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Two New Space Tourists Announced
jfoust writes "Reuters is reporting that the space tourism company Space Adventures has signed up two Americans, at $20 million each, to fly on future Soyuz missions to the ISS. No details about who these people are, other than one is a 38-year-old male Manhattan real estate developer. One will fly in 2004 and the other in 2005. If you haven't quite saved up the $20 million yet, don't worry, the company is still looking for at least two additional tourists for flights through 2007..."
Space tourists get to bring the costs down for everyone in the long run. And they really don't get much more than bragging rights and rides in the Vomit Comet for all that money.
I'd rather spend my $20,000,000 on a long vacation in Moraco.
I have been pwned because my
Damnit! I spent my $20,000,000 buying SCO licenses for my Beowulf cluster...
Does anyone remember just how many frequent flyer miles I would need to get one of those other spots?
... then with the X-prize candidates just about to really go for it (2 weeks left for them to claim the prize), they may cut you a deal, of course it's a bit more of a gamble... :-)
Simon
Physicists get Hadrons!
'Thanks.. er, why does my ticket say 'ballast' on it, instead of my name?'
'Er, merely a formality sir. Now if you just take your seat in the 'duct taped to the wing' section.'
...they don't blow up. If they do, space exploration just got a lot more expensive.
so how much of this actually goes to the space agencies involved, and how much do these private companies keep.
30% Troll, 50% Underrated, 10% Interesting
Score:5, Troll
I imagine they would sign some sort of "I will not sue you, and my family won't sue you if I die in a horrible accident." kinda contract. But will that really prevent family from trying to sue later?
Then again, I don't think an insurance policy exists that you could buy for this sort of thing. And it wouldn't make sense anyway since the very concept of insurance requires lots of people to buy into the system.
Maybe the people running it go up into space each time as well, that way if there is a horrible accident and the client/s die, they die too and don't have to worry about litigation.
This sort of business gives new meaning to extreme sports do at your own stupid risk activity. Add that to the expense and this is truely the sport of kings.
Nobody died when Nixon lied.
I'm meeting you half way you stupid hippies!
.. am incensed by the lack of opportunity for 'evil overlord jokes'. Damn you Nasa, you insensitive clods!
They'll STILL find that all the best spots around the pool have been reserved by Germans.
Space tourism is pretty inconsequential and doesn't bring the cost down, since there are so few space tourists. The amount of money it costs to launch a rocket, let alone maintain the ISS DWARF the income provided by a space tourist.
You're drawing the obvious, specious conclusion
I'm sure I could scrape together $10,000,000 for an xmas gift to our beloved Eisner.
"Derp de derp."
Wait until these guys see Space travel costs skyrocket (!) down to a mere commodity amusement ride price. They're gonna be sore in the pocket.
Hopefully the XPrize will help make things cheaper.
Deep Vein Thrombosis is going to be a bitch in space...
Yeah, I know, you're all going to mod me down for being critical, but honestly, where else in the world would the question of a lawsuit be even asked, should the thing blow up ?
It's a bloody dangerous thing to do. Accept that. Take responsibility for accepting that and "either do, or do not, there is no 'try it and sue'", to horribly paraphrase Yoda.
Simon.
Physicists get Hadrons!
"So what do you do?"
"I'm a real estate developer . . and in my spare time I'm an astronaut."
Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
a Manhattan real estate developer?! :)
what does he need to go to the moon for?
he's already living on it!!!
Save your money and wait for private enterprise to catch up. It may not be that far away.
With the good news that Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne flew beyond the speed of sound yesterday, affordable space tourism may be possible within our lifetimes. Granted, Scaled may yet have quite a long way to go to reach space, but they made a leap in the right direction on an historic day. My money's on Burt Rutan and his team to take the X-Prize (but I'd have said that before yesterday).
So if you're say, under 40, there's a good chance you could be able to visit space before your 60th birthday. So be patient. It won't be a seller's market forever.
"Folks just call him Buckethead." -- Les Claypool
Maybe Lance Bass can still hitch a one way ticket to nowhere.
On the other hand.. I have an cutout scan from a newspaper(1956) about a London travel company taking reservations to the moon for the year 2040. Cost? Just 12,000 quid.
Hmm... anyone know if this Space Adventures company accepts air miles? I'm sure i've got a hundred thousand of them on my card by now. They don't seem to be very useful for flying around the world, so maybe they could get me into space? Anyone know?
Is Trump 38?
Don't Tread on OpenSource
You're not allowed to develop real estate on the moon. And he thought he was going to break even on his trip... So who owns the moon? SCO, of course. Because they've got the title. You have to pay SCO a few million dollars and sign your life away to get the rights to see their title to the moon, but the title is bonafide. Or so they say.
Who moved my sig?
.. would be to donate it to a local hospital or charity or something, perhaps enough to fund a ward in your name or something. That way you'd be known for something less altruistic than going up into the emptiness of space for the sake of it, *and* the people in question would have people reminded daily of them, after their death.
.. to hire people with sharp sticks to poke anyone who uses the words 'or something' twice in the same sentence. Damn my non post-previewing hide.
er, troll? heh. hmm
I kinda agree... Once in a lifetime opportunity probably, but think about how much more efficiently that 20 million dollars could have been spent. Education, science, engineering. IMO, if you're a wealthy person it's your duty to encourage these things for the benefit of mankind... But whatever, more proof that *everything* is for sale. You just have to find the right price.
I mean, geez.
...but who the hell cares? Does this actually benefit humanity in any way, shape or form? I totally doubt that two space tourists are going to make space holidays or astrofaring more accessible for the rest of us. I'd just wait for private enterprise in general to catch up; as it is, this is just money which could be spent more productively.
Slashdot: when news breaks, we give you the pieces.
Yeah, but what's the internet - about, if not criticizing the acts of others while not having a leg to stand on yourself?
Do we really want more technically adept people willing to work for peanuts? The global north is bleeding away technological jobs because of the development of former colonies. I say leave em be. We need cheap materials and foreign markets for our goods. -1, insightful
Viral software licensing is not freedom, it is in fact GNU/Socialism.
just for the ice cream. 20 million would be worth a weeks worth of astronaut icecream. :)_
Viral software licensing is not freedom, it is in fact GNU/Socialism.
You have to pay the Chinese to take you there... I'm kinda surprised nobody's selling those tickets yet.
Oh yes, I can't wait to pay $20 million for a 'holiday' trip to space where they will then make me WORK!
;)
Geez...I have enough trouble getting my first million, thankyouverymuch
And new 2.0+ GHz computers are on the cheap, right?
Well, guess what, in Soviet Russia... $40 million is a lot of dough and can fly them a little longer...
Of course, this is not American technology, which we know is far better than Chinese, Japanese or Russian, don't we? (hint: stop having prejudice)
BTW, congrats on your yesterday's "flight". How much did it cost? (hint: if everybody is saying something else, maybe _you_ are wrong, like in that inches & feet versus SI thing)
So basically, my taxes have gone to pay for a space hotel for billionaires.
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Sorry, I'm only a 1336 h4x0r.
"A 38 year old real estate developer." Wow, I'm 31 and don't have nearly the net worth this guy has. I'm not even thinking about space, I'm thinking, "My God, what did this guy do to get to that point at such a young age?" Screw space, I'd just want the money!
There's quite a lot of ethical outlooks (such as utilitarianism, as well as many interpretations of Christianity) that suggest that it is morally wrong to blow your wealth for your own amusement.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo
--Andy Finkel (J. Klass?)
"Mission Control, request permission to sedate cargo ahead of schedule."
--
"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
If this guy has enough money to splurge on going into space why is he still a real estate developer. If I had that much money I'd retire (I hope) and be giving a lot of it away to people who could make better use of it. I seems to me that no matter how much people have they are always working for more, perhaps aiming for a satisfactory amount of wealth or achievements that nobody seems to reach. After flying through space as a tourist I can't think of much more that you can strive towards, but I bet this guy doesn't retire even then.
Please let it be Darl
Please let it be Darl
Please let it be Darl
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
In honor of the many replies on whether this is a waste of money, let me suggest some better things to do with $20 Million:
* Hire Van Halen and The Who to play at your birthday party
* Run 5 commercials during the Superbowl
* Kill yourself and watch every distant relative you've hardly ever spent time with come out of the wood work and crawl over your material posessions like maggots.
* Get into some questionable relationship with a young child and pay off the parents who threaten to take it public.
* Hire a D.C. lobbyist to promote the further reduction of the capital gains tax.
* Fund the new "Reagan Dime"
* Create a new reality TV show that makes contestants watch other reality TV shows. Call it "Really Real TV."
* Buy a bunch of SCOX stock
* Fund a feasibility study into the mating habits of the Duckbill Platapus
* Hire Johnny Cochran and F. Lee Bailey and make them scrub your toilets.
* Sleep in the Lincoln Bedroom
* Change the name of your favorite sports arena or convention center
* Buy every employee at Apple a brand new VW
* Produce a new Nick Cage or Van Damme movie
Contrary to their Soviet space history, the Russians are way over schedule and budget on their ISS contribution, holding up the entire project to the point of jeopardizing its completion. NASA is keeping the program going, with Americans footing the bill for the rest of the world, as usual. But these space tourists will be using Soyuz, with a cut of their fare going to Russia. Meanwhile, Russia is spending rubles on laser sails to the outer solar system, while we get stuck with the boondoggle. Where's the leadership?
I can't wait for President Bush to apply his gigantic brain to a new space program policy. We're sure to see the kind of spectacular results we've come to expect in Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, and in the US job market. Going from strength to strength, I'm sure we'll have a space station by 2010, even if it's laying at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
--
make install -not war
He probably bought, developed and sold some real-estate at a huge profit.
However, since he is only 38, most likely this guy is not a self-made multi-millionaire.
For example, Donald Trump is most often cited as the genius wunderkid who became rich in real-estate at a young age but even Donald Trump got there only because he was helped by his father. Donald's "first" multi-million dollar property (an apartment complex) was actually bought, developed and sold by his father who was also in real-estate. Donald was just an observer on the sidelines. [read The Trumps: Three Generations That Built an Empire by Gwenda Blair]
This is not to say that you can't pull a Bill Gates and become rich in real-estate but dont give up your day job before knowing all the sides of a story.
This seems benificial actually;
private 'funds' (ppl who rather want to go to space then to Marocco)
enable a 'space tourism company' to explore the possibilities in space travel and the like without having to file a report which needs to be approved for fundings. (like NASA: they mostly shoot up scientists in space for 'experiments'.)
In the right place at the right time, and you can become very rich in real estate.
of course, isn't that true about anything?
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
When one of the spare seats goes up for sale on lastminute.com
I just can't be bothered.
this is such typical bleeding heart liberal crap. there is definatly no *duty* to spend your hard earned $$ on anything! I would walk over my own grandmother to get a chance to go to space before I die, whatever the cost! there is MORE than enough money being thrown at charaties and such. between that and all the damn welfare programs the US has I think we're giving far too much to those types of things. people make mistakes, they should have to deal with them. this is not a damn socialist country, you make your own destiny here. these people (although probably very fortunate) have worked for years to earn that fortune, and frankly I can't even begin to think of a better way to spend $20 mil than to go into space!
Much like the rest of the world foots the bill for the UN?
Having spoken to JAAC in person, I must conclude that he suffers from a mild form of psychosis which leaves him somewhat at odds with reality and is the source of his compulsive and chaotic patterns of behavior.