Thanks Elk! Reminds me of the paper I wrote back in college
for a communications course (in the late 70's) re: establishing
space colonies, mining asteroids for minerals - but more likely -
the moon for minerals... The reason I remember it was because
I sacrified going to a Pink Floyd concert in order to finish
the paper on time. Got an A on the paper - but to this day
I kind of wish I had hit the concert instead :-)
A few yrs later - I ended up getting the same analog synthesizer
keyboard that PF uses (the helicopter sounds etc.) to create
my own "space" ambience... later on - in the mid-80's added
a digital sampling synth to compliment it. (got rave reviews :-)
Anyway - I'm digressing..(oh well)
I was also hoping for this someday...
(perhaps DGIV can put us "into orbit" (in share appreciation) in more ways than one..when I sell out 3 yrs from now at 120 or 6 at 440 :-)
The "General Public Space Travel and
Tourism" report by NASA and the Space
Transportation Association was released at
a press conference March 25, 1998 that featured
the authors of the study as well as three
members of Congress. The report was the
cumulation of two years of study, which
included a conference on space tourism last
year.
"This study concludes that serious
national attention should now be given to
activities that would enable the expansion
of today's terrestrial space tourism
businesses, and the creation of in-space
travel and tourism businesses," the
summary of the report stated.
The reported noted that the current market
for space tourism is small because of the
high cost of space access, but that the
market could grow dramatically as cheap
access to space becomes viable. The study
stated that improvements in technology and
operations should allow passenger prices
to fall to at least $50,000, and perhaps
$10,000 to $20,000, ten years from now.
At a per-ticket price of $50,000, "it is
believed that there could be [on] the order
of 500,000 space trip passengers/year," the
report concluded. Transporting that many
people to and from orbit would require
roughly 1,000 times the current annual
American space payload, the report
concluded, but would still be far less than
commercial airline traffic.
The report made a number of
recommendations to further space tourism.
The study authors called on NASA to
continue research in reduced launch costs,
and also suggested that the space shuttle
and International Space Station be used for
"public tourist R&D [research and
development] and initial 'demonstration'
merchandising activities."
The report also called on a number of
private companies, from aerospace firms to
cruise lines, hotels, and adventure tour
operators, to consider the possibilities of
space tourism. The report suggested the
use of lotteries and auctions for early space
tourism programs so that they are
"conducted in an egalitarian fashion" and
paid for with private funds.
The report got a positive response from
space activists. "It is clear with the release of
today's study that the question to ask about
developing a space tourism industry is no
longer 'can it ever happen,' but rather 'how
long until it does,'" Pat Dasch, executive
director of the National Space Society, said.
Commenting on the presence of the
Congressmen, including Rep. Dana
Rohrabacher (R-CA), chair of the space
subcommittee of the House Science
Committee, Dasch noted, "To hear our
elected officials recognize and articulate the
value of space tourism as an industry is
encouraging. We heartily agree with Mr.
Rohrabacher's assessment of that value as
'permitting the dreamers to participate
personally.'"
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