Tourist-Class Soyuz Spacecraft Seats Open

brandido writes "Put another notch in the belt for space tourism - Space.com is reporting that: "If you're looking for the ultimate in get-up-and go, take note: Tourist-class seats will be available on a Soyuz spacecraft bound for the International Space Station in 2004-2005. This off-planet trek comes courtesy of a deal struck between Space Adventures, a U.S. adventure travel firm, Russia's RSC Energia and the Russian Space Agency (Rosoviakosmos)." However, NASA has yet to be officially notified or to give formal approval, so there are still some speed bumps in the road map."

Comments

Wow

[mao che minh]

You have to take a step back and realize just how far we have come in the past hundred and some odd years: steam powered engines to the integrated circuit to the internet to space tourism.

Holy shit.

Re:In other news..

[isorox]

Las Vegas odds makers are giving 2-to-1 that NASA will find a way to much it up

Hmm, the shuttle aint launching for another 6 months, at best. I'm guessing they'll be a crew changeover before then - and Nasa needs to stay in Russia's good books.

Of course, for $20 million a person, you could launch 7 people - the compliment of a shuttle - for $140m. The average shuttle flight costs $500m.

Re:In relation to an earlier story

[WIAKywbfatw]

Ever read the Ben Elton novel Stark?

Basically, in the novel, the Earth is nearing ecological meltdown and the food chain has become compromised. To escape from hell on Earth and certain death on a dying planet, the filthy rich implement a plan to launch themselves into space and self-sustainability in space.

However, in a cruel twist of fate, they find that although they can escape the pollution on Earth, they can't escape the pollution in their souls.

Senator Hatch, Hilary Rosen and the SCO board spring immediately to mind (as well as a raft of other political figures, from the US and around the world), when I think of people I'd launch into orbit now so that the rest of us can live more freely and cleanly today.

Re:Space travel needs this

[Moofie]

My point re: the studies about long-duration space travel is this. We know enough to send explorers to other planets. This is one of the fake dragons that short-sighted people use to justify a far-too-conservative approach to space operation.

Do we know everything? Of course not. Columbus didn't know about Cuba either. Let's quit putzing around in low earth orbit and GO SOMEWHERE.

You might need to get FAA's permission, but just try to launch a spacecraft without jumping through NASA's hoops too. You won't be allowed to.

As far as destruction of competitors, look no further than Beale Aerospace. They had a superb rocket engine design with a lot of successful development behind it. NASA wrote a couple briefs alleging that the motor wouldn't work (although it did), and eventually the company went bankrupt.

Same thing has happened with several other non-establishment space businesses.

Look, this is my /livelihood/. I know what NASA is doing, and the environment they're operating in. Yes, Congress has them totally hamstrung as far as what missions they can do. However, that doesn't excuse their failure to nurture and develop new technologies, which is in the final analysis what NASA has done best.

They've lost focus, they've lost drive, they've lost direction. Now they're just a misguided bureaucracy, which exists only to propagate itself.

It needs to either be reformed, or destroyed. Don't much care which.