Friday, August 10, 2007

Vacation Anyone?

Although I have many things on my mind today, and many things I would like to write about…it’s Friday and there is a beer or two with my name on it down at the pub.

I did, however, come across a little news ditty that I felt compelled to write about for Broowaha.

Mark Your Calendars and Pack Your Bags

And don’t forget to check the balance in your checkbook, because the vacation I’m talking about won’t be cheap. But how much is too much for a chance to circle the globe in 80 minutes, see the sun rise 15 times per day, and crawl around on the ceiling like Peter Parker? If you said $4.1 million dollars then you’re in luck because a 3 day stay at the “Galactic Suite” space hotel will only cost you $4 million.

(Or as Dr. Evil would say: Four miiiiiilion dollars)…read the rest here.

2 comments:

John Jackson said...

I'm surprised how much play this story is getting considering how little evidence there is that this is little more than someone's joke design project for fun. Especially when there is another, more legitimate company like Bigelow Aerospace that also intends on having a private space station by 2012 but can back that up with TWO test modules actually in space and actually has a manufacturing facility.

I mean, the reporter takes their word for it when they say some American who they can't name is giving them $3 billion. I figure I could got to the same reporter and say someone is giving me a couple billion to build the world's biggest saussage and it will make the headlines the next day.

Not sure how much competition to Bigelow they really are, and I also have doubts about their $3 billion funding figure. I think we need more proof than their word.

Bigelow has:
- A manufacturing plans currently building the modules for its stations
- A corporate structure
- Two test modules currently in space
- A concrete business plan
- More than 100 employees

Galactic Suite has:
- A Web site with nice illustrations. Though its strange title font looks like it was done in Microsoft Paint.

This seems like little more than a nice Web site and fancy illustrations. Galactic Suite also seems to indicate it would use the Space Shuttle for construction, which would be news to NASA, which plans to put the orbiters in the Smithsonian by 2010.

Seems like more vaporware to me. I’d rather put my money on Bigelow to build the first private space station.

Bigelow put up some cool, REAL pictures from space on this page: http://bigelowaerospace.com/out_there/view_photos.php.

Jen said...

Oh sure. It’s like that scientist in Italy that said he cloned a human.

Complete HOGWASH!!!!

I just found it beyond funny...and, being a Star Wars fan with a not so secret fantasy of drinking at the Mos Eisley cantina after and afternoon of womp-rat target practice…I just had to write!