Walk in Space for $15 Million (Plus Airfare)

avtchillsboro writes "A NY Times article has details on a news release by Space Adventures Ltd. (SAL). SAL has previously provided space trips to three wealthy individuals for (US)$20 million. The article announces the $15 million EVA 'upgrade', and quotes SAL chief executive Eric Anderson, who says that the plan has been approved by the Federal Space Agency of the Russian Federation; but the article also says that NASA has not been informed." From the article: "Fewer than 450 people have traveled to space, and the club of spacewalkers is even more exclusive. Just 151 people have stepped outside the relative safety of their craft to greet the void with only a visor to separate life and death. 'Spacewalk is the ultimate experience that we've managed to invent as humans,' said Tom Jones, a former astronaut and spacewalker who is an adviser to Space Adventures. Being outside the craft when 'there's nothing between you and the ground below but empty space,' he said, is 'incomparable.'"

Comments

Re:NASA not informed?

[MichaelSmith]

who's to stop them?

Assuming that this is an EVA from the ISS they could egress from the Russian airlock but if there is a problem with that airlock they may have to enter through the US airlock. While outside they may have to interact with US hardware such as the external surfaces of the modules, communication gear, etc.

I think NASA should definitely have a say in who does EVAs around the ISS.

Also I think an EVA from a Soyuz would be out of the question on safety grounds.