I like to travel, but I'm not a big adventurer. I have no desire to go anywhere that's hot, buggy, muggy, or politically unstable - although I do give the US a pass on the politically instability vector.
Thus, virtually all of my travel (and it has been pretty extensive) has been in North America and Europe.
While I don't want to go places that are weather-wise or politically uncomfortable, I also have no interest in physical thrill seeking. I might not be the absolute last person on earth who'd climb Mt. Everest, but I'm one of them. I don't want to rappel down the face of El Capitan, or even shoot the rapids (unless the rapids are shallow and not that rapid; and I'm tethered to shore). As for a trip into space, include me out.
My husband, on the other hand, would have happily signed up for space travel. He did sort of get his bucket list wish there, because I sent a bit of his ashes into space. But as the prospect of space travel gets closer to a reality, I'm pretty sure Jim would've been interested.
And I can see him wanting to check out the rack rate at the first hotel in outer space, Voyager Station, which is scheduled to open for business by 2027.
Renderings of the celestial hotel are cosmic-chic: Individual pods are attached to a rotating wheel, with tubes connecting the different areas forming an X, similar to the wheel’s spokes.
I don't know. I have absolutely no fear of flying, but I do have fear of heights. And I like the feeling of earth beneath my feet. Many years ago, at the Reuben Fleet Space Center in San Diego, Jim and I took a simulated space shuttle flight. He loved it. Me, not so much.
Guests won’t be paying only for the novelty of the setting — there will be a slew of onboard amenities, including themed restaurants, a health spa, a cinema, gyms, libraries, concert venues, Earth-viewing lounges and bars, in addition to rooms for 400 people. (Source: NY Post)
As for the Voyager Station, forget the Earth-viewing lounges and bars. I think I'd be drinking in my room to whole time. With the drapes closed.
The company pulling this all together, Orbital Assembly, is planning to "sell portions of the hotel to permanent stakeholders." Is this going to be glorified timesharing?
The hotel will travel round the globe every 90 minutes. And maintaining their rotation is key to success survival. If it's not rotating, there's no gravitational pull. And "without gravity, people cannot viably be on a space station for a prolonged time."
As the fellow who runs a foundation that's going to be operating some of the hotel's pods said, "'People need gravity so their bodies don't fall apart.'"
Oh.
Plus I think it's also key to keeping your drink - and I would definitely need a drink - in your glass, your food on your plate, and the effluents from your bodily functions from taking a whirl-around flight.
Construction costs aren't yet known, but I'm guessing that they'll be out of this world. The cost overruns will likely be astronomical. And just imagine going over the punch list with the contractor. Make sure rotation's working.
I'm all for space exploration. We find out all sorts of interesting stuff. Cool and important technologies get invented. Medical breakthroughs can occur. And as we keep swinging the wrecking ball at Planet Earth, we may need outer space to save humanity. (Of course, if we manage to destroy our home, we won't deserve saving IMHO.) But as e.e. cummings told us, listen: there's a hell of a good universe next door; let's go ...
Just go without me, why don't you? I have no desire whatsoever to check in so I can check this one out.
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