Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

SpaceX and Bigelow Aerospace Team Up For Trips To Private Space Habitats

Posted by Soulskill on from the getting-away-from-it-all-with-rockets dept.

Zothecula writes "SpaceX and Bigelow Aerospace have joined forces in an attempt to woo international customers looking to enjoy some extended periods of microgravity. The joint marketing effort will push trips to orbiting Bigelow habitats on SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft using the Falcon launch vehicle. 'Bigelow's BA 330 space module would be designed to provide 330 cubic meters of usable volume, which is about the size of a two-bedroom apartment. The BA 330 could accommodate up to six astronauts, depending on how cozy they plan to get. Two or more BA 330 modules could be connected together in orbit for lease by national space agencies, companies or universities, according to Bigelow Aerospace.'"

40 comments

  1. zero G sex by arcite · · Score: 1

    Come on, this is the only reason. Don't forget the vacuum for the err....clean up.

    1. Re:zero G sex by virus_xp · · Score: 3, Funny

      I think there's plenty of vacuum up there.

    2. Re:zero G sex by Moheeheeko · · Score: 1

      Maybe they can get Larry Flynts people up there to shoot the first issue of "Zero-G Juggs"

    3. Re:zero G sex by maroberts · · Score: 1

      Hmm, but cleaning up afterwards could be entertaining, with little blobs of cum floating all around in zero-g......

      --

      Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
      Karma: Chameleon

    4. Re:zero G sex by Chris+Burke · · Score: 1

      Someone already made a zero-G porno with the vomit-comet.

      Which considering the well deserved name and the duration of weightlessness you get at one time is quite a feat.

      We'll probably never see a proliferation of zero-G porn until we get these space habitats, so I agree Larry Flynt should chip in some investment money!

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
    5. Re:zero G sex by garyoa1 · · Score: 1

      Heh, yeah. Just crack open a window for a few seconds. Better than a Dyson and never worry about bags or filters.

      --
      Wuddooeyeno? IITYWYBMAD? Like nuts? eclecticallyincorrect.com
    6. Re:zero G sex by SomePgmr · · Score: 1

      I don't know that I have ever paid for porn in the last 20+ years, but I think I'd pay to see that.

      Not some bs 10 second vomit-comet one, but the very first *actual* space porn. And I'd probably want a copy on VHS too, so I can hide it in a Spaceballs jacket... for old times sake.

    7. Re:zero G sex by Dragonslicer · · Score: 1

      And I'd probably want a copy on VHS too, so I can hide it in a Spaceballs jacket... for old times sake.

      I don't suppose the phrase "from suck to blow" was in the title?

      Yeah, this post only exists so that I didn't have to post a completely pointless "undo accidental mod"

    8. Re:zero G sex by citizenr · · Score: 1

      They have va_cum cleaners in XXX industry.

      --
      Who logs in to gdm? Not I, said the duck.
    9. Re:zero G sex by morgauxo · · Score: 2

      Brings a whole new meeting to space junk

    10. Re:zero G sex by ComputerInsultant · · Score: 1

      That is why the company is named Space Sex ... err SpaceX

      --
      engineers are all basically high-functioning autistics who have no idea how normal people do stuff
    11. Re:zero G sex by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, search for The Uranus Experiment. However, it's almost unwatchable due to Private's use of dubbed voice actors whose sole purpose is to provide moans and groans. Seriously, WTF?! One ends up just imagining male and female voice actors in a soundstage attempting to pant in sync with the visual. Naturally, they way overdo it.

      What was the issue? Wordless groans in Czech need dubbing for English speaking audiences?

    12. Re:zero G sex by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      They shot the outer space scenes for Apollo 13 in the Vomit Comet, too. Probably close to half the movie.

      --
      Free Martian Whores!
    13. Re:zero G sex by Unkyjar · · Score: 1

      Scruffy gonna die the way he lived.

    14. Re:zero G sex by Teancum · · Score: 1

      The sad thing in all of the discussion here is that nobody has ever conducted any legitimate scientific experiments with conception by mammals in a microgravity environment. This is especially true for longitudinal studies to see what the effects of the offspring might bring.

      There has been some "simulated zero-g" (using magnetic fields.... I don't think that is really all that accurate) where some researchers have tried to study the moment of conception itself, and there was one pregnant rat who gave birth aboard the Space Shuttle, but had conceived on the ground. The mom and kids seemed to be healthy in the experience... but my point is that we really don't know.

      My own raw conjecture (not even a hypothesis) is that there will be absolutely no impact upon a developing fetus developing in a woman, although the problems of mineral loss in bones may accelerate for pregnant women in a microgravity environment.

      I just wish that NASA wasn't such a prude about the whole topic and would at least try to let some mice or rats try to produce some kids in space before a human couple does the deed and we have an experiment on humans instead of other animals first. The whole talk about sterilizing astronauts going to Mars just makes my stomach flip in nausea simply because nobody has even figured out what the side effects might be so they don't want to take a chance. Assuming that the first flights to Mars by people is at least a decade away, why don't we send up a couple of mice this next month (or in a reasonable length of time between now and when the serious planning for a trip to Mars starts) to begin longitudinal studies to see what the impacts of microgravity could be? Acting on sheer ignorance seems to be idiot.

  2. IMHO by virus_xp · · Score: 2

    this was only a matter of time.

    1. Re:IMHO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Wow, that's deep. Have any other vague insights to share?

      What a maroon. Your opinion is not humble enough.

  3. Is It Just Me? by Stormy+Dragon · · Score: 1

    Or would anyone else be worried about being inside a spaceship named after a tea company?

    1. Re:Is It Just Me? by IrquiM · · Score: 2

      It's just you

      --
      This is blinging
    2. Re:Is It Just Me? by hendridm · · Score: 1

      There's a tea company named SpaceX?!

      Somebody call marketing...

    3. Re:Is It Just Me? by camperdave · · Score: 2

      Or would anyone else be worried about being inside a spaceship named after a tea company?

      Would that be the Falcon Tea company, the Dragon Tea company, or Bigelow Tea company?

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    4. Re:Is It Just Me? by Belial6 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well, historically, tea companies have been pretty well know to be aggressive in the transportation field.

    5. Re:Is It Just Me? by phik · · Score: 1

      Well, historically, tea companies have been pretty well know to be aggressive in the transportation field.

      Mod this up!

  4. Rule 34 by garyebickford · · Score: 2

    No doubt, someone's going to make a video of the first meeting of the '100 mile high club'.

    --
    It's easier to be a result of the past, but more fun to be a cause of the future! http://www.spacefinancegroup.com/
    1. Re:Rule 34 by Big+Hairy+Ian · · Score: 2
      I believe this has already taken place aboard the IIS

      Although if I were to name names someone might drive across 3 states in a space nappy just to shoot me :(

      --

      Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.

    2. Re:Rule 34 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I believe this has already taken place aboard the IIS

      I don't believe you; if porn servers were running IIS, the news article about religious sites being more virus-laden would make no sense.

      (Yes, I know it's not the '90s, and dissing MS is no longer the hip thing to do, but you gotta work with the material you're given, eh.)

  5. Uh huh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting

    "Combining" two failing operations... But I thought people would line up for miles for a chance to pay 100000$ for a 5 minute sub-orbital hop?

    1. Re:Uh huh by medcalf · · Score: 2

      By what measure is either company failing?

      --
      -- Two men say they're Jesus. One of them must be wrong. - Dire Straits
    2. Re:Uh huh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't mind him, anyone not giving him a free ride to space is perceived as failing. It's a common syndrome among /.ers, known as sour space grapes.

    3. Re:Uh huh by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 2

      But I thought people would line up for miles for a chance to pay 100000$ for a 5 minute sub-orbital hop?

      Note that neither company in question is either planning or doing suborbital hops.

      Note also that the company that is planning them already has 400+ people who've paid deposits for a flight.

      So, yes, it looks like people will line up for miles to pay $100K (they're actually charging twice that)...

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
  6. A big step forward by garyebickford · · Score: 3

    Seriously (despite my earlier comment) I think this is a great step forward for getting us out there. IMHO we belong in space. Whether there are other occupied planets in the universe or not, we are the vector by which life on this planet can expand to other places. Most of those places will be highly technical and vulnerable for a long time, but life (and we) will evolve to fit new places.

    --
    It's easier to be a result of the past, but more fun to be a cause of the future! http://www.spacefinancegroup.com/
  7. The Spacers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So how do you join? I want to get the good berths on Aurora before they run out.

  8. Porn... by MistabewM · · Score: 1

    Am I the only one that thinks the porn studios are going to be all over this?

    --
    "A learning experience is one of those things that says, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.'" - DNA
    1. Re:Porn... by robot256 · · Score: 1

      Nobody will mind as long as they tip the cleaners well.

    2. Re:Porn... by Jeng · · Score: 1

      You are not the only one, but they have already experimented with gravity free sex on the vomit comet.

      Just the phrase "sex on the vomit comet" sounds so wrong.

      --
      Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
    3. Re:Porn... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just the phrase "sex on the vomit comet" sounds so wrong.

      I already experinced it when I told her I wouldn't cum in her mouth...