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Space Tourism, Now and to Come

bart_scriv writes, "BusinessWeek looks at the latest in space tourism, from a $20 million Soyuz trip to a $200,000 ride via Virgin Galactic. The article looks at existing and planned opportunities, with a slide show of photos and artist's conceptions of vehicles and facilities. From the article: 'Among the other wonders of space is the planned Bigelow Aerospace space hotel. Similar in design to the International Space Station (which has kept a constant human presence in space since 2000), the hotel has a modular design that will allow it easily to expand. The key difference is that the hotel's modules will be inflatable. Bigelow Aerospace launched the Genesis I test module into orbit on July, 2006, and plans to send Genesis II in early 2007.'"

7 of 123 comments (clear)

  1. I for one... by BlahMatt · · Score: 4, Funny

    am excited to be travelling through space in a large inflatable ball... what could go wrong?

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  2. If this price comes down to 20,000 then I'm gone! by w33t · · Score: 4, Funny

    Of course, my friend asked me, "Are you worried about the rocket blowing up?"

    "Not really," I said. "After all, when I kick-it I plan on having my ashes and a sample of my DNA shot into space anyhow. As long as the rocket makes it to space first, I think it would actually be a pretty good deal."

  3. Space Ball! by DaveJay · · Score: 2, Funny

    Call me when they put a huge, inflatable arena in space, and start holding athletic events there. Somewhere between Ender's Game and Jocks In Space there's got to be a sweet spot of entertainment...

    1. Re:Space Ball! by monopole · · Score: 2, Funny

      Great idea as long as we stipulate that we won't be bringing the jocks back.

  4. Re:More junk to monitor by 2gravey · · Score: 2, Funny

    Well, since it's inflatable, if it's abandoned, shuttle astronauts could just make a quick detour past it and toss a dart at it.

  5. Re:Vacation on the moon! by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 2, Funny

    Damn right. Back in my day, we had to walk to the moon! Uphill! Both ways!
    (sorry. couldn't resist. :^)

  6. Note to Space Hotel Recreation Director: by Locke2005 · · Score: 2, Funny
    Please scratch archery off of the list of possible recreational activities that guests may indulge in.

    Thank you,

    Bigelow Aerospace Management

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