, ISS has the possibility to be the stepping stone to private stations that do much more, or NASA can keep being boneheaded about private use, and human spaceflight (like, you and me) will fail to happen.
gigantino.tv - Heavy but weighs nothing.
Then we should organize a collection to set them up the bomb.
At least according to Slashdot's values...
In a recent chat-room interview in ZA:
Scurra: Hiya. How does Russian software development differ from the software development that you've done. I mean, do they program in Cyrillic? Are the Russians keen on something like Linux?
North, south, and central America are collectively called "The Americas" not "America" The only thing called "America" without a north/south/central modifier is the United States Of America.
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
I suggest he uses a Segway - it should be hilarious watching him bounce around the station at 17 miles an hour.
Well, autopr0n is based in Ames Iowa right now. So,
:)
Go, Ames, Iowa, Go!
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
No, I would never let my two beautiful daughets read something like Lobo. They are only permitted to read hentai about tentacle rape, and other pornography. They've been learning quite well.
No money is being wasted here. Mark will go up as a fully trained astronaut. This does not cost any more or less than sending up any other trained person. Please note that Mark went through full cosmonaut training together with normal prospective cosmonauts. The only difference is of course that he paid for his own training..
From the press release :
[He] will be a fully certified member of the Soyuz crew, responsible for some Soyuz systems during the flight
He is by no means just a space tourist like Dennis Tito was.
siener's youtube channel
What's Mark's Shuttle worth?
Tarkwyn.
As if NASA needs any help to waste tax payers money.
... need I say more
They built the most powerfull rocket in the world (Saturn V), and then use it as a lawn ornament at the Kennedy space centre.
Instead they use the the Space Shuttle to launch cargo at 100 times the cost, just so that they don't have to admit that it's a big and expensive screw up.
The Mars lander crashes because of a screw up with metric and imperial units
If that's actually how you feel, stop coming here, reading and posting. AFAIK, nobody sticks a gun to your head and makes you go to Slashdot.
Need a Python, C++, Unix, Linux develop
Come to think About it, they're probably not making money off "American tax money" either, but rather off Russian tax money.
Oh God, we're not Americans, we're not worthy... Sheesh! Bloody arrogant Git!
Part Time Philosopher, Oft Times Romantic, Full Time Unix Geek
"The only thing called "America" without a north/south/central modifier is the United States Of America."
May be when you say America like:
Capitan America
America On-Line
But America is a continent. Africa is a continent too.
If America uses north/south/central modifier is because the TV want's.
Because most of Yankies think that they are the most special people in the world. And they have forget that his grandfathers where from Africa, Europa and Asia. (Yes this things are continents)
But this news are about Africa not America.
Do you do vodo?
No, but I do know judo.
Offtopic, Inflammatory, Inappropriate, Illegal, or Offensive comments might be moderated up.
Imagine how well hot grits would work in space. Naked, petrified and weightless!
Gurer vf n zna fgnaqvat oruvaq zr jvgu n tha gb zl urnq. Ur vf znxvat zr glcr anfgl pbzzragf nobhg fynfuqbg.
Heh-heh he has a suitable name, doesn't he?
Mark Shuttleworth... that should Mark him Worthy of a Shuttle trip... :-)
I think the story subitted is incorrect. This will be the third space tourist. The first space tourist was way back in October 29 1998 The second was on 30 April 2001 So this should definately be the thrid right?
Shutleworth is funding three research projects around his trips. One of the projects will involve University of Cape Town, Physiologists. The universities monday paper has the story
I'm really curious about what type of scientific research he intends to pursue while up there. Does anyone know what his scientific interests are? Anyone have any idea what experiments he intends to perform? Anyone gotta link or literature ref (CS research may be online, but the rest of science is laggin a little)? A curious chemist
"I think it's time for a Slashdot staff meeting in space..." Oh, you're paying for that with the sale of your VA stock? (giggle)
A few quotes :
"I realise that I'm not going on a joyride, this is not just a question of getting into space. We are kick-starting an African space programme. It is not good enough to simply take Russian experiments; we must give South African scientists an opportunity."
"Of course there is a personal reward, but at the same time the trip will do a tremendous amount for South Africa in the international arena. Also the money I'm spending on this project is not disappropriate to the money I have already spent on other people and that I gave away."
siener's youtube channel
America is commonly used to mean USA, but that is mostly due to the fact that the USA is very self-centric. AFAIK USA is the United States Of America, hence the acronym
To the rest of the world America includes Canada, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, Chile etc etc etc etc., because most other countries don't see the USA as all important, more as a large country with a predilection towards violence and aggressive politics.
It's ISS not ASS (American Space Station). The I stands for International and that does NOT mean American (even through some americans seem to think so.)
Hey I met this guy, he was giving a speech at my comapney. The guy is a real Linux geek :)
Seems South-africa is finally so the world, that we have some decent geeks. -Phazer
Nou dit is mos wat a boer seun moet doen!!
Have you ever heard of this thing called 'context'?
besides none of the moderators read at zero. they'll never see what you wrote, you anonymous fuck.
Cos US blokes have mostly had their genitalia mutilated shortly after birth. Some religous thing expounded by the founder of Kellogg's Cornflakes apparently. I'm sure the women are lovely if you like looking at silicon, which I guess most geeks do...
Please, oh please let them meet as hitch hikers aboard a vogon ship.
Oh, and I hope they are read vogon poetry, by the vogons.
Take that CmdrTaco, Timothy, Katz.
-Shaunak.
Did no one else get the gag in this guys name???
Well first the Russians embarass NASA by proving they can make a profit from a $20M passenger while the shuttle costs $500M per trip (10x over budget), and now they're going to embarass them by doing science up their while all we hear about NASA is how smart they were to build table out of junk and duct tape.
Maybe NASA should step aside in the interests of space research, and sell their ISS spot to Russia who it appears can not only pay for it commercially, but also get science done (pretty damn cool that a competition winner is going to get his/her experiment on the ISS!).
Well... don't forget about the loud Russian module. You can't get much science done, or at least very well, if you can't hear yourself think.
I'm not saying either program is fundamentally better, merely that they each have their strengths and weaknesses. And yes, the Russian space program is all about flying coach, without which, I'll never get to see the blue earth below me.
Cheers,
-l
Help cure AIDS, cancer, and more. Donate your unused computer time to worldcommunitygrid.org. Join Team Slashdot!
Firstly, the USA is commonly referred to as 'America' because it is, to the best of my knowledge, the only country on these two continents that includes the word 'America' in its title. People would quickly grow tired of calling us "United States of Americans" or "YouEssAyans" instead of just "Amercians". This is the only descriptor I've run across, in my fairly wide travels anyway, for people from these United States. All of the Australians, Brits, Chinese, and Japanese I know refer to the American continents as "The Americas", and would never assume that 'America' includes countries north and south.
Secondly, oh yes, our 'predilection towards violence' and aggression is so unique in the world. The countries of Africa, Asia and Europe are just flower carrying peace lovers compared to America. Every country has their violent little toys, and likes to use them. Just because America can afford the most and the best right now doesn't make them any worse or better than any country of the often parental 1st world on down.
This is not real space tourism. This is about Russians making a quick buck off of American tax money. We (and some other countries in less important spots on the earth's surface) spent billions in captial to build the ISS, and the Russians are wasting the investment by sending up tourists instead of scientists to perform experiments and astronauts to run the station. Sure the Russians make a few million, but only because the billions were spent by someone else. If this were really about making space profitable, I'd be all for it. But its not profit, it's graft.
So, by your same argument, when the US sent astronauts to MIR before we had an ISS, that was graft, because the Americans were getting a free ride on Russian Taxpayer money, eh?
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
More interestingly the BBC are reporting that one company has secured places to be used as prizes in a TV game show!
at $20 million a trip, we could pay for the space station if we send up 1000 rich people.
And when it does happen, we can look forward to:
The first Domino's Pizza delivery in space, "Hey, the toppings are stuck to the top of the box!"
_Real_ scien-terrific 'spiriments, "Oh, man, he puked and it came straight out!"
Mothers equiped with instant cameras will line everyone up for a group picture over the Grand Canyon.
New anti-gravity sports leagues will be developed.
and inevitably, the below-average Joe's will arrive to make space totally egalitarian...
Rednecks in space -- "Dang! I haid th' gol-dang yard all fixed up with space junk and them nassa varmints are tryin't swipe it again. Maw! Git muh laser arn! Ahm agonna blast 'em."
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
one important thing to note is that if Christa McAuliffe, a civilian teacher, hadn't died aboard Challenger in 1986, the idea of civilians in space probably wouldn't be as big a deal as it is now. More civilians would have likely boarded shuttles during the following years, and gradually the civilian population would have become more comfortable with the idea of having civilians in space. When this happened, the average person would feel that space was within his or her grasp, and the space program would have experienced more interest and increased financial support.
the Russians, perhaps without meaning to, are again getting average people comfortable with the idea of civilians in space, which might not be such a bad thing - they don't have the stigma of the Challenger tragedy to deal with, and their efforts might foster increased interest in space programs here in the States.
At the time that NASA sent the shuttle to Mir, the Mir program was pretty much being totally funded out of NASA fees related to the Mir-Shuttle dockings. NASA paid for the last two lab modules sent to Mir. Without NASA funding, Mir would have crashed to earth 10 years ago - not last year.
I agree with you on some points. However, the problem that I see is the pollution caused by launching rockets.
I can accept this guy going up, because (hopefully) he will do some experiments that will be useful for people. However, people like the last guy that went up (I'm too lazy to look up his name) really bothers me! He simply polluted the planet ALOT for his own pleasure.
I hope that space tourism never grows big! The pollution would be soo big... it's not worth it!
I think now he should change his name to "ShuttleWorthy"... at least on Slashdot.
"Love is never saying you're too proud." -Tonic
he is a South African Linux user ;-) -- so can I go too??
He almost did not get in but the local paper has been carrying the story for a while now.
I think he threw more money at them;-) ( the Russians)
Well said. Without the Russians the ISS would have stayed, like its NASA ancestors, as a multi-billion dollar pile of paper. While NASA was producing one paper study after another the Russians were learning the hard way how to make a space station work and what needed to be improved for the next one.
;-)
After all the complaints about the delays on the early Russian modules (excusable due to the chaotic present condition of their nation), it'll be interesting to see what happens if/when the US rate of building is slowed down under new NASA administration. Will everyone else be saying that the Americans should have been kept out of the ISS?
I undestand that Richard Garriott AKA Lord British wants to fly in space as well. I wonder how close he is to realizing that goal?
If he's wortha a whole shuttle, why is he settling for a trip on a Soyez?