Google's Brin Books a Space Flight

coondoggie writes "Google largely conquered the Earth — now it is taking aim at space. At least co-founder Sergei Brin is. Brin today said he put down $5 million toward a flight to the International Space Station in 2011. Brin's space travel will be brokered by Space Adventures, the space outfit that sent billionaire software developer Charles Simonyi to the station in 2007. Computer game developer (and son of a former NASA astronaut) Richard Garriott is currently planning a mission to the ISS in October 2008. Garriott is paying at least $30 million to launch toward the space station aboard a Russian Soyuz spaceship according to Space Adventures." Make sure to wave when you are over Michigan, man. I'll be the one on my lawn, green with envy.

Comments

give him more than that

[moderatorrater]

Make sure to wave when you are over Michigan man. I'll be the one on my lawn green with envy. I hope you'll be wearing at least a bright red shirt or something, because otherwise you're going to blend right in.

one step closer

[cashman73]

Google is now just one step closer to founding the Copernicus Center,... ;-)

Green Space Adventures

[jason.sweet]

Kinda offsets driving a Prius, doesn't it?

In Michigan?

[larpon]

In Soviet Russia bright red will blend you man.

How do we calculate MPG?

[Bearpaw]

How do we calculate MPG? Sure, it's a shitload of fuel just to go 213 miles up (*), but then you can coast for ~3 million miles!

Re:Rather too risky for me

[Nimey]

Good thing space exploration isn't in your hands, then.

Re:Rather too risky for me

[Anonymous Coward]

And that is one reason you do not have a billion.

Risky business.

[Dzimas]

I'm jealous and also quite in awe of how brave people are to venture into space. Some sobering stats on manned space flight: 18 of the 430 people who've ventured into space didn't make it back alive. Of course, quite a few astronauts and cosmonauts have flown more than once, but I calculate that the shuttle's overall fatality rate is running at around 1.8%. IOW, the chance of dying is about the same as my chance of winning $10 in this week's 6/49 Lotto. I hope he has a fantastic trip and that he blogs about his experience.

Would I be willing to venture into space if given the chance? I'm not sure. I'd love to have the opportunity to consider it, though.

Re:Risky business.

[ELProphet]

Most interesting in that line of statistics: no human has died outside the confines of Earth's atmosphere. Apollo 1 was a fire on the pad, Challenger hadn't crossed 50 miles, and Columbia was under 50 miles. The Russian space program has similar circumstances. 18 didn't walk out of the craft alive, but all 420 who have crossed into space have made it back inside the atmosphere.

Re:What a waste.

[khallow]

I'm sure someone will reply with a "relative" comment regarding money I and others who are less fiscally successful spend on things like MMOG's and flat panels, but on a person-by-person basis that's a very small chunk compared to the giant barrel of money he's giving away here. Yes, this usually is the nail in the coffin for this sort of argument. Why should you expect someone else to donate any extra cash they happen to have when you aren't willing to? It does strike me as odd that you go ahead with the argument even though you already know why it's flawed.

Re:What a waste.

[Nemilar]

You're acting like the Russians are just going to take his dollars and burn them in a furnace, or that somehow those dollars are going to be taken out of circulation, never to be used for anything ever again.

Realize that his $30 million is going to be spent by the Russians; on the development of new technology, on fuel (and hence, on employees of the energy companies), on paying engineers and scientists; on all the things required to maintain a space program.

If you want to support an industry - and most people on slashdot probably believe the space industry is one worth supporting - the best thing you can do is to buy their product. That's exactly what he's doing.

Re:What a waste.

[Miladinoski]

According to google.org Google has donated $33 milion from AdSense adverts to more than 850 nonprofit organisations in 10 countries throught the world.

The Make-A-Wish foundation has received more than 25% of all the online donations from Google.

Google has given more than 30% of all the yearly donations to the Doctors without borders program.

Google has also donated to the Grameen Foundation located in the US and $2 mils to the OLPC project...

Read more here

Re:A lot of energy and CO2 for one guy's amusement

[khallow]

Alternately, we could stop giving in to global warming hysteria and recognize that there are carbon producing activities more important than eliminating positive carbon emissions. Space tourism, for example, easily meets this weak threshhold. Yes, sending rich guys on joy rides in space is more important than token gestures of support for environmentalism.

Re:Rather too risky for me

[Lord_Frederick]

Living is about what you experience. Everyone's risk-to-experience tolerance is different. Some people only feel alive and free when they sky dive, while others think it's a silly risk. Some people have full and happy lives doing nothing more than playing scrabble. Space travel is a huge risk for an amazing experience that only a handful of humans have. You could die, but the dead don't feel regret for failing to take a chance on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Re:Now THAT is a vacation - I for one am jealous

[PCM2]

I could give a shit either way. Do you know how many people you could HELP with $5 million, like real bonified food on the table for dinner kind of help?

It's not like the money just vanishes into thin air, you know. Sergei gives it to someone else, who ends up giving it to someone else, who gives it to someone else, who gives it to someone else... and so the economy rolls on. You could argue that spending the money does a lot more good for society than just leaving it in the bank.

BTW, why are you sitting there reading Slashdot when you could be volunteering at your local homeless shelter?