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Draft Guidelines for Space Tourists
IZ Reloaded writes "Draft guidelines for space tourists have already been written in the United States." From the article: "A paying customer will now be able to fly into space once he has been informed and accepts the risks of space travel. There are several factors to take into account, depending on whether a passenger is taking a speedy "pop top," up-and-down, suborbital voyage, versus climbing onboard space machinery to roar off into orbit for an extended stay."
Nothing like jumping around on a planet full of rock, sign me up!
There is no sig
Russia has had guidelines for their paying space tourists for a number of years:
1. You must have a pulse (optional)
2. Your check for $20,000,000 must clear before you launch whether you are a popstar or not.
I'm a big tall mofo.
1) take enough clean underwear with you...
For one, if you are in a critical crew position, your health problem could endanger the life of others. Secondly, on an orbital mission, your health problem could cause the mission director to have to make a difficult choice, Diamandis said, between your possible death or ending a billion dollar mission early, presuming that returning to Earth could save your life.
Good to know the lawyers are getting a head start writing their closing arguments.
Your momma is an astronaut is suddenly not so derogatory huh?
Don't Fart.
Take the metal tab and insert it into the buckle. Pull tightly across your waste.
Yeah? Well I think you're overrated too.
What would be the best way to manage the medical requirements for travel?
Would a sort of license work? This would save being rechecked for frequent flights.
Wake me in a few years, until then, I'm going back to playing EVE online.
..A paying customer..
Unless space travel gets REALLY cheap, I don't think anyone but the wealthy will be able to actually go into space.
Most people can barely afford house notes, car notes, insurance, etc...
Once this has properly taken off (bad pun) with regular orbit or sub orbital flights, the benefits of having cheap reqular orbital research opertunitys is grand for smaller projects who could not afford to pay for time on one of the NASA missions or simmilar.
This could herald in a new era in more than just rich recreation , if this is as sucesful as i can only imagine it will be , then im sure we will now begin to progress at a far greater rate in these areas.
ps: this joke just writes itself here on slashdot "virgins in space "
The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
It'll be interesting to see how far the operators will go when performing the physical. Imagine the liability implications if they send a pregnant woman up into orbit and she later has a child with birth defects...
500GB of disk, 5TB of transfer, $5.95/mo
Notice you must be at least 4ft 5in tall to ride. 1. Please keep your arms and legs in the vehical at all times 2. There is no eating, drinknig , or smoking while the ride is in operation. 3. Remain seated until the ride has come to a complete stop. 4. Exit to the left, thank you for riding space mountain.
Doesn't it seem a little bit pointless to just do one of those "pop top" flights into "space" since "space" is kind of an arbitrary thing? I would think it kind of an expensive indulgence just for some dubious bragging rights. Orbit I can understand; really really high and back down, not so much.
..wants to take over space too eh?
Anyway the rules:
Rule 1: Please don't take photographs of the spy satellites.
Rule 2: No one is to visit the moon landing place, until NASA checks out the first flight to there.
Rule 3: There will be no sex in space thanks.
Rule 4: All taxes must be fully paid before departing.
Rule 5: No snack food is to be released into zero G.
Rule 6: No smoking near the hydrogen gas.
Rule 7: Intoxicated individuals will be flushed out the airlock.
Rule 8: Please shake carefully when using the toliet facilities
Rule 9: Any use of the Klingon language will result in a severe beating
Rule 10: One way tickets shall no be sold, even to cult members.
It's called The Cold Equations by Tom Godwin.
In case you don't care to RTFRulebook, it can be synopsized as follows: The Universe doesn't care, physics dictate survival or death.
Which country would the guidelines be tied to by law? The country that launched the spacecraft, or some "Internation space law"?
Three rings for the Elven-kings in the sky
"Me ihmiset emme regeneroidu."
"Hvor er det naermeste taenkende pattedyr?"
"Det her er min kammerat, ikke drikkepenge."
"Ceci ne peut pas être ma chambre, puisque je ne respire pas de l'ammoniac."
"Tjener, denne ret er stadig levende."
"ore no hovercraft ha unagi de ippai."
(apologies to Joanna Russ)
Take any medical disclaimer form and replace the medical terms with space terms.
/. on his PDA while in the WC may forget you exist. By signing here you waive our liability.
You may die. This procedure could kill you. We may break your teeth. We may destroy or remove the wrong organ. The doctor may have to take a crap and distracted by
Why is it now "officially" allowed. Last time I checked the US was NOT the world and no one but them has to stick to any rules they make unless supported by an international agreement or group.
I like muppets.
"A paying customer will now be able to fly into space once he has been informed and accepts the risks of space travel. " What? Women don't have to pay or they're not allowed?
I wonder what the inflight movie will be? How bout "Apollo 13"?
Flight Eng: System failure level 2 switching to main aux for overide.
Passenger: No its just a faulty sensor , shutdown tank three no overide needed.
Flight Eng: Are you sure?
Passenger: Yes proceed with the shutdown.
Flight Eng: Check , shutting down tank three
Whew, they didn't tell us you were an AE
Passenger: I'm not , but I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night..
Any information on how much fossil fuel a suborbital shots will burn per passenger?
I knew the army were desperate, but I didn't know they were having problems finding astronauts
The real question is, what would happen if someone took a dump outside on the space elevator. And the answer dum dum dum is you would have lots of poop in an orbit around the earth. Maybe someday we will have a ring of poop surrounding the earth preventing future space travel from ever happening.
"Bah weep granah weep ninni bong"
This is one time though that I hope the lawyers DO get heavily involved just so that one lawsuit doesn't bring this whole fledgling industry down in one fell swoop.
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
The (US) government does not (YET) require licences for race cars [thanks for bringing this oversight to our attention], but the various racing associations (Formula One, NASCAR) certainly do.
That being said, I certainly agree with the rest of your comments. The trouble is, your comments are reasonable and thoughtful, governments rarely so.
There is not nearly enough love in the world, but there is far too much trust.
I just hope they've put "Don't Panic!" in a large friendly letters on a cover.
I'm sure this guy would just loooove to sign up for the test run.
GET FREE APPLE STUFF!
So thank you for the Monday morning fright, Slashdot. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to change my pants.
http://spacex.com. Sorry about that.
Michael Richmond "This is the heart that broke my finger."
mwrsps@rit.edu http://stupendous.rit.edu
Most astronauts are Air Force...
What was preventing us doing that before?
I wonder whether this was put together taking into account the recent, varyingly successful, lawsuits against earth-bound adventure tourism operators who provided white water rafting and rock climbing and who, despite all the no-liability clauses in their paperwork, manage to surprise the world by killing their customers periodically?
Given that at least some of those lawsuits were successful (if memory serves), one wonders how much value escape-from-liability contracts really have, unless the US signs a bill similar to the no-lawsuits-of-fast-food-providers into law. Even then, they'd still be taunted by various international courts.
Nihil Illegitemi Carborvndvm
Given we've had two space shuttle crashes and all 14 bodies were eventually recovered, how much much of the bodies survived to be worred about clean underwear? No details were given, respecting family privacy.
They'll show Alien, of course. Which leads to the Arthur C. Clarke rule:
Rule #7: In case of dire emergency, do not go back for the ships cat.
The second most necessary rule for space tourists is:
Rule #2: Do not put used prophylactics or feminine sanitary products in the bodily waste recycling unit.
Rule #1 involves not removing barriers between ones lungs and hard vacuum, but my creative spark is dwindling in direct proportion to my blood caffiene level, so I'll leave the phrasing to another.
though if you crack the window it would be gone pretty quick...
Do not look at or take photos of baby Sputnik.
GET FREE APPLE STUFF!
Men of either gender can fly? I like that!
I wonder if this was indeed USA bashing.
Why is anti-US sentiment marked as Interesting, not Flamebait? Surely a country can enact regulations in thier own land, as all the other replies indicate. I believe this is only "Interesting" to the small minded with prejudices against the US.
Regulations. Flying (whether a plane or a space ship) is regulated. The higher you go, the more regulations are in place. If your launching a sattelite in the US, building it is the easy part. Getting all the permits can take years. This law is designed to give space tourism a grace period before the FAA can go in and regulate it to death.
Free MacMini
"Have you hugged your wolf today?"
"Where is the nearest thinking mammal?"
"This in my buddy, not tips."
"Have you hugged your wolf today?"
"Waiter, this dish is still alive."
"My hovercraft is full of eels."
I have a feeling they all originate from this page of confusingly sorted quotes. If aliens should look at you with an odd expression in their face, don't panic!
Take off every 'ZIG' !!
Do they require disclosure that the trip is "one way"? If not, I've got a list of "tourists" I'd like to sponsor.
--
make install -not war
In space, it's never "Miller Time".
--
"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
Support the First Amendment. Read at -1
Wrong. The First Amendment guarantees you the right to speech. It doesn't guarantee you the right to an audience. You can still say whatever the heck you want, even if it's modded -1. I can freely choose not to read it (also -- by extension -- the First Amendment: Freedom of Association).
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
Insightful? right!
The Guidelines will be revised per the US Transportation Safety Agency. All applicants must submit to a comprehensive security check and vetting process. This will ensure space travel remains free and open to all compliant Americans.
The only PT Boat Journal on the web: http://www.PT171.org
I think I see my answer between the lines. I had a brief vision of xCFRy paragraph z: "no citizen may fly into space as a paying customer", right next to the one forbidding me to allow monkeys to fly out of my nose. But the actual regulation regulates what a licensed operator can do for hire, no? That I can believe. So, my guess is that I always did have (by omission) the right to hire someone to take me into space, but nobody was allowed to accept the deal.
What if they were writting rules for flying an X-Wing? "Passengers must be able to do in-flight repairs and also must always say beep-beep"
I think another burocrate has justified his/her existence.
No, now clean your underwear out before it leaves a yellow stain.
What race organization doesn't have strict licensing and certification requirements?
I can't think of one. SCCA certainly does, as does PCA and all the other club-level organizations I know of. FIA certainly does. NASCAR does. I don't know, but I have to assume CART does as well.
Seriously... car racing is probably one of the most strictly restricted sports out there... not only do you need the appropriate credentials, you have to meet minimum race requirements to keep your certification.
Getting flashed in space doesn't sound like a bad thing to me. . .
"No beer until you finish your tequila!" -Leela's Dad
You should have gone before liftoff.
This weekend at NorWesCon I attended some presentations by LiftPort, the company that plans to implement a space elevator as envisioned by Arthur C. Clarke. The electric elevator, receiving power from ground based lasers, would climb up a ribbon made of carbon nanotubes anchored between an ocean platform and a space station. Their goal is to have it operational by 2018. As far-fetched as that idea seems, I found their presentations very intriguing. The small scale climber prototype they demo'd was pretty cool too, repeatedly running up and down a 4-story strip of sheetrock tape in the rain.
The technology to manufacture the carbon nanotube ribbon in arbitrarily long lengths is coming along too. From 15 nm 4 years ago to 4 cm today. After another similar leap in scale they will be up to 1 km, at which time I bet they'll be able to make them as long as them want.
To make money while the nanotube technology evolves, they plan to use their climber robots to service helium balloons anchored high above cities to provide WiFi and other services. The main reason permanent balloons aren't already being used for this purpose is that the helium leaks out in a matter of months. With a robot carrying spare helium tanks up the tether once in a while it would be viable.
Good stuff! The elevator will take about 5 hours to climb to low earth orbit at a leisurely 125 mph or so, and a week to get to geostationary. I'd much prefer a comfortable passenger lounge to riding a giant bomb into orbit.
The zero-g toilet instructions from 2001?