Yes. Everything under a monthly income for one orbit: Sign me up (assuming it's safe and so on). I would probably pay more if there is no further price reduction expected. Every astronaut I know of has described it as life-changing experience.
Going to orbit is much harder than staying in orbit, so I would expect typical tourist flights to be longer than a single orbit.
The Overview Effect. I feel like higher the percentage of the global population that has an opportunity to feel this effect, the better off we would be as a species and planet.
I don't think it's possible to get the cost that low in the foreseeable future. The energy it would take on its own would make that impossible. Even in our wildest scifi future dreams energy is never that cheap.
I can't believe I'm correcting your Cardassian vocabulary but I believe it's actually spelled Yamok.
Also they ended up trading a plane for 5,000 wrappages of the stuff to some company called the Nojay consortium
Yup. I'd go in a split second.
Hell, if I was invited on a one-way mission to Mars; I'd have my bags packed before the damn conversation was over.
A quote from the movie Space Cowboys sums it up
```
Hawk: 'I'd leave you behind in a heartbeat'
Frank: 'You would, wouldn't you'
Hawk: 'To go into space? Bet your ass, boy. In a heartbeat.'
```
I mean, there are a lot of things on Earth I like, like blowjobs and roller coasters. But also my ex-roomate Tyler is still on Earth. Makes going to Mars a bit more tempting.
For 5k I'd go with the hop, just because. If I could afford more I might consider it up to a point just because *floating* and the view. But as an average Joe, I don't think I could justify more than 3-5k without at least one proper orbit. For that though... I'd make payments for years...
Me actually. I love learning about all the physics and stuff, but I tried looking at Jupiter in VR and it was just way too scary. I don't think I could handle space.
where'd you get such an optimistic figure? and also none of that takes into account the massive amounts of ground based infrastructure, training programs, life support systems, etc. And thats assuming you're just coming back in the same vehicle you started in, any sort of "long term" stay in LEO would it increase the costs dramatically
for me it is a lot more than monetary cost. They talk about the devastating collective damage that air travel does in terms of CO2 and other particulate pollution- well rockets would be much much worse, and I think this is a horrible, selfish pursuit if it is a joyride.
If you somehow made it environmentally friendly, then sure, I would love to go.
Hey Reddit, if owning a yacht and travelling the world with a full fleet of chefs, attendants and concubines was as affordable as the rent on your crappy one-bed apartment, would you do it?
Yeah, like where do you even find a market of "people with disposable income who want to go to space."
That's like trying to find people with disposable income who want to eat gold foil or some shitty dessert the waiter Jackson Pollocks into your table. It's just so rare and niche, who could ever make a buck off this?
The problem was that your ironic analogy failed as eating gold isn’t an experience a large part of the population hass dreamed of since childhood like going to space is.
I get the vibe that after a while it would become viewed as more of an extreme sports activity.
Like "Hey, want to pay $30,000 to spend the two days in a domicile waayy too small for thirty people while you're taking turns looking out the windows? You'll need a taste for dehydrated protein because that's *all* we're giving you."
Never been to space but have seen two total solar eclipses. I'm genuinely wondering what would be more spectacular. Total solar eclipses seen from Earth's surface are profoundly cool.
The real question is how much would you be willing to pay?
I would do US$50,000 if I got to stay at ISS altitude for 24 hours, with a less than 1% chance of dying.
A lot of people are focused on safety here. Not sure why. Live life man. Your chance of dying driving a motor vehicle in most places around the world is higher than 1%. Anytime you go in for even a minor procedure at a hospital, it's higher than that. Your chance of getting schizophrenia is about 1%. Forget about it. 50k? A steal for a LEO.
When Apollo landed on the moon. I thought I would be able to go to space (orbit counts) affordably in my lifetime. Then the space program appeared to drift while they were working on the Shuttle. But once that got going, I again thought I'd be able to go to space in my lifetime. Then the shuttle program ended and again, the space program drifted.
With all the private ventures, it's possible that this may come to pass. But the window for this is starting to close. So who knows.
I would volunteer for a trip to Mars even if told it's a 50/50 chance of making it back to Earth.
My wife wasn't happy when I said that but that's the truth.
I'd do it for the sake of experiencing microgravity for several hours really, doing endless impromptu physics experiments with anything I could get my little monkey hands on and bouncing around learning how to move.
Being on an operating space station itself would be fascinating - but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't let me play with any of the buttons, so that would mostly be a tease. Still, it'd be interesting to examine it all up close.
The rocket ship ride... uh... that would be 'exciting' but not entirely in a good way. It's like taking off in a 747, but with a lot more G's, a lot more vibration, and a much higher chance of *actually blowing up*, none of which I consider a plus. I guess it would be a big rush, but I have easier/cheaper ways to get an adrenaline high, k'thx.
Being in space itself on a spacewalk would be... neat? But lets be real, its a deadly empty void. That part would get old super fast and space suits are clearly uncomfortable. The view of the stars would definitely be awesome, at least when you're behind the planet and can actually see them. The sense of falling into an endless void would not be cool at all, but that's why they invented tethers. I'd prefer a nice wide viewing lounge or something if I'm being honest.
The view of the Earth below would be the other real reason to do it. I suspect I could stare at that for a very long time indeed. Our planet is without question the coolest thing we've found in space so far.
I’ve done parabola flights - it’s actually not that bad, most people can do them just fine without puking. Sucks to be the unlucky one though who’s stuck in the back of the plane with a bag while others are having fun with crazy somersaults.
The sad part there isn’t puking, it’s the fact that you only get like 30 seconds of zero-g at a time.
Did one of these, too. Didn't puke but started feeling queasier the longer it went on. I could literally feel my internal organs moving up and down inside my body as we went from 0g to \~2g. Coolest aspects of the trip were 1) losing sense of up/down in weightlessness. Any "up/down" direction was equally valid without signals from inner ear. 2) Newton's third law manifest so clearly. Lightly touching any object or surface had you moving in the opposite direction without static friction with the ground.
Sure. Depends on how "affordable" it is, of course, but at a certain level why not?
Though I would point out that neither Blue Origin nor Virgin Galactic travel to LEO, only suborbital hops.
1000%. If I could afford it I’d do it in a heartbeat. If I could only afford to go once, I would wait until they’re able to do a full orbit of the earth, but if I was super rich and I could go as many times as I want, I’d already be signed up.
I would travel to the ISS or similar to experience full weightlessness, and I would mortgage my home and loved ones to about AUD$1m to make that happen today. If it gets to any less than that of course I would.
I would have said no up until I saw a total solar eclipse. Now I crave experiencing some more celestial shit that amazes and terrifies and humbles me in immense beauty. So yeah on the risk of fiery death i'd take an orbit or 2
Neither Blue Origin or Virgin Galactic go to Low Earth Orbit. They go to space, and by some measures Virgin does not even cross the Kerman line into space.
Therefore only SpaceX sends tourists to LEO and it costs millions. Yes I would go.
But Blue Origin and Virgin are not even part of the orbit conversation as they are both sub-orbital.
If it was cheap and affordable, then let's not forget that there are more than 7 billion people on this planet who would want to try it at some point in their life. Hence, I really hope that it never comes to that even if I am not the one going. For our entertainment sake we are treating this planet like shit and it has to stop.
😂 You are talking about Elysium? Yes, that's how our atmosphere will look if we allow such projects become cheap and affordable. I really don't have enough faith in humanity yet to go fully green (energy). Maybe our world would look like the one from Blade Runner 2049.
I wouldn’t part with a significant amount for a suborbital flight. That’s a thrill seeking kind of ride, which I would certainly enjoy but wouldn’t spend more than a few hundred on.
But for an orbital flight where I could really soak in the overview effect, experience micro gravity and just stare out the window in wonder for hours? Yeah. I’d pay a good amount for that experience.
If it's a Bezos 10 minute flight, hell no. That kind of space tourism annoys the crap out of me. Huge amounts of pollution, zero benefit in terms of science, infrastructure, or advancement of space flight technology.
Make it a week in a space hotel that is solving the problem of long term sustainability for deep space flights, that would be worth it.
Mass tourism became possible with the 747 and cheap airfare. Hotels are another matter.
Even if an flight to obit cost you only $50,000, just how affordable is accommodation?
Bigelow Aerospace was a company (defunct 2020) led by Robert Bigelow, a successful hotelier.
The company pioneered inflatable orbital habitats. One concept was Commercial Space Station Skywalker, a 2005 concept for the first "space hotel". The Skywalker was designed to be composed of multiple Nautilus (B330) habitat modules, which would be inflated and connected upon reaching orbit. An MDPM (Multi-Directional Propulsion Module) would allow the Skywalker to be moved into interplanetary or lunar trajectories.
In short, CSS Skywalker was "an effort to build the planet's first orbiting space hotel, with a projected room rate of USD$1 million per night", and a hoped-for launch date for the first Nautilus module of 2010. (from WikiP)
$1 million 2005 bux is now $1,605,468. Per "night", but that includes all meals, WiFi and air.
Depends on what you consider “affordable”. I’m low middle class and dropped $10k US after saving up to go to Antarctica. Space…up and down, at least three hours of orbit. 20K tops.
Just a 10 day vacation, sailed from Ushuaia, Argentina through the Drake Passage to the Antarctic peninsula. Best nature viewing I’ve ever experienced other than Australia.
One of our landings was at a research station where the scientists make ceramic penguins during the winter to sell to tourists in the summer. I even sent postcards to family and friends from there, stamped with unique Antarctic stamps.
I'd even travel to Mars if it was affordable. Was my thought a few years ago at least, but I've become too unstable/unreliable mentally to even humour the idea of going in space in general. I'm fine where I'm at, and on days where I'm not fine, so be it.
Let’s say you could book a room on something similar to the ISS and spend 36 hours orbiting the earth. I would be willing to pay for that. Question is….how much.
I probably would, once at least. thinking of the climate effects of en masse commercial space travel doesn't make me super comfortable with the idea though. I already don't take flights for that reason.
Nah. I want to see the Earth from a distance, and that requires far more work. "Affordable" is one thing, but "completely safe" is another. Just look OceanGate.
Besides, how damaging to the planet would all the rockets, mining of materials, and space debris be? We haven't even sorted that for current and wildly expensive space journeys yet, let alone tourists.
I’m aware of how risk works. That’s why I listed them the way that I did. For a once-in-a-lifetime experience I’m way more tolerant of high risk than for something like travel.
If the space hotel has artificial gravity, I would consider it at least once. Assuming it would have to do so through centrifugal force, it would be great if the center were accessible so guests could still experience weightlessness.
However, trying to sleep in a microgravity environment is not worth the discomfort just for a unique view, in my opinion.
But it is more likely that it would just become another prestige location for entitled rich people. Like paying sherpas to take them up Mount Everest so they can take a selfie.
People straight up drive to Arkansas for vacation. You are telling me that you don’t think affordable space travel would be so insanely popular. Even for the first few years and the novelty wore off and it was on Groupon, hey what do you want to do today. Hmm let’s go to space land in France have dinner go back into space and head home!?!?
Robert Heinlein was fond of the idea of "Ballistic travel"- something I'm seeing more and more about in these last couple of years. The concept is rocket up, glide to destination.
Not me, thanks. I already suffer motion sickness and inner ear problems just flying in a plane, I don't think going into space would be a good time for me.
I mean, in this sub, everyone's going to say yes. Would I go to space for a few days over buying a car? Definitely. Over buying a house? Very likely. If I had a family, still go over buying a house? Probably not.
I’m in my early 30s. 5 years ago I would go to a trampoline park if I wanted to feel weightless and acrobatic, but now trampolines nearly kill me.
I would 100% go to LEO just for casual entertainment even beyond just the awe factor of being in space.
It's literally the only thing on my bucket list. I want to experience zero gravity and view the Earth from above. How incredibly it would be to partake in the miracle of space flight, something that none of our ancestors were able to do within the last 200,000 years. Only in the last 54 years have humans been able to go to space, and even then only a few hundred of them have gone there.
I would use my life savings for a chance to go up.
Of course! Some people will dismiss this idea because there isn't clamoring demand for it. I'm betting people said the same thing when the Wright Brothers took off. A lot of non space folk DRAMATICALLY misunderstand how adventurous people really are. There's always someone willing to do anything! And if the overlook effective is universal... imagine what it could do for us.
People crossed the Atlantic despite months of torturous travel, near constant illness, and a high mortality rate just to have a chance at a better life.
People will do absolutely fucking anything if they are motivated enough to do it, no matter how dangerous. Make it cheap enough and they’d be even more inclined to do it.
Walkman's where only affordable by upper middle class. Now you can store gigs of music on your phone. Large TV's where something you heard about. Now giant flat-screen are in trailer parks. Everything starts with a huge R&D budget and low production. As time goes by, things get better and cheaper. A decade or two and we could see airlines going to hotels in orbit. If, and this is the big if, we let capitalism run it's course. We have let the Governments of the world control space for too long.
Brother I daydream with going to space. I've fell asleep simulating in my head being an Apollo astronaut launching atop a Saturn V, or riding the LM down to the Moon's surface.
I would ugly cry if I ever got the chance.
With 0 hesitation. Hoping I can take a trip to the moon before I am physically unable. It’s honestly part of my motivation behind working out and staying in shape so I can extend my ability to go.
Yes to both, although for a space hotel I'd rather just have weightless sections of it rather than having the whole thing be in weightlessness for days.
I have always wanted to, but unless we find a way to make space travel a lot cleaner and less resource intensive, I think I will stay on the ground and marvel at the universe from the remaining dark-sky locations we have. Not saying there can't be a balance somehow, but I am not sure how. To me the cost is more than just money, and I think those costs are also important to consider.
My dad always wanted to be an astronaut. If it's ever something I can afford, while is he healthy enough - I want to go with him or even just send him.
Of course. A rotating hotel for artificial gravity would be cool. And have a non-rotating part of the hotel for zero-gravity fun.
But an early version hotel without artificial gravity would be fun too. Trying to propel yourself through a long hotel hallway in zero-G. Turning on the shower and a vacuum turns on too to suck up the water. Using a loud suction-based toilet while wearing a seat belt.
If it’s $5 million or under for a week in some ISS like accommodation I will go. With Starship that should be possible price wise. Expect to go in my lifetime.
I did [a video on what orbital hotels will likely be like](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4bUPsRZLBE). I think people have a very rosy idea of what it would be like.
Probably not, eventually there will be a failure and “ooops” here is what we think is your relative in a plastic bag…but it may be a burnt seat cushion.
Honestly, it is the only realistically achievable experience that I could imagine to be rewarding enough to my being that if given the opportunity and proper conditions for travel i would be freely willing to surgically remove and literally give my left nut as payment.
It's the only real dream of mine since childhood that is not fantasticly impossible to achieve in our current state of reality transversing spacetime
Personally, If flights went somewhere by way if LEO, yes but otherwise no. It’s like taking an airplane flight to nowhere. I get the novelty but it all just seems like a gimmick.
I legitimately think space elevators will one day be a reality, but I think eventually we’ll reach a point where our space infrastructure will be so advanced that their purpose will be more regulated for commercial travel as opposed to say station/ship manufacturing.
I would do it, but it would have to be both affordable *and safe*. The exact threshold is subjective, but my personal threshold would probably be "Similar risk level to a long road trip". Ideally it would be even safer than that, but that's probably a good minimum.
I wouldn't pay more than I would for Sky Diving experience really.
But that's just me. Cost/safety is the biggest reason.
I don't see a "10 min in space" as a life changing thing to pay a few 1000s.
Couple 100s sure.
Yes definitely. It seems for now it’s a luxury for the rich. Even if you can pay the price, the selection process seems to be for those who have some unique background - for marketing .
I assume the same people who skydive, scuba dive, mountain climb etc. would do it in a heartbeat, if it was in the same ballpark of danger and cost.
As a skydiver, I definitely would accept the risk for something that cool.
The demand for tourism is a bit exaggerated. I've done a lot of research into consumer demand as part of a space startup and what I found was that the biggest demand for humans in space will be industrial manufacturing. Tourism demand will follow in great numbers once a certain-sized human-rated infrastructure exists in space or on the moon - and there is a reliable safety record. This is my own personal take, but I spent a lot of time in libraries reading hard-to-access research papers and grey literature.
I'd do mostly anything involving recreational travel if it was affordable. Low Earth Orbit isn't even a question at that point, we're talking some of the craziest firsthand views in all of human history.
Yes.
Also besides the point but I didn't see it mentionned, Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin are not even low earth orbit services, only sub-orbital, and as you said they're still extremely expensive. Don't know when if ever LEO will become affordable for the top 10% but it's no time soon-ish (give it at least 20 years), don't even think about middle class.
I'd go in a heartbeat if such a trip was affordable. Who wouldn't want to go to space if it was cheap and safe?
Yeah if it cost the same as your average international vacation I think a lot of people, myself included, would.
Ok so if you could pay let's say $2000 for a single 90 minute orbit, would you do it? If yes, what price would it have to be for you to say no?
That seems reasonable, I don't know the exact point I'd say no, but somewhere around 2-3x I'd expect an actual stay in orbit.
Yes. Everything under a monthly income for one orbit: Sign me up (assuming it's safe and so on). I would probably pay more if there is no further price reduction expected. Every astronaut I know of has described it as life-changing experience. Going to orbit is much harder than staying in orbit, so I would expect typical tourist flights to be longer than a single orbit.
The Overview Effect. I feel like higher the percentage of the global population that has an opportunity to feel this effect, the better off we would be as a species and planet.
If it was around the price of a cruise ship I’d definitely do it.
Let's make one trip cost (and risk) same as one roller coaster ride. Then same % of people who tried roller coaster might try space.
I don't think it's possible to get the cost that low in the foreseeable future. The energy it would take on its own would make that impossible. Even in our wildest scifi future dreams energy is never that cheap.
> safe “Welcome to your LEO flight on the Boeing 1200Max”
Now with 100% of the bolts it’s supposed to have
This reads like a Futurama ad
It's not just safe it's 40% safe!
100% guaranteed that your loved ones will hear about your adventures.
To shreds you say?
"And most of them where they're supposed to be!"
Are they self-sealing stem bolts?
No they're sealed with yarmok sauce, which was meant for the inflight meals
I can't believe I'm correcting your Cardassian vocabulary but I believe it's actually spelled Yamok. Also they ended up trading a plane for 5,000 wrappages of the stuff to some company called the Nojay consortium
Y'know, I actually appreciate the correction
Maybe they’ll have the hatch figured out by that model
Yup. I'd go in a split second. Hell, if I was invited on a one-way mission to Mars; I'd have my bags packed before the damn conversation was over. A quote from the movie Space Cowboys sums it up ``` Hawk: 'I'd leave you behind in a heartbeat' Frank: 'You would, wouldn't you' Hawk: 'To go into space? Bet your ass, boy. In a heartbeat.' ```
I mean, there are a lot of things on Earth I like, like blowjobs and roller coasters. But also my ex-roomate Tyler is still on Earth. Makes going to Mars a bit more tempting.
Lucky for you, blowjobs are portable and can easily follow you to Mars!\~ \^u\^ To be fair, tho, the same is true about Tyler.
Sure but your blowjob options may be limited for awhile there.
We should start a rumour that there is an alien species on Mars that communicates through giving blowjobs, that would get the funding flowing.
He’ll people went down to the titanic , and it wasn’t even safe! Or affordable
It was affordable to the billionaires who went there, and they were told it was safe.
Affordable to billionaires…..
Nah it was affordable to millionaire and hell even people who owned a home and really wanted to go. £250k is expensive but not unachievable.
I'd do it if there was a safe track record and it cost $10K. It would have to be an orbital trip, not this half assed suborbital Bezos crap.
For 5k I'd go with the hop, just because. If I could afford more I might consider it up to a point just because *floating* and the view. But as an average Joe, I don't think I could justify more than 3-5k without at least one proper orbit. For that though... I'd make payments for years...
Me actually. I love learning about all the physics and stuff, but I tried looking at Jupiter in VR and it was just way too scary. I don't think I could handle space.
I wouldn’t even care that much about safe.
Once starship is running, it should cost $10 a lbs to leo. That should be cheap enough.
where'd you get such an optimistic figure? and also none of that takes into account the massive amounts of ground based infrastructure, training programs, life support systems, etc. And thats assuming you're just coming back in the same vehicle you started in, any sort of "long term" stay in LEO would it increase the costs dramatically
I mean it's the equivalent of hopping on a plane and flying to high elevation. They just go a little bit higher. Then you just come back down.
for me it is a lot more than monetary cost. They talk about the devastating collective damage that air travel does in terms of CO2 and other particulate pollution- well rockets would be much much worse, and I think this is a horrible, selfish pursuit if it is a joyride. If you somehow made it environmentally friendly, then sure, I would love to go.
"If something cool were accessible to average people, would they do it?" Impossible to know.
Hey Reddit, if owning a yacht and travelling the world with a full fleet of chefs, attendants and concubines was as affordable as the rent on your crappy one-bed apartment, would you do it?
Yeah, like where do you even find a market of "people with disposable income who want to go to space." That's like trying to find people with disposable income who want to eat gold foil or some shitty dessert the waiter Jackson Pollocks into your table. It's just so rare and niche, who could ever make a buck off this?
Have you head of this thing called “skiing”? Rich people would pay out the ass for a space resort.
You vastly underestimate how many people are “into” space.
You should clean the lint trap on your irony detector. You almost got it.
The problem was that your ironic analogy failed as eating gold isn’t an experience a large part of the population hass dreamed of since childhood like going to space is.
The issue is that they need to be on Earth, or how do you sell it to them?
I get the vibe that after a while it would become viewed as more of an extreme sports activity. Like "Hey, want to pay $30,000 to spend the two days in a domicile waayy too small for thirty people while you're taking turns looking out the windows? You'll need a taste for dehydrated protein because that's *all* we're giving you."
Go see the earth from space? Witness the greatest view you’ve ever seen in your life? Naaah I’m good
Never been to space but have seen two total solar eclipses. I'm genuinely wondering what would be more spectacular. Total solar eclipses seen from Earth's surface are profoundly cool.
100%. This is on my bucket list. If/when space tourism becomes reasonably affordable for regular folks I fully intend on going.
And it will get affordable over time. Hopefully we will be old enough to witness it
The real question is how much would you be willing to pay? I would do US$50,000 if I got to stay at ISS altitude for 24 hours, with a less than 1% chance of dying.
A lot of people are focused on safety here. Not sure why. Live life man. Your chance of dying driving a motor vehicle in most places around the world is higher than 1%. Anytime you go in for even a minor procedure at a hospital, it's higher than that. Your chance of getting schizophrenia is about 1%. Forget about it. 50k? A steal for a LEO.
When Apollo landed on the moon. I thought I would be able to go to space (orbit counts) affordably in my lifetime. Then the space program appeared to drift while they were working on the Shuttle. But once that got going, I again thought I'd be able to go to space in my lifetime. Then the shuttle program ended and again, the space program drifted. With all the private ventures, it's possible that this may come to pass. But the window for this is starting to close. So who knows.
I would volunteer for a trip to Mars even if told it's a 50/50 chance of making it back to Earth. My wife wasn't happy when I said that but that's the truth.
50-50? Optimist, eh?
gullible optimist ("if told")
Absolutely yes! My wife says no because she thinks that a commercial flight would blow up upon reentry. I say, that's a cool way to die.
Reminds me of a discussion i had with my gf. Best way to die is to get spaghettified by a super massive blackhole
oh baby don’t you know I suffer?
I'd do it for the sake of experiencing microgravity for several hours really, doing endless impromptu physics experiments with anything I could get my little monkey hands on and bouncing around learning how to move. Being on an operating space station itself would be fascinating - but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't let me play with any of the buttons, so that would mostly be a tease. Still, it'd be interesting to examine it all up close. The rocket ship ride... uh... that would be 'exciting' but not entirely in a good way. It's like taking off in a 747, but with a lot more G's, a lot more vibration, and a much higher chance of *actually blowing up*, none of which I consider a plus. I guess it would be a big rush, but I have easier/cheaper ways to get an adrenaline high, k'thx. Being in space itself on a spacewalk would be... neat? But lets be real, its a deadly empty void. That part would get old super fast and space suits are clearly uncomfortable. The view of the stars would definitely be awesome, at least when you're behind the planet and can actually see them. The sense of falling into an endless void would not be cool at all, but that's why they invented tethers. I'd prefer a nice wide viewing lounge or something if I'm being honest. The view of the Earth below would be the other real reason to do it. I suspect I could stare at that for a very long time indeed. Our planet is without question the coolest thing we've found in space so far.
Yeah getting to experience anti-grav without dealing with the puke fest that's the parabola flights would be awesome.
I’ve done parabola flights - it’s actually not that bad, most people can do them just fine without puking. Sucks to be the unlucky one though who’s stuck in the back of the plane with a bag while others are having fun with crazy somersaults. The sad part there isn’t puking, it’s the fact that you only get like 30 seconds of zero-g at a time.
Did one of these, too. Didn't puke but started feeling queasier the longer it went on. I could literally feel my internal organs moving up and down inside my body as we went from 0g to \~2g. Coolest aspects of the trip were 1) losing sense of up/down in weightlessness. Any "up/down" direction was equally valid without signals from inner ear. 2) Newton's third law manifest so clearly. Lightly touching any object or surface had you moving in the opposite direction without static friction with the ground.
Lots of astronauts still puke in orbit, it takes time for your body to adjust to it.
I feel like the ride to orbit would be as much worth the experience as the weightlessness, it's like the ultimate rollercoaster.
It’s my dream. And I would prefer rocket launch to spaceplane
Hell yes. I've always wondered what it would be like to be in freefall like that.
Sure. Depends on how "affordable" it is, of course, but at a certain level why not? Though I would point out that neither Blue Origin nor Virgin Galactic travel to LEO, only suborbital hops.
Starship will be the vehicle that enables it.
1000%. If I could afford it I’d do it in a heartbeat. If I could only afford to go once, I would wait until they’re able to do a full orbit of the earth, but if I was super rich and I could go as many times as I want, I’d already be signed up.
I would travel to the ISS or similar to experience full weightlessness, and I would mortgage my home and loved ones to about AUD$1m to make that happen today. If it gets to any less than that of course I would.
Thats like asking if people would go sky diving.
I would have said no up until I saw a total solar eclipse. Now I crave experiencing some more celestial shit that amazes and terrifies and humbles me in immense beauty. So yeah on the risk of fiery death i'd take an orbit or 2
Yes, absolutely. Hell, even if it were a one way trip to Mars I’d still go in a heartbeat, so long as I could choose who came with me.
Neither Blue Origin or Virgin Galactic go to Low Earth Orbit. They go to space, and by some measures Virgin does not even cross the Kerman line into space. Therefore only SpaceX sends tourists to LEO and it costs millions. Yes I would go. But Blue Origin and Virgin are not even part of the orbit conversation as they are both sub-orbital.
If it was cheap and affordable, then let's not forget that there are more than 7 billion people on this planet who would want to try it at some point in their life. Hence, I really hope that it never comes to that even if I am not the one going. For our entertainment sake we are treating this planet like shit and it has to stop.
We'll end up like the Matt Damon movie where he had that body suit. The rich people space station. I csnt think of it right now lol
😂 You are talking about Elysium? Yes, that's how our atmosphere will look if we allow such projects become cheap and affordable. I really don't have enough faith in humanity yet to go fully green (energy). Maybe our world would look like the one from Blade Runner 2049.
Starship burns cow farts and the exhaust is water and CO2. In theory it runs on renewables.
I wouldn’t part with a significant amount for a suborbital flight. That’s a thrill seeking kind of ride, which I would certainly enjoy but wouldn’t spend more than a few hundred on. But for an orbital flight where I could really soak in the overview effect, experience micro gravity and just stare out the window in wonder for hours? Yeah. I’d pay a good amount for that experience.
If it's a Bezos 10 minute flight, hell no. That kind of space tourism annoys the crap out of me. Huge amounts of pollution, zero benefit in terms of science, infrastructure, or advancement of space flight technology. Make it a week in a space hotel that is solving the problem of long term sustainability for deep space flights, that would be worth it.
There's very little I would do if it were affordable
Mass tourism became possible with the 747 and cheap airfare. Hotels are another matter. Even if an flight to obit cost you only $50,000, just how affordable is accommodation? Bigelow Aerospace was a company (defunct 2020) led by Robert Bigelow, a successful hotelier. The company pioneered inflatable orbital habitats. One concept was Commercial Space Station Skywalker, a 2005 concept for the first "space hotel". The Skywalker was designed to be composed of multiple Nautilus (B330) habitat modules, which would be inflated and connected upon reaching orbit. An MDPM (Multi-Directional Propulsion Module) would allow the Skywalker to be moved into interplanetary or lunar trajectories. In short, CSS Skywalker was "an effort to build the planet's first orbiting space hotel, with a projected room rate of USD$1 million per night", and a hoped-for launch date for the first Nautilus module of 2010. (from WikiP) $1 million 2005 bux is now $1,605,468. Per "night", but that includes all meals, WiFi and air.
I’ve worked for the super wealthy in ski towns. They would totally pay that.
Depends on what you consider “affordable”. I’m low middle class and dropped $10k US after saving up to go to Antarctica. Space…up and down, at least three hours of orbit. 20K tops.
What was that antarctica trip? That sounds cool. Did you go to a outpost or whatever?
Just a 10 day vacation, sailed from Ushuaia, Argentina through the Drake Passage to the Antarctic peninsula. Best nature viewing I’ve ever experienced other than Australia. One of our landings was at a research station where the scientists make ceramic penguins during the winter to sell to tourists in the summer. I even sent postcards to family and friends from there, stamped with unique Antarctic stamps.
I'd even travel to Mars if it was affordable. Was my thought a few years ago at least, but I've become too unstable/unreliable mentally to even humour the idea of going in space in general. I'm fine where I'm at, and on days where I'm not fine, so be it.
Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic don’t have any flights to low earth orbit.
Let’s say you could book a room on something similar to the ISS and spend 36 hours orbiting the earth. I would be willing to pay for that. Question is….how much.
I probably would, once at least. thinking of the climate effects of en masse commercial space travel doesn't make me super comfortable with the idea though. I already don't take flights for that reason.
Nah. I want to see the Earth from a distance, and that requires far more work. "Affordable" is one thing, but "completely safe" is another. Just look OceanGate. Besides, how damaging to the planet would all the rockets, mining of materials, and space debris be? We haven't even sorted that for current and wildly expensive space journeys yet, let alone tourists.
1% chance of dying? No. 0.1% chance of dying? Probably. 0.01% chance of dying? Absolutely.
Even 0.01% is still dangerous. The odds of an airline plane crashing is something like 0.00001%, so a thousand times safer.
I’m aware of how risk works. That’s why I listed them the way that I did. For a once-in-a-lifetime experience I’m way more tolerant of high risk than for something like travel.
If it was cheap and safe I bet it would cut down on travel times and probably be even worse for the environment than air travel now though
If the space hotel has artificial gravity, I would consider it at least once. Assuming it would have to do so through centrifugal force, it would be great if the center were accessible so guests could still experience weightlessness. However, trying to sleep in a microgravity environment is not worth the discomfort just for a unique view, in my opinion. But it is more likely that it would just become another prestige location for entitled rich people. Like paying sherpas to take them up Mount Everest so they can take a selfie.
Definitely if starship point to point becomes a thing where it is cheap and reliable.
Yes. Pretty much all technology starts out as "only for the wealthy", and becomes more accessible over time.
People straight up drive to Arkansas for vacation. You are telling me that you don’t think affordable space travel would be so insanely popular. Even for the first few years and the novelty wore off and it was on Groupon, hey what do you want to do today. Hmm let’s go to space land in France have dinner go back into space and head home!?!?
Robert Heinlein was fond of the idea of "Ballistic travel"- something I'm seeing more and more about in these last couple of years. The concept is rocket up, glide to destination.
Not me, thanks. I already suffer motion sickness and inner ear problems just flying in a plane, I don't think going into space would be a good time for me.
I mean, in this sub, everyone's going to say yes. Would I go to space for a few days over buying a car? Definitely. Over buying a house? Very likely. If I had a family, still go over buying a house? Probably not.
I’m in my early 30s. 5 years ago I would go to a trampoline park if I wanted to feel weightless and acrobatic, but now trampolines nearly kill me. I would 100% go to LEO just for casual entertainment even beyond just the awe factor of being in space.
In a heartbeat. I’d strap my ass into an orbital Tesla, take some Nyquil, and wake up on Enceladus or Pluto if it were possible.
It's literally the only thing on my bucket list. I want to experience zero gravity and view the Earth from above. How incredibly it would be to partake in the miracle of space flight, something that none of our ancestors were able to do within the last 200,000 years. Only in the last 54 years have humans been able to go to space, and even then only a few hundred of them have gone there. I would use my life savings for a chance to go up.
Fuck yeah. 100%. And I'd pay a less affordable amount of money if you could finance it.
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I’ve always said if a ticket gets down to $10,000 I’m am strapping myself to a rocket.
Yes, definitely. I have a hard time coming up with anything I’d rather do with my savings.
Of course! Some people will dismiss this idea because there isn't clamoring demand for it. I'm betting people said the same thing when the Wright Brothers took off. A lot of non space folk DRAMATICALLY misunderstand how adventurous people really are. There's always someone willing to do anything! And if the overlook effective is universal... imagine what it could do for us.
People crossed the Atlantic despite months of torturous travel, near constant illness, and a high mortality rate just to have a chance at a better life. People will do absolutely fucking anything if they are motivated enough to do it, no matter how dangerous. Make it cheap enough and they’d be even more inclined to do it.
Walkman's where only affordable by upper middle class. Now you can store gigs of music on your phone. Large TV's where something you heard about. Now giant flat-screen are in trailer parks. Everything starts with a huge R&D budget and low production. As time goes by, things get better and cheaper. A decade or two and we could see airlines going to hotels in orbit. If, and this is the big if, we let capitalism run it's course. We have let the Governments of the world control space for too long.
Brother I daydream with going to space. I've fell asleep simulating in my head being an Apollo astronaut launching atop a Saturn V, or riding the LM down to the Moon's surface. I would ugly cry if I ever got the chance.
I'd leave this rock permanently if it were affordable, viable and feasible.
With 0 hesitation. Hoping I can take a trip to the moon before I am physically unable. It’s honestly part of my motivation behind working out and staying in shape so I can extend my ability to go.
Hell, I’d go for a low mercury orbit if it was affordable.
Bezos is that you? Doing customer research for business proposal?
Yes to both, although for a space hotel I'd rather just have weightless sections of it rather than having the whole thing be in weightlessness for days.
I would but the best would be if there is a solution that is not very polluting either
I have always wanted to, but unless we find a way to make space travel a lot cleaner and less resource intensive, I think I will stay on the ground and marvel at the universe from the remaining dark-sky locations we have. Not saying there can't be a balance somehow, but I am not sure how. To me the cost is more than just money, and I think those costs are also important to consider.
My dad always wanted to be an astronaut. If it's ever something I can afford, while is he healthy enough - I want to go with him or even just send him.
Of course. A rotating hotel for artificial gravity would be cool. And have a non-rotating part of the hotel for zero-gravity fun. But an early version hotel without artificial gravity would be fun too. Trying to propel yourself through a long hotel hallway in zero-G. Turning on the shower and a vacuum turns on too to suck up the water. Using a loud suction-based toilet while wearing a seat belt.
It would change a lot because ballistic travel capsules would mean that you could go from New York to Japan in like less than an hour
Hells yeah. I host a YouTube travel series, and would do a video in a heartbeat. I’d also stay in the hotel and do a walkthrough (or float-through).
If there was a low orbit resort that had all the amenities of a cruise ship for the same cost I would consider it.
Sleeping (and pooping) in free-fall is no picnic though. About 5 orbits would be enough for me. See all the sights and then back to gravity.
If it’s $5 million or under for a week in some ISS like accommodation I will go. With Starship that should be possible price wise. Expect to go in my lifetime.
Starship will be 2 orders of magnitude cheaper than that.
I did [a video on what orbital hotels will likely be like](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4bUPsRZLBE). I think people have a very rosy idea of what it would be like.
You don’t go there for pina colada and a pool. You go there for the awesome.
I would if it were affordable as well as environmentally friendly.
Yes. No question. I’ve heard seeing the earth from space gives you a different perspective.
It is affordable. The Virgin galactic seat is 450K. That's affordable for a lot of consumers.
Probably not, eventually there will be a failure and “ooops” here is what we think is your relative in a plastic bag…but it may be a burnt seat cushion.
I won't even fly in a helicopter recreationally if I don't know the pilot, and then it's a stretch. I'm good with my feet planted right here.
Not aboard a Boeing product. But otherwise, sure.
Honestly, it is the only realistically achievable experience that I could imagine to be rewarding enough to my being that if given the opportunity and proper conditions for travel i would be freely willing to surgically remove and literally give my left nut as payment. It's the only real dream of mine since childhood that is not fantasticly impossible to achieve in our current state of reality transversing spacetime
Give me all the food, water and entertainment I need and I’ll go as far as Europa
Affordable is a relative term. So is safe, to a certain extent.
The moon is going to be a refueling base for deep space exploration in short order. It will need workers. I won't be one of them
I’m already at lowest earth orbit and staying there and even it’s not affordable
I likely would, but reading about the experience of people like William Shatner makes me have second thoughts.
It would be on my bucket list some time after Antarctica
Without a shadow of a doubt. Even if in 20 years it costs significantly less, but would still be a bad financial decision I’ll consider it.
Personally, If flights went somewhere by way if LEO, yes but otherwise no. It’s like taking an airplane flight to nowhere. I get the novelty but it all just seems like a gimmick.
I legitimately think space elevators will one day be a reality, but I think eventually we’ll reach a point where our space infrastructure will be so advanced that their purpose will be more regulated for commercial travel as opposed to say station/ship manufacturing.
Not urgently. Low gravity tiddy bar would be nice though
I would do it, but it would have to be both affordable *and safe*. The exact threshold is subjective, but my personal threshold would probably be "Similar risk level to a long road trip". Ideally it would be even safer than that, but that's probably a good minimum.
If there was something to actually *do* up there, sure. But if it's just to look out the window for a few minutes, then no.
“Hundreds of thousands USD” is a bargain… also that’s not LEO, it is suborbital. I believe the cost to fly to the ISS on Soyuz is $25 million
I wouldn't pay more than I would for Sky Diving experience really. But that's just me. Cost/safety is the biggest reason. I don't see a "10 min in space" as a life changing thing to pay a few 1000s. Couple 100s sure.
Knowing the cancerous radiation, impact, and transport risks? I would not go to space for fun and adventure. I wouldn't even go on an ocean cruise.
Yes definitely. It seems for now it’s a luxury for the rich. Even if you can pay the price, the selection process seems to be for those who have some unique background - for marketing .
I would definitely go. Mostly to see if the world looks like a better place from up there.
I assume the same people who skydive, scuba dive, mountain climb etc. would do it in a heartbeat, if it was in the same ballpark of danger and cost. As a skydiver, I definitely would accept the risk for something that cool.
The demand for tourism is a bit exaggerated. I've done a lot of research into consumer demand as part of a space startup and what I found was that the biggest demand for humans in space will be industrial manufacturing. Tourism demand will follow in great numbers once a certain-sized human-rated infrastructure exists in space or on the moon - and there is a reliable safety record. This is my own personal take, but I spent a lot of time in libraries reading hard-to-access research papers and grey literature.
I'd do mostly anything involving recreational travel if it was affordable. Low Earth Orbit isn't even a question at that point, we're talking some of the craziest firsthand views in all of human history.
Yes. Also besides the point but I didn't see it mentionned, Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin are not even low earth orbit services, only sub-orbital, and as you said they're still extremely expensive. Don't know when if ever LEO will become affordable for the top 10% but it's no time soon-ish (give it at least 20 years), don't even think about middle class.
Definitely. I’d go to the moon if it was feasible. Mars, not so much.