In the near future, the world’s elite will be taking their vacations in space. The first hotel in space is set to open in 2012, and reservations will be taken as early as next year. The hotel, named “Galactic Suite,†will come with a price tag that only about 40,000 people on earth can afford to visit at $4 million per guest. However, this hotel has perks and bragging rites worthy of such a price tag.
The $4 million includes a three night stay and eight week training session on a tropical island. The guests will be able to travel around the world in 80 minutes and watch the sun rise 15 times a day. It will be made of aluminum and have five modules with three bedrooms in each. Guests will be given the option to use Velcro suits to crawl around pod rooms by sticking to the walls. The rooms will be simply decorated since the rooms are small and there is no gravity. The bathrooms are still being worked on, but the shower problems have been solved. Guests will enter a spa room filled with bubbles of water floating around them. Part of the conditions is that the guests will also participate in scientific experiments on space travel. Those who want to check out early once they get up there for one reason or another will be able to with a shuttle rocket fixed to the space hotel for the duration of the guests’ stay so that they know they will be able to get home.
The project was first conceived as a hobby for company director and former aerospace engineer Xavier Claramunt. Then a space enthusiast backed his project by contributing a large amount of the $3 billion needed to build the hotel. The cost of the hotel seemed unaffordable as well until the cost of space travel decreased dramatically, giving a group large enough that some may want to partake in the experience and can afford to do so. If the hotel is successful, there may be a future in space travel for the average person.
For related articles visit http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070810/sc_nm/space_hotel_dc and http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-08/11/content_6511995.htm.
2 users commented in " First Hotel In Space to Open "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackI’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.
Im cooking in the Arctic at Resolute Bay, Nunuvut. Ive been working in kitchens for about 7 years, I am wondering about a position in the Hotel resturant, im not sure even if there would be a kitchen, im just curious if you could enail me back. Thankyou foir your time
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