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..."

Comments

Space travel is expensive

[ObviousGuy]

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.

Re:Space travel is expensive

[Fjornir]

I consider eight to ten days in orbit to be considerably more than a quick ride on the pukelator.

Re:Space travel is expensive

[-noefordeg-]

"'d rather spend my $20,000,000 on a long vacation in Moraco."

Well, duh! Don't you think he's done that too? I'm pretty sure he hasn't got exactly $20mill but probably a little more or maybe A LOT more $$$.

If I had $21mill I would have done this at once. You've got one life, why spend it in Monaco with greedy and utterly boring people with probably nothing more to think about than what to wear and when they do open their mouth the utter stupidity of what's being said will make your braincells wither away. Also.... If you are a normal person you'll get bored at a place like Monaco after a weekend...

G'damn... I would love to be able to be in space *sigh*

Better patent something fast!

Damnit!

[Anonymous Coward]

Damnit! I spent my $20,000,000 buying SCO licenses for my Beowulf cluster...

Miles?

[Anonymous Coward]

Does anyone remember just how many frequent flyer miles I would need to get one of those other spots?

Re:Miles?

[Anonymous Coward]

300? The ISS is only 300 miles away from earth.

Pre-boarding conversation...

[Channard]

'Here you so, sir! Your tickets. Welcome to the Space Shuttle.'

'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.'

How much are the Insurance costs?

[Richard M. Nixon]

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.

Re:How much are the Insurance costs?

[Shihar]

I imagine normal life insurance would probably cover dying in such an accident. I find it doubtful that your life insurance has a clause in it that says you don't get any money if you die in a space. It probably is not something insurance companies ever thought of including and so, unlike say sky diving, probably still results in coverage.

Not really

[nil5]

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

Are one-way tickets available?

[NanoGator]

I'm sure I could scrape together $10,000,000 for an xmas gift to our beloved Eisner.

Only in America

[Space cowboy]

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.

Re:Only in America

[shanen]

You know that they're going to have to waive every form of liability under the sun before they get anywhere near the thing. Not only them, but every relative unto the fourth cousin twice removed will have to sign, too. Probably current employeers, past employeers for the past 10 years, and any company the "astroballast" might potentially work for in the future will have to agree.

However, all things considered, it's probably safe enough. Sad to say, the Russians have the better safety record. They've already launched a tourist successfully, while America lost one of the two we launched. (Or was it three?)

Re:ISS

[tx_kanuck]

I don't think there are any private companies running this yet. They tourists are going up via the russian space agency, and not a private company.

Finally a 'cheap' way to pick up chicks . .

[OverlordQ]

"So what do you do?"

"I'm a real estate developer . . and in my spare time I'm an astronaut."

Be patient and keep saving

[Lagrange5]

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.

Re:If you're feeling lucky

[fucksl4shd0t]

I thought they had until the end of 2004 to claim the prize? I mean, really, Armadillo Aerospace has been planning on launching something in January for testing to compete for the X-prize. Why would they still be planning on competing for the X-prize if launching a test in January would already be too late? (I also remember reading it, but I checked the X-prize site and couldn't find it, other than a reference in the FAQ to the fact that they think it is likely someone will do it before January '05)

Surely a better use of the money...

[Channard]

.. 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.

Re:Surely a better use of the money...

[Shihar]

Yeah, 20 million probably is better spent on charity or invested into some life saving research. However, it is a tad hypocritical for most people to make such a statement. I know I bought myself a new computer that I didn't need. The only difference between my selfish act and these space tourists is magnitude. If a rich guy wants to blow 20 million on a life's dream, more power to him. I would do the same thing in his position.

If it is any consolation, it very could lead to some greater benefit for mankind. These first few spending money on something so expensive and risky very well could encourage someone somewhere to develop better spaceflight for the purpose of tourism. Even if you don't consider cheaper space tourism as a benefit for humankind, things learned the development of the industry could benefit humankind.

One of the brighter sides of capitalism is that even selfish acts can lead to improving the greater good, even if it is just an accidental consequence of someone's selfish desires.

Call me a troll...

[James A. C. Joyce]

...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.