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Nasa to Open International Space Station to Tourists
- jorge-d 7y agoGiven that ISS belongs to multiple countries (US / Russia / Japan / Canada / UE), is NASA allowed to sell tickets to travel there and get keep the benefits of the sell for itself ?
- lukeqsee 7y agoThe article mentioned that Russia has already done so, so I would say yes. It also appears the vast majority of the expense (99%) will be in the ferrying fees paid to SpaceX or Boeing.
- rory096 7y agoEach module is owned by its respective country.
- pkaye 7y agoSo Canadians get strapped on for a ride on the Canadarm2? /s
- rtkwe 7y agoNASA I believe gets a certain number of slots and will be giving up an astronaut slot for each of these tourist flights. When Dragon and Starliner finally start flying though they'll be able to increase the number of people able to be on the station at once so net they're probably no worse off than before. Currently only 6 people (up to 9 but only briefly during a handover) can be on board at once because each Soyuz can only carry 3 people. Crew Dragon can hold up to 7 but most of the time will be flying with less, iirc 3-4.
- sandworm101 7y ago>> $35,000 (£27,500) per night. That is cheaper than the multi-room suites on board the A380. It's cheaper than renting many boats. Or maybe this is a trick. How long is a "night" on space station? Only an hour or so iirc. Maybe they get back to earth and get a surprise Expedia bill on their cc.
- agotterer 7y agoYes, but won’t it costs millions to get there?
- lprubin 7y ago"These companies are likely to charge any private astronaut a similar "taxi fare" to what they intend to charge Nasa for its astronauts - close to $60m per flight."
- sandworm101 7y agoBut that money wouldn't be going to Nasa. They will get rides on private rockets. And so if they are going to be spending many millions on getting there, Nasa should be charging much much more than 40k/night. A million/night would be more than reasonable imho given what tourists will already be spending to get there.
- dontbenebby 7y agoI've heard that the laws of your home apply in space, so some Californian should get a 30 day lease then force them to evict them :D
- Waterluvian 7y agoA great way to become the first human to be Spaced.
- stcredzero 7y agoGetting someone evicted in California might take 2 years in court. For it to be that hard, they have to be in residence for over 2 years. There are all kinds of shenanigans lawyers can pull to draw out such processes.
- wahern 7y agoEvictions usually happen much faster than that, like on the orders of days or weeks. See https://www.attorneydavid.com/blog/how-long-does-it-take-to-evict-a-tenant-in-california/ https://www.attorneydavid.com/blog/how-long-does-it-take-to-...
- johnchristopher 7y agoReally off-topic and nit-picking: if you are going to editorialize the title to capital letters for every words (tourists -> Tourists) then do it at least for `NASA`. While I Am At It, I Do Dislike random Capitalization :) and those rules https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/capitalization/rules-for-capitalization-in-titles.html https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/capitalization/rules-for-...
- Kye 7y agoAcronyms that become words sometimes lose their capitalization. Nasa is headed there. See also: laser, scuba, radar, modem.
- johnchristopher 7y agoI don't think so. Which apparatus is a nasa supposed to be ? edit: a laser, a scuba, a modem I can picture but what's a nasa ?
- Kye 7y agoI don't understand the question. I'm only describing the phenomenon. No judgement of merits. It just...happens. Can't really stop it.
- johnchristopher 7y agoAllow me to clarify: I don't think NASA is becoming a word. I think it's written that way to follow an editorial rule or because it's a mistake. > Acronyms that become words sometimes lose their capitalization. Nasa is headed there. A laser, a scuba, a radar or modem have become words and describes objects (and have a plural form) so what would the word `nasa` describe if it's heading to being a word (which I don't believe is what's happening but I might be wrong) ?
- inflatableDodo 7y agoThe organisation. Proper nouns are still nouns.
- Klathmon 7y ago[1] is a link to the NASA press release. At a glance, it looks less about space tourism and more about enabling private companies to begin manufacturing and development in LEO or conduct experiments that NASA themselves don't need to be directly involved in. In fact it seems to specifically call out that private astronauts are only allowed if they enable the allowed "activities". Also, it looks like they are looking to have a dedicated "commercial" section of the ISS, and long term they want to have multiple commercial destinations in LEO! [1] https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-opens-international-space-station-to-new-commercial-opportunities-private https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-opens-international-...
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- hanniabu 7y agoIt'd be great if they mandated that any research performed must be made public with free use of that research.
- TaylorAlexander 7y agoAbsolutely! The private company will have some high costs associated with a single trip, but it’s the taxpayers that footed most of the $100B station to make it all possible.
- Robotbeat 7y agoYou won't get any takers for offsetting some of that $100B in costs if there's zero incentive for a private company to fund such research.
- TaylorAlexander 7y agoThis is a misunderstanding of open source. Just because you share your research does not mean there is zero benefit to doing that research. There is significant benefit to getting the answers you need. There’s a lot of groups that would value getting their research done even if they have to share it, including universities and public healthcare research institutions outside of the US. Requiring that the information be open would not starve nasa of customers, it would simply attract different customers. Forcing the research to be public could have significant benefits to the world.
- eutropia 7y ago> Nasa's announcement on Friday is part of a move towards full privatisation of the ISS. US President Donald Trump published a budget last year which called for the station to be defunded by the government by 2025. I had no idea that the ISS was going to be de-funded. Does that even make sense?
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- dsfyu404ed 7y agoI never heard this before and it doesn't pass the sniff test. Not giving NASA as much money as they and the public would like is one thing, every congress and administration since probably LBJ does that. Specifically "de-funding" one of their flagship projects would cause massive public backlash. Besides, congress writes the budget. Anything Trump "publishes" is just political posturing without much meaning. Therefore I suspect that this is just some out of context or misrepresented tidbit that worked its way in after the author googled around to figure out the recent history of privatization of space. Then again, I wouldn't at all be surprised if Trump published a wish list budget and literally forgot to put NASA on it. I'm betting reality is probably more nuanced than the one sentence the author distilled it down to.
- T-A 7y agohttps://spacenews.com/nasa-budget-proposal-plans-of-nasa-funding-of-iss-seeks-commercial-transition/ https://spacenews.com/nasa-budget-proposal-plans-of-nasa-fun... https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2013/08/bringing-down-iss-plans-stations-demise-updated/ https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2013/08/bringing-down-iss-pl...
- ceejayoz 7y agoThe ISS has had several defunding dates set and extended, by both Republican and Democratic administrations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Space_Station_program#End_of_Mission https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Space_Station_pr...
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- kawfey 7y agoThey've done this before. Charles Simonyi [0] went up to the ISS in 2007 and 2009. I got to talk to him via ham radio. Space Adventures [1] has been doing it since 2001, but it seem they haven't had any recent trips. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Simonyi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Simonyi [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Adventures https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Adventures
- makomk 7y agoThe previous space tourism was operated by the Russian space agency out of the Russian section of the ISS. NASA didn't particularly like this at the time but weren't in a position to do much about it.
- cmancini 7y agoMost people talk about 1) tourism and 2) research which makes sense, but I can see a lot of benefit for marketing and branding. Imagine promo videos of someone using your gadget in space. A private company could fly up a few models/actors, a few of the latest brands goods, and get shots looking back at earth or floating around. Luxury goods like watches and pens have already capitalized on this (Fisher Space Pen, Omega Moonwatch). I could see other high margin luxury brands snagging a seat: - Sneakers (Air Jordans -> Space Jordans?) - Jewelry (Diamond industry could play up a diamonds/stars theme) - Fashion (play up the weightless/effortless aspect) Any brand could get in on it if someone figured out the economics of a testing service. Small brands and Kickstarter projects could pool resources and fly up a few hundred toys and say they were 'tested in space'.
- jackfoxy 7y ago> fly up a few models/actors More like 1, even for the biggest brands. This is going to be way expensive. I think you are onto a good idea, except I get the impression NASA will prioritize missions that contribute to commercial or science R&D and/or production.
- jackfoxy 7y agoFrom the press release: To qualify, commercial and marketing activities must either: require the unique microgravity environment to enable manufacturing, production or development of a commercial application; have a connection to NASA’s mission; or support the development of a sustainable low-Earth orbit economy.
- cmancini 7y agoThat's a good point. There will be prioritization, and the costs could be so high as to rule out brand plays even if they could get the rules interpreted as loosely as possible. My idea might need to bake a bit longer. :)
- vkou 7y ago> Imagine promo videos of someone using your gadget in space. Corny as hell, and we can just film it on a greenscreen in LA. Also, people look really freakin' goofy in zero-G.
- callumprentice 7y agoWhole new market for NoAirB&B rentals..
- riffic 7y agoHey Bbc, it's NASA not Nasa.
- ceejayoz 7y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalization_in_English https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalization_in_English > In British English, only the initial letter of an acronym is capitalized if the acronym is read as a word, e.g., "Unesco." You say "Bee Bee Cee", so they're the BBC. You do not say "Enn Aay Ess Aay", so it's "Nasa". "Nato" and "the UN". etc. Americans do it differently, but telling the folks who invented the language they're doing it wrong is a bit silly.
- Gustomaximus 7y agoGreat information but adding the "but telling the folks who invented the language they're doing it wrong is a bit silly." seemed unnessesary, not least I'm sure BBC do make mistakes from time to time. Nothing wrong with polite questioning no matter how expert someone is.
- captn3m0 7y agoI remembered the EoL date for ISS being 2024, but it looks like a bill was passed this September extending it to 2030. https://spacenews.com/house-joins-senate-in-push-to-extend-iss/ https://spacenews.com/house-joins-senate-in-push-to-extend-i...
- aerophilic 7y agoI love that they are doing this, but I am worried it may not be enough to keep the ISS up past 2024, but it is a good first step. Some context for those that haven’t been following closely: It costs NASA over 4 billion a year to maintain the ISS. [0] While the vast majority of that cost is transportation to/from the ISS (around 2.4 billion), there is a sizeable chuck that if they could “offload” to the private sector, may allow NASA to keep the ISS in orbit longer than currently planned. The problem is, at least until they grow a true market, that market isn’t big enough to support that maintenance. So, I believe the strategy (which makes sense) is try and get a true market/interest in the ISS going. If they can do that successfully, it should lower the cost for everyone, potentially allowing for even more things to happen in LEO. So we will see, but I will note one of the biggest risks for SpaceX/Blue Origin/others doing commercial resupply is that once ISS disappears, there is no ready customer/market for their commercial offerings for crew. No way faster to kill the infant commercial crew space industry than to starve it of revenue. [0] https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/fy_2018_budget_presentation_media_telecon.pdf https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/fy_2018...
- jakebaker 7y agoWhy not consider running an auction in the early years to maximize private funding for operations?
- ggregoire 7y agoFrom the official tweet: > @Space_Station is open for commercial business! Watch @Astro_Christina talk about the steps we're taking to make our orbiting laboratory accessible to all Americans. Why is it limited only to Americans?
- obmelvin 7y agoThey are only allowing a very small number of people to go aboard, so I don't think it's that bizarre that a US agency is only picking Americans for the initial program.
- pbhjpbhj 7y agoI think it's more the "for access to the international space station" part that the questioner is interested in? If the ISS is actually international then shouldn't access be open to all. Nor that one expects USA decision makers not to extend their imperialism to space though.
- obmelvin 7y agoIn general, the ISS is international. But each country has its limited resources that can be spent on getting people into space. Additionally, the ISS can only support so many people at once, and parts of the station belong to different countries (as I understand it). As far as I'm aware, nothing is stopping other space agencies from having a similar program. I understand why people want even more progress, but getting private American astronauts into space to conduct research is a significant first step as far as I'm concerned.
- wongarsu 7y ago"international" as in "multiple nations", not as in "everyone". It's a cooperation between multiple nations. If the US won't take you up you can still ask Russia, the EU, Canada and Japan if one of them will host you on the ISS.
- busymom0 7y agoCould this be because of similar reasons why SpaceX can’t hire non US citizens due to their rockets qualifying as ICBMs? I remember Elon mentioning this in a press conference.
- PunksATawnyFill 7y agoIt's NASA. Why don't the Brits understand acronyms?
- mratzloff 7y agoIt's Americans who are inconsistent with acronyms. Do you write LASER or RADAR? If it's pronounceable as a word, it's written as such. If it's pronounceable as letters, it's written how you would expect.
- gsnedders 7y agoTo be fair, the BBC style guide[1] isn't totally consistent either, though in general, initialisms are upper-case and acronyms are title-case (as we see here). [1]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/en/articles/art20130702112133530 https://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/en/articles/art201307021121335...
- consumer451 7y agoIf I may, I am personally very excited for more people, especially wealthy people, to go into space so that many of them experience the overview effect.[0] > The overview effect is a cognitive shift in awareness reported by some astronauts during spaceflight, often while viewing the Earth from outer space. > It is the experience of seeing firsthand the reality of the Earth in space, which is immediately understood to be a tiny, fragile ball of life, "hanging in the void", shielded and nourished by a paper-thin atmosphere. From space, national boundaries vanish, the conflicts that divide people become less important, and the need to create a planetary society with the united will to protect this "pale blue dot" becomes both obvious and imperative. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overview_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overview_effect
- dpflan 7y agoConceptually, I agree with your idea. I would like a lottery to emerge for anyone to get a space flight to experience the overview effect -- something I think that could reinvigorate interest in science and the planet. Now I wonder if the Overview Effect can be addictive...
- DuskStar 7y agoI'd need some serious convincing to accept that sending a randomly selected person into space would have anything close to the positive impact that sending the "Larry Ellison"s of the world into space could.
- phs318u 7y agoSeriously - I can't tell if you're being: 1. on topic (overview effect), or 2a. joking ("haha - send jerks like Ellison into space - one way ticket!"), or 2b. not joking ("send jerks like Ellison into space - one way ticket").
- bengotow 7y agoI agree - I’m all for fairness, but billionaires could come back to Earth and redirect billions of dollars. All I could do is, I dunno, write a medium post.
- droithomme 7y agoThe food and room service better be top notch for what I'm paying here! Commander Kononenko, when the heck is my laundry gonna be done?! Hop hop!