Walk in Space for $15 Million (Plus Airfare) 133
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.'"
NASA not informed? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:NASA not informed? (Score:1)
Re:NASA not informed? (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
Re:NASA not informed? (Score:5, Informative)
Russian EVAs also take advantage of the external US television cameras, including those that are on the robotic arm. The robotic arm takes some planning and crew time to reposition, which is another NASA asset they are utilizing.
Frankly, I'm somewhat surprised the Russians are offering this. I don't think the general public quite has a sense of how complex and how dangerous EVA actually is. The suits themselves are complicated little machines, and you need a great deal of training to react to emergencies (pump failures, leaks, etc.) to keep yourself from getting killed. Additionally, most EVA astronauts go through a lot of personal training to build up upper body strength and endurance. This is because doing an EVA is physically grueling, since you are working against the pressure in the suit.
In other words, whoever goes outside really needs to know what they are doing. This is in contrast with simply riding up for the week onboard. While the trip up/down is dangerous, the customer doesn't really have to know/do all that much, except stay strapped into the seat and be trained on how to use the toilet.
Re:NASA not informed? (Score:3, Interesting)
The NASA suits are (over-?) complicated machines. The Russian suits are much simpler in design. (Most studies I've seen of "next generation" suits borrow a lot from Russian design.) Certainly anyone capable of learning technical diving or commercial diving can learn to handle a space suit, and you're just as dead if something goes wrong in the former cases as the latter.
As for the "physically grueling" aspect, tourists are just going to be floating aro
Re:NASA not informed? (Score:1)
Re:NASA not informed? (Score:2)
The Russians sell stick time in a dual-control MiG-29 too...they manage to handle the training requirements for that.
rj
Re:NASA not informed? (Score:2)
Door Charge (Score:5, Funny)
How many times (Score:3, Funny)
More exclusive Space Adventures! (Score:5, Funny)
Yes, for only a few dollars more you can be the first* to:
- Sing "I did it my way" while orbiting the equator ($15m)
- Take part in a Rheingold-approved smart mob from 150m up! ($16.5m)
- Experience the dark side of the moon ($50m)
- Dig for diamonds and gold on the surface of the moon ($350m)**
- Dare to try "extreme reentry", just you and a suit and a chute ($5m)
- Do the 'No HAL!' space dance ($30m)
- Learn to patch an inflatable space station using chewing gum and frozen urine ($22.5m)
- Take guitar lessons in space ($32m)
- Conceive your next baby in space ($40m for two)
* Alien visitations not included.
** Precious items recovered from the lunar surface are the property of the tour company.
Re:More exclusive Space Adventures! (Score:1)
Re:More exclusive Space Adventures! (Score:5, Funny)
This one actually just means that you watch the Wizard of Oz and listen to Pink Floyd... in SPACE!
Re:More exclusive Space Adventures! (Score:2)
Re:More exclusive Space Adventures! (Score:1)
Electric guitar with headphones? (there's no sound in space)
Re:More exclusive Space Adventures! (Score:1)
Re:More exclusive Space Adventures! (Score:2)
Re:More exclusive Space Adventures! (Score:1)
Air Guitar.
Patented! (Score:4, Funny)
Also I am patenting:
Accessing a database in space.
Running a webserver in space.
Using a mobile phone in space.
Listening to music in space.
Swinging on a swing in space.
Plus many others...
Re:Patented! (Score:1)
Ordering an item in space and on the Internet!
Ah, the innovation!
Re:Patented! (Score:2)
Shit, I missed that one!
Re:Patented! (Score:1)
Re: Patented! (Score:1)
Re:Patented! (Score:1)
Hey, if you figure that one out in zero/micro gravity, you DESERVE a patent.
Use a spring! (Score:2)
Well I could attach a spring to the bottom of the swing and to the floor.
Yay, I'm a genius!! Do I get the patent now?
Or even better, you could just swing from side to side by pulling on the chains! Oh wait, someone already patented that.
Re:Patented! (Score:2)
Re:More exclusive Space Adventures! (Score:1)
YOU ARE OUR VISITOR 10000000000!!!!
AND YOU HAVE JUST WON A TRIP TO MOON
<<CLICK HERE!!!> <-Click!
e | http://nastywebsitetofools....exe |
Re:More exclusive Space Adventures! (Score:1)
Paying $2.84m in royalties to the RIAA for a "Public Performance" as you could possibly be broadcasting to a world audience since you're "above the earth" and all.
Geez, you didn't include the RIAA?! Here's a $100 fine.
Xserv
Re:More exclusive Space Adventures! (Score:2)
Fewer than 450 people have traveled to space, and the club of spacewalkers is even more exclusive. The 300-mile-high club is even more exclusive ...
NASA had denied it (because the people involved were married to others at the time), but there are at least 4 members of that club from the US team. Then again, NASA also doesn't comment on astronauts masturbating in space either, though there's a protocol to give them some "quiet time" that dates back to the original space station.
Re:More exclusive Space Adventures! (Score:2)
It sounds like you think you're kidding, but you're not. [space.com] There were serious proposals for one-man emergency reentry systems that had little more than a heat shield and a prayer.
The project manager said "You wouldn't want to try something like this unless there was no way at all of landing in the disabled spaceship and the astronaut just had to bail out in space," but I'll bet there are more than a few cliffjumping skydiving whitewater-rafting ty
FSA (Score:3, Funny)
Lease back (Score:4, Interesting)
Since space adventures are (apparently) doing so well with their business perhaps they should buy the ISS. NASA doesn't really need to own it anyway.
They could lease back a couple of permanant spots in the station from the new owners and establish an arrangement for safe harbour in the case of a shuttle failure, at least until 2010.
Re:Lease back (Score:1, Insightful)
Tom Jones in space? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Tom Jones in space? (Score:1)
$15 million for a thrill? (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:$15 million for a thrill? (Score:5, Insightful)
My £15/month for my ADSL connection, for example, would feed a family or two in the poorest parts of Africa, and yet here I am...
Re:$15 million for a thrill? (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:$15 million for a thrill? (Score:1)
Source please?
I would assume that if an ordinary person, with little or no building or moneymaking abilities did something as amazing as ascending to a million feet up in the air (or however high up this spacewalk is), their building and/or moneymaking abilities, and also their decisionmaking and other mental and physical abilities, should increase dramatically.
I hope I speak for the rest of
Re:$15 million for a thrill? (Score:1)
Re:$15 million for a thrill? (Score:5, Insightful)
Now as for the price of the additional rocket fuel (not included in the $15M) is a completely different matter. Now that is, literally. burning money.
Re:$15 million for a thrill? (Score:1)
But its not. Someone was paid for that rocket fuel -- at least in theory -- more likely its ending up in some Russian politician or gangster's pocket, but either way the money is still in circulation.
Re:$15 million for a thrill? (Score:2)
Re:$15 million for a thrill? (Score:1)
Read your own post! That fuel has to come from somewhere. It takes manpower and equipment to extract, refine & transport it, etc.
Re:$15 million for a thrill? (Score:2)
No, you are wrong. This is one of the most common misconceptions about economics. It's called the broken window fallacy [wikipedia.org]. The problem with your argument is that those $15 million could have been spent elsewhere. Compare two possible situations: You pay $15M to go to space. Many engineers and technicians get a salary and you go to space. Or, you donate $15M to feed starving children in Africa. Many farmers, aid workers, whatever get a salary and thousands of children are fed properly. Pretty much any
Re:$15 million for a thrill? (Score:2)
Re:$15 million for a thrill? (Score:2)
I'm not entirely convinced of that; as others have said, the fuel had to come from somewhere, and people were paid to extract it, refine it, transport it, etc, all of which also required equipment, that in turn was manufactured from components and base materials that were produced by other people, etc.
On top of that, no fuel, no $15m space walk; you can easily
Re:$15 million for a thrill? (Score:1)
Then again, as I've said before, Ethics and Morals are individual You're welcome to your views. Just don't try to legislate them into existance for everyone else.
Re:$15 million for a thrill? (Score:1)
First of all people are not starving because there is not enough money to go around and school budgets
aren't down because of poverty. People are being starved by design and the "training" we give to the
next generation of serfs is twice as effective at half the expense. No amount of lower-middle class
hardship labor incentive coupons (=money) will change that..
Re:$15 million for a thrill? (Score:1)
Any ideas? (Score:4, Interesting)
I can think of ways that a person MIGHT be able to accumulate this much wealth (I am ommitting exceptional cases, like being one of an enormous number of computer scientists to invent an effective search engine, or doing whatever it takes to be selected as corporate CEO) , but markets change over a person's career fast enough that there's just no way to know.
For instance, the highest paying profession today that a person can take a known route to (there's no known route to becoming a corporate CEO or Donald Trump of real estate) that I can think of would be a specialty surgeon. But, that's in today's market : a surgeon is just a highly skilled technician, the reason salaries are so high is because of the extremely large workload and limited supply of surgeons. (for instance, if a surgeon made the average salary of $200,000 a year but worked 80 hours a week, they only make about 50 bucks an hour. Numerous other jobs make that much money, just noone works those hours)
It is doable : if the person finished their education at 30, they have 30 years to make 15 million dollars. TODAY in some specialties, like orthopedics, the average salary is several hundred thousand. Prudent investment, with decent interest rates, might mean a person would only need to invest about 5 million 15 years earlier, and receive the average overall historical rate of return for the stock market.
No guarantees...but it sounds doable.
Lawyers also have a good shot. If you cashed in on just one million dollar settlement every 2 years, making the 30-40% contingency, plus collecting fees for other smaller cases, a lawyer could make the money. Potentially, much sooner : represent the parents of a crippled child because some deep pocket entity made a preventable error, and 30% of the 10 million dollar settlement is yours. Invest it, and plan on going to space in 15 years. Only a tiny fraction of the lawyers in this country ever collect on something that big, I suspect, however. (I don't actually know if this is the case)
All of this assumes many things, 30 years ago (1976) no-one could have predicted that commercial space flight would be available for 15 million dollars. Most people would have probably assumed it would be much, much cheaper and more common, actually. Or un-available.
I wonder what other unique life experiences can be had for 15 million. I can't think of anything that costs more than a million, actually. An enormous mansion or private jet doesn't count, that isn't unique enough.
Sure. (Score:4, Interesting)
Did you see the recent article on the 10 dumbest internet sales ideas that made money?
Does that give you a hint?
Look, there are many successful people who had a great many stupid ideas. The nice thing is that the stupid ideas they had are usually forgotten, unless they already are rich and then they get ridiculed for awhile until their next big success.
People constant rant that the middle class has no chance. Well that is bunk. Hell you picked lawyers and such (with unrealistic views of what the majority get into) and many of them came from middle class families. Lots of doctors are the same way.
Do you have what it takes to dedicate 8+ years to learn a trade, and then another 8-16 to be very successful at it?
Most people don't. That is what separates those who make the transition from lower/middle/upper to the ranks of millionaires. Many people reach a level of contentment. They are happy and see no reason to push. For others its a dream worth obtaining.
Got to love some of the typical whine responses I saw, about how wasteful it is, especially throwing out the guilt card. I don't what is worse, posters throwing the guilt card or race card. Seems the whiners always have a deck to play with. Yet society doesn't move on without people having dreams and the incentive to get there.
There probably are a lot of HS/College students this day looking to go to space. Many will plan for it and only a few will succeed. A lot of that success is from hard work and dedication. Sure luck will help but if you count on it you are already half way to failing.
The common thread among the guys we label "the owners" of the company I work for is that they put in more hours than most people imagine. Two of them are over 75 and they still "work". The spend their freetime alright, but they still work. Yet they got where they were because they did put in the hours. Do you have what it takes to put in 60-80 hours a week for dozens of years?
So, middle class or not, a spacewalk is possible for almost anyone. The key is making it happen. Hell, who knows, by the time you have the money needed you probably will have found something else to do with it. You might even be one to shut the whiners up by dedicating large amounts to hunger!
Re:Sure. (Score:2)
But it is a game. There's a TREMENDOUS luck factor. (not a "little" like in your post). To name a couple dumb ones off the top of my head : who would have thought you could become a millionaire by preaching that the earth is only 6,000 years old? Or developing the video game "deer hunter", when thousands of other more sophisticated efforts
Re:Sure. (Score:2)
Most educations can be finished by the time you're 25-30. Which gives you 30-35 years of saving before you're 60. Becoming a millionaire is almost trivial. Without interest you'd need to save around $30K/year which is hard for most people to do, but the magic of compound interest makes it significantly easier.
If you in
Re:Any ideas? (Score:3, Interesting)
Starting at age 25, get a reasonably well-paying job like computer programmer, earning $60,000 per year. Pretend that you got a normal job earning $30,000 per year and live the lifestyle of a $30k/year earner. Thanks to taxes, you'll have about $18,0
Re:Any ideas? (Score:2)
Re:Any ideas? (Score:2)
I save at a much lower rate than that, but I also get to drive a nicer car, live in a bigger house
Re:Any ideas? (Score:1)
Re:Any ideas? (Score:2)
Re:Any ideas? (Score:2)
But, its not a job many would want to take. The hours are unappealing for most people. But if you really want it, you can drive to
Re:Any ideas? (Score:1)
How 'bout, I don't know, feeding several million people?
Re:Any ideas? (Score:2)
Re:Any ideas? (Score:2)
Re:Any ideas? (Score:2)
(Thomas J. Stanley)
The Millionare Next Door
ISBN: 0671015206
The MIllionare Mind
ISBN: 0740718584
Basically these books are a list of stats, psychographics, and demographics of currrenty modern millionares.
One of the reviews:
"Besides offering insights into millionaires' pinchpenny ways, pleasing quips ("big brain, no bucks"), and 46 statistical charts with catchy titles, Stanley's book booms with human-potential pep talk and bristles wi
Let me introduce you... (Score:5, Insightful)
From the summary:
Man, meet Infinity. Infinity, meet Man... Can I get you two something to drink? Perhaps a scotch, or some champagne?
I think we should send our politicians into space, and I don't mean this as some sort of crass joke about death in a vacuum. We should send up these "World Leaders" and let them see just how small, how fragile our Earth is, how little blue-green haze separates us from the infinite donut, or is it a soccer ball?
I've had dreams of space, vivid, lucid dreams of being out in the infinite with nothing separating me from the universe - not even a space suit, cause they're dreams you know. I've filled my head with enough pictures of Earth to imagine the sight of our space-faring home, looping and winging it's way through the Big Black in it's slightly off-centre orbit around Sol, our system of planets and star meandering along with the rest of the third arm.
I'd love to see it for real. I know I probably won't in this life-time, so reincarnation is a nifty thing to wish upon for now.
The politicians have the money and the resources though. They should go up, climb out of our gravity well and look upon the Earth, see just for themselves what it's like to stare down at their countries and feel the wonder of covering the United States of America, or Australia, with their palm, to blot out the United Kingdom with their thumb.
They need to feel that wonder, that awe of seeing where we all live and realising that it's a tiny place in the universe, and we should really be focusing our war efforts on peaceful resolutions, scientific colaboration, and a joint effort to get out into our own galaxy, at least, and see if we can really make something of ourselves, rather than squabbling like children in the school yard.
I'm sorry, I have no real point, I'm rambling.
Re:Let me introduce you... (Score:1)
Re:Let me introduce you... (Score:2)
I think we should send our politicians into space, and I don't mean this as some sort of crass joke about death in a vacuum. We should send up these "World Leaders" and let them see just how small, how fragile our Earth is, how little blue-green haze separates us from the infinite donut, or is it a soccer ball?
I don't see how this will transform our politicians into anything new. I think this sort of experience is overrated as a way to get people to do what you think they should be doing.pictures/licensing? (Score:2)
Welcome to the future of commercial space... (Score:1)
Tourism IS the future of space (Score:2, Interesting)
Mark Shuttleworth having a second? (Score:2)
From what he said, being in space was something he always dreamed about.
Lottery (Score:1)
Re:Lottery (Score:1)
Re:Lottery (Score:2, Interesting)
But what about all the people that enjoy gimmicks ?
Do you think they'd fork over $20 USD for a chance to walk in space ?
I do, only because I've seen alot of people fork over $20 USD for scratchoff lottery tickets where the prize is $1 million dollars.
Hell, do you know how many times I've forked over that $20 ? I had a stack of tickets 2 inches thick before I gave up.
Sure, Slashdot readers might not like the idea of buying a ticket, maybe some would, but you can't deny that lottery tickets have
In twenty years could $10K get me to space? (Score:1)
The ultimate experience (Score:2, Insightful)
Ha! Author obviously doesn't own a GeForce 7900GTX, and/or he's never tried pot. There is nothing like pot..
Dang... (Score:1)
EVA upgrade? (Score:1)
Sure, destroy the environment for your kicks (Score:2, Flamebait)
"Yes," he'll nod to his circle of gaw
Re:Sure, destroy the environment for your kicks (Score:2, Insightful)
Last I heard the space tourists didn't go up on a special launch just for them, they went up on a mission that was already scheduled... so the fuel would of been burnt anyway.
As for the travelling around the world... you just come of sounding like a jealous jerk with that little rant... dotting feces around the landscape... oh yea, that is going to have an impact... unlike the millions of animals doing exactly that daily.
I hope you drive some nice fuel-efficient vehicle... or better yet b
Re:Sure, destroy the environment for your kicks (Score:3, Insightful)
Space tourism is a whole new industry that's completely separate from the tag-along flights that Mark Shuttleworth, et al, did. Have you heard of Virgin's space tourism program or have you been living in a cave for the last 3 years with your sunglasses on and your fingers in your ears?
And the fuel wouldn't have "been burned anyway" as you so blithely put it. There's a very exact ratio of pounds of fuel needed to get 1lb into orbit.
As far as traveling abroad, yes, I'm a little di
Re:Sure, destroy the environment for your kicks (Score:2)
I've been to a few spots in Europe, more in the US, Australia 3x, Costa Rica, the Caribbean, Peru.. all when I was much younger and hadn't developed my current philosophy.
Your imagination may provide you with some satis
Re:Sure, destroy the environment for your kicks (Score:1)
Re:Sure, destroy the environment for your kicks (Score:2)
Cultural understanding however, while warm and fuzzy, doesn't do much to help the planet. I don't need to sympathize with the palestinians or the israelites to know that the whole ship is sinking.
NASA Exploring MySpace (Score:2)
--
I wouldn't do it (Score:2)
only a visor? (Score:1)
Only a visor? I think this number is off by 151.
:wq
Damn.. not even the lottery is enough (Score:2)
A dollar is ok - for entertainment. (Score:2)
Remember, the Powerball Lotto is not "a fair bet" until the jackpot approches $300M, or so (taxes not included).
You already seem to have a firm grasp on the time value of money and the tax issue. Just thought I'd toss in a buck of cold odds.
("Fair Bet" defined as expected payout = cost. E.g. 1/142 millionth of a dollar per dollar wagered.)
Re:A dollar is ok - for entertainment. (Score:2)
And whenever I go to Vegas with friends I am the only one who ever comes back with money because the only gambling i do is the very minimum I need to put into a video poker machine to get free drinks at the bar. If i lose, well I would have spent it on drinks anyways, and if i win.. well then I got free drinks and cash.
It always makes me sad when the Powerball gets really high and I see all these people rushing out to spend hundreds of dollars on tic
Technically... they are correct (Score:3, Interesting)
Technically, you are better off spending, say $52 on lotto tickets on one draw where the prize is "big", rather than one per week, when the prize is way too low vs the odds.
1 ticket = 1 chance in 142 million, 2 tickets = 1 chance in 71 million, etc... assuming you don't pick the same numbers on each ticket,
Re:Sorry, but I will pass... (Score:1)
Re:Sorry, but I will pass... (Score:1)
Re:Sorry, but I will pass... (Score:2)
I do extraordinary things everyday of my life, is just that I don't need to spend 15 millions on it to have a selfmasturbation...
I highly doubt you ever do extraordinary things. No one so bitter and jealous that someone else might be doing something you can't do, would be capable of doing something extraordinary even once in their life, much less every day.
And no, taking drugs is not doing something extraordinary. Making your hair a weird color is not doing something extraordinary. Piercing your body
Re:Sorry, but I will pass... (Score:2)
Re:Experience the same here on earth! (Score:1)
Re:Experience the same here on earth! (Score:1)
Re:TOM jones?... (Score:1)
Re:The must have gift... (Score:1)
Re:The must have gift... (Score:1)