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Third Space Tourist is Set

Sgt York writes "Space Adventures announced yesterday that Gregory Olsen will be their next private space tourism client. He paid $20M to hop on a Soyuz, sometime by 2005, and go spend some time on the ISS. The cool thing is, he's not just playing tourist. He's the CEO of Sensors Unlimited, has a MS in physics, and a PhD in materials science. He's planning on using the trip to 'help inspire today's youth to dream big' and conduct a few experiments, including testing out some of his company's equipment. SA is billing him as his own 'private space program.'" There's also a space.com story.

26 of 170 comments (clear)

  1. Well, at least he's not... by jdray · · Score: 4, Funny

    At least he's not part of a boy band.

    --
    The Spoon
    Updated 6/28/2011
    1. Re:Well, at least he's not... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

      With the dangers inherent in space travel, I would think slashdotters would have wanted him to go up. Perhaps on this flight.

      Ducks.

  2. I can just hear it now by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    "I don't want to be like Mike, I want to be like Gregory Olsen!"

  3. pfff... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny


    Another "rock and roll" CEO. It's bad enough we have Richard Branson ballooning about as if he's a 20 year old.

    1. Re:pfff... by stratjakt · · Score: 2, Funny

      Man, when I was 20 I used to balloon my ASS off!

      --
      I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
  4. Smart guy... by artemis67 · · Score: 4, Funny

    He's planning on using the trip to 'help inspire today's youth to dream big' and conduct a few experiments, including testing out some of his company's equipment.

    Business trip, be sure to keep the receipts. Oh, and he'll be entertaining a client for dinner when he gets to the space station, so his meal will be a write-off, too.

    Hmmm... how many cents per mile is it for a space commute?

  5. This is the best chat-up line ever! by heironymouscoward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Guy: hey, baby, what's up?

    Hot chick: get lost, loser, unless you got something interesting to say!

    Guy: I'm going into space next month, gonna cost me $20 mil. I might not come back alive. Look, here's the clipping from the New York Times with my photo. So, want to come for a ride in my Porsche? I got a little time left and a lot of money to burn... ....

    I reckon it'd be worth 2-3 months of one-nighters with exceedingly pretty but easily charmed women. In purely genetic terms, that $20m could be a pretty good investment.

    --
    Ceci n'est pas une signature
    1. Re:This is the best chat-up line ever! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      New life's goal: earn $20 million.

  6. Sensorsinc Making money from what! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Sensorsinc's title page says: 'How can a bottle manufacturer prevent glass shards in its drinking containers?' - This guy has a PHD and a company to use plastic bottles. Geees.

  7. One thing he should remember to pack: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Well, this /. story makes it painfully obvious that you should always carry extra in case your luggage gets lost.

  8. Re:Is this news? by Urkki · · Score: 5, Funny

    Oh come on. It could also happen so that he'll train, get on a rocket, and get blown into fine red mist... Without this article, it wouldn't be possible to link back to this on the article telling about the accident. It may seem pointless now, but so do most precautionary things...

  9. That's just sad. by mcmonkey · · Score: 5, Funny

    If the $20 mil isn't getting him any action, I doubt the expensive vacation is going to help.

    Guy: My penis has been in outer space. Wanna touch it?

    Hot chick (while spraying mace): Eww! I thought this place had a lot of rich guys.

  10. Profit? by somethinghollow · · Score: 3, Funny

    I wonder how much it ACTUALLY costs to send one person into space? From what I understand, the tourists are just tag alongs. In other words, the ship is going anyway. How much extra can that one person cost? $20 Mil for another 150-250 lbs? Chipping in for gas has never been this expensive. Or maybe the people that make up the prices for movie theatre food make up the prices for in flight meals on a space ship.

    1. Re:Profit? by igny · · Score: 3, Funny
      I read a story about how they played a joke on Americans. There was this hangar, full of old rockets, used booster stages, and such... Everything was going to be scrapped. There were a few technicians, drinking vodka, when they heard some people coming... (It appeared to be some visitors from West, accompanied by some russian guides.) Technicians immediately started 'working' using tools like sledgehammers, hitting and cutting some rocket.

      Some visitor asked (noticing vodka bottles), wtf are those guys doing to this expensive equipment? A guide seriously said that these workers prepare the rocket for launch.

      I am not sure if the tourists bought the explanation.

      --
      In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is. - Yogi Berra
  11. Re:Tax Deduction by WormholeFiend · · Score: 5, Funny

    And I bet he'll frame that page of his income tax return!

    I'd love to see the look on the face of the IRS clerk when s/he looks at that line.

  12. Re:Is this news? by Blue+Master · · Score: 3, Funny


    1: Start from rags
    2: ???
    3: Go to riches
    4: Go to space
    5: Write book
    6: Profit!

  13. Re:Is this news? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I find this post morbidly disturbing. Where can I sign up for your service?

  14. Re:Is this news? by Otter · · Score: 4, Funny
    Without this article, it wouldn't be possible to link back to this on the article telling about the accident. It may seem pointless now, but so do most precautionary things...

    Once again, the journalistic thoroughness of the editors shines through. The question is whether they'll link to this story or the dupe Taco will post tomorrow.

  15. So ... the whole thing is tax deductible... by popo · · Score: 2, Funny

    The headline shouln't be that he's the "third space tourist", it should be that he's "the first space tourist to travel tax-free".

    --
    ------ The best brain training is now totally free : )
  16. Re:Is this news? by schwaang · · Score: 2, Funny

    Not really, but it provides a way for news.google.com to pay Slashdot back for the three google-related articles on Slashdot yesterday.

  17. Let's send Linus!!! by Marble68 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Let's all pitch in and send Linus.

    Suggested experiments:

    Installation of XP on one box, and Linux on another. Which OS os "lighter"?

    Evaluation of the safety ramifications of space travel while carrying either a stuffed penguin or a window made of stained glass. Does a towel help?

    Installation of dual OS's on all mission critical ISS servers.

    Upgrade of Hubble OS to Linux so it'll run on just one Gyro!

    Human sciences experiment where the subject must debug an OS kernel in weightlessness while under the influence of various hallucinogenics.

    If we can afford it, send strippers, a pole, and a DJ to study and facilitate the development of weightless lap dances.

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    /me sips his coffee and ponders a new sig...
  18. Thirdspace? by IPFreely · · Score: 3, Funny

    Am I the only one who saw that and thought Thirdspace. It sounds a little dangerous to me.

    --
    There is nothing so silly as other peoples traditions, and nothing so sacred as our own.
  19. Thats great by thebra · · Score: 3, Funny

    but where is my flying car!

  20. astronomical hotel rates by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 2, Funny

    How much is he paying me in ISS room rates, for my share of the project as a US taxpayer? We'd better at least stick it to him on the room service - I hope he's a big tipper.

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    --
    make install -not war

  21. $40 mil for zero-gee p0rn? by peter303 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Then a couple could publicly answer to what has long been rumored to have been secretly tested: what is a zero-gee sex like? What is a zero-gee orgasm like? Can you "do it" without pushing each other apart? Does cumming have a enough force to push a man backwards? Does zero-gee make it bigger? faster? more explosive? Do the hooters stop sagging and always point outwards? Does the Book of Tantra need several more chapters for zero-gee techniques?
    It boggles the mind! You could probably raise the $40 mil from curious subscribers alone.

  22. Re:US Reaction more laid back... by evilviper · · Score: 1, Funny
    Please MOD PARENT DOWN. IDIOT AT WORK

    I think I would go with Russia. If I'm not mistaken, they have a better record for safety than the US (I could be wrong).

    You are mistaken.... Greatly and gravely mistaken. The US blunders are greatly publicized, debated, and investigated... The Russian deaths are quietly noted, swept off the pavement, and the next rocket is launched.

    But more than anything, their equipments and technologies have often proved to be far more resilient and robust than the American counterparts.

    I have no idea where you get that... Obviously the death toll disagrees with you there. Secondly, anyone that has paid any attention knows that the Russian equipment is a mess.

    Russia doesn't even have any type of space shuttle... They are still shot into space on the tip of an ICBM, that is disposed of after every trip.

    But the Russian one would be robust and interesting ;-)

    Robust no... Interesting, yes, but in the same way that a car accident is "interesting".
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    Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant