Slashdot Mirror
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.
In other words, it'll be a tax deduction because it's a "business expense".
It is also noteworth because he will be the first to carry his own significant research up with him. He's not going to just "stay the hell out of the way". This guy isn't some boy-band wannabe. He's a real scientist with real experiments he want to carry out.
Where's my lobbyist? Right here.
I read a great article after the first guy went into space where the writer summed up the "sour grapes" reaction from so many who were disturbed that a rich guy could buy a trip to space - it was jealously.
People were envious that one person could actually buy his way into space. Surely, space should be left to scientists, intellectuals, dreamers, etc. rather than a memeber of the "wealthy elite".
The reality is when ship,car,train and airplane travel debuted, the passenger list comprised government-sanctioned types or the very wealthy.
After a time, all forms of travel become accessible to more people from other walks of life and eventually become commonplace.
I say good for this guy. May space become even more accessible to those willing to buy a ticket.
The third time we went to the moon was boring too, eh? Seems like today once something has been done once it isn't worth paying attention to after. For some reason people watched how many years of Friends episodes though? 30 minutes of peoples lives, gone, every week for years.
I, for one, live north of the Cape and watch every shuttle launch I possibly can. Most people don't any more. I guess it depends on your interests.