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Space

Window or Aisle? 107

Posted by michael from the down-in-birdland-yeah dept.
An Anonymous Coward writes "Forget Tito. Forget Shuttleworth. Private space travel is now a reality, now that eBay is accepting bids for travel to the International Space Station. I consider this a milestone for space travel, now that the average citizen-next-door can bid for a ticket as easily as buying, er, crap on eBay." Actually it appears that this is just the pre-flight stuff required prior to a trip - Note: Soyuz tickets sold separately, may involve a small added expense, if you get my drift. The real milestone is when tickets are listed on Travelocity. JFK->ISS, non-stop, no smoking, snack only.
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Window or Aisle? More

Window or Aisle?

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  • My favorite is how USAIR (US Airways) has already started advertising trips to space. You can either win a trip to space [usair.com] or redeem 10,000,000 frequent flier miles [usair.com] for one. I can't wait to see where this goes!
    • Never mind the space flight (which is actually a suborbital flight), I would go for the flight in a MiG-25! It says you go as high as 85000' and as fast as mach 2.

      Only 275,000 miles + $8,000 :D

      /me pictures himself in Top Gun
    • PanAm accepted 90,000 reservations [xprize.org] for Moon trips in the 1960s.

      "The real milestone is when tickets are listed on Travelocity. JFK->ISS, non-stop, no smoking, snack only."
      Yes, but that's only a milestone. I'd prefer a 3-week cruise with transfer at Goddard Station, view of ISS Museum, 1950 DA mining facility [128.102.38.40] and stop at Disney L-5 enroute to Tycho City Hilton. If I were younger I'd make reservations at Tycho Flight School, but instead I'll play with Hub Wings at DL5.
  • No way they'd touch an auction from someone with zero feedback =)

    Seriously though, that looks interesting, but I wonder how it will pan out for the winner. Hope he speaks Russian.
    • yeah, i think you are right... i am starting to believe this whole thing is one big well-designed hoax.

      "<PARANOIA> and Transrow in just one of them acting as a company in order to collect cc numbers and then take off with millions and millions </PARANOIA>"

  • No thanks (Score:4, Funny)

    by Brento ( 26177 ) <brento AT brentozar DOT com> on Sunday May 19, 2002 @08:01AM (#3545507) Homepage
    After a lot of Ebay deals gone sour, I've got a personal rule: never purchase from a seller with zero feedback. After they've sold at least a couple dozen of these, then I might reconsider. Heh.
  • Current price as of 9:03 EST:

    US $56,600.00 (reserve not yet met)

    :D
  • ..., you know, that N*Sync guy.

  • OK all you "geeks in power"... time to get the senat's and everyone elses attention.

    Shut down the fricking internet backbone., shut down the root dns servers, and the backbone routers. I know you guys can easily do it, hell the largest amount of you touch the physical devices every day. Unplug the damned things at work, command the cisco routers to shutdown, or simply unplug the Fiber connections.

    WE can effectively do two things at once....

    1 - teach employers world wide that we can unionize.
    2 - teach the governments that they really aren't in power.

    but what will this do? Knowing the track record of the US government and what that scumbag Regan did to the Air traffic controllers....

    Oh well, we dont have the balls to do it anyways..
    and they know that.
  • The final medical examinations and qualification procedures will be physically and mentally demanding, but if you pass. Anyone else feel confident risking their life in space with a company that can't even proofread their auctions?

  • What else to buy... (Score:4, Funny)

    by AstroMage ( 566990 ) on Sunday May 19, 2002 @08:12AM (#3545533)
    and after bidding on this on eBay, our intrepid space explorer can also buy himself some prime moon property [moonshop.com], or go sign up at the Lunar Embassy [lunarembassy.com].

    Heh, heh... ;-)

  • They're at $56.600 at the moment and it still states "reserve not yet met" [ebay.com].

    I wonder what they are expecting people to pay for this. They started the auction at $1, so I also wonder what their target audience is when the reserve is more than 50K bucks... I mean, eBay isn't exactly the place known for its stone rich audience.

  • Uhm, not spaceflight! (Score:4, Informative)

    by Daath ( 225404 ) <lp.coder@dk> on Sunday May 19, 2002 @08:22AM (#3545557) Homepage Journal
    If I read this correctly this is _NOT_ a ticket to space - This is a ticket to the "International Space Station (ISS) Experience" - sort of like a disneyland ride... The ticket is for the, quote, "Orbital Pre-Qualification Program" - Read it. It looks fun though, if a bit expensive...
    • You're absolutely right. At no point is a trip to the ISS actually scheduled, this is just the "first step" in your "training.."

      That takes all the fun out of it, as far as I'm concerned. :)

  • bay auction (Score:3, Funny)

    by 56ker ( 566853 ) on Sunday May 19, 2002 @08:24AM (#3545560) Homepage Journal
    For Sale: Mir Space Station
    Slightly burnt due to re-entry but still salvageable at the bottom of the ocean. Slightly fire damaged. Buyer pays postage and launch costs. Be the envy of the world - own a second-hand space station today! Starting price: 1 rouble.

  • Book me a one way trip! (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Greetings, American infidels! I am looking forward to the day when I may martyr myself for the great Allah, by flying a shuttle into the International Space Station.
  • What happens if the auction winner fails the week-long medical tests? Full refund? Funny, can't find the information anywhere...

    The auction looks like a publicity stunt. It'll be less expensive advertising contacting the who's who directly and selling tickets.

  • Unfortunately, at $20 million a trip, the average citizen-next-door will only be able to bid, never win...
    • He will be able to bid, but his bids probably wont get accepted. The auction page says that either you have to be a pre-verified bidder or your bid will be verified within 30 minutes or the bid will be cancelled.
  • Color me suspicious but I'm not about to give out personal id and banking information to a group in Russia whom I've never heard of. The last time I saw a similar request it was to help out a Nigerian clerk who knew where there was a stash of cash and he wanted to park it in my bank account.

  • Apparently, they don't wany any of the current college student, future astronauts to take this on. No way anyone in college could afford it.
    • That's what student loans are for, Reschly.
      ;-)

      OK, here's some finance trivia:
      If, starting on July 20th 1969, you had deposited just $24,596.29 each month into a 4% annual interest rate savings account, you'd have the $20 million today needed to buy your ticket. Or, you could have started a small software company who provided the BASIC language to Doc Roberts in Albuquerque, and have money to spare.

      Chip H.

  • Reason for retracted bid (Score:5, Funny)

    by hitchhucker ( 162843 ) on Sunday May 19, 2002 @09:23AM (#3545685)
    I love this reason given for a retracted bid:

    wrong auction sorry.. thought it was for the other space trip
    • or...

      I didn't want the Windows seat for a space flight my insurance won't cover it
    • Yeah and what about the current high bidder. (at a mere $1.1 million), he's got a eBay page up saying:

      "currently at high school, i try to be the best e-bayer as possible. although young, i hold a job at a private company as the professional webmaster"

      Jesus christ, I must be doing something terribly wrong...
  • To follow the true path to space you must not be mislead by false hippocracy such as this eBay conspiracy. The true path lies in pioneering. Look at the golden carrot from the x-prize [xprize.org] and true seekers of enlightment such as the armadillos [armadilloaerospace.com] and the canadian arrow. [canadianarrow.com] True pioneers to space.
    • ... you must not be mislead[sic] by false hippocracy[sic] as this eBay conspiracy.
      /me puts on a bemused look

      I really don't even know where to start with this. We must not be given false elemental metal by something that really isn't government-by-hippopotamus such as what eBay is deliberately falsifying?

      I guess all I can say is PbPbPbPbPbPbPbPb...

  • Comericalization of space. Started by the Russians (Score:5, Insightful)

    by jellomizer ( 103300 ) on Sunday May 19, 2002 @09:45AM (#3545751)
    I find it Ironic that the Russians are the curent/firsts leader in Commerical Space flight. Basicly because a decade ago they were still a Comunist Nation and everything is supported by the goverment and a vacation in space would not be funded by private indrustry. And was beleaved that America will be the first to comericalize space. But now the American Space Launches are still controled by the government.
    • Not surprising, since russians are cash-starved & they do have a good space & military infrastructure. So, they are putting this infrastructure to any venture that fetches them the dough. BTW, I think uzbekistan allows you to fly a sukhoi for a hefty sum.
    • Do you as well find it ironic that the Russians were the first to launch a satellite, an animal, a man into space, the first to have a man exit the spaceship, the first to have a woman to do the same, the first to send a probe to the Moon?

      Get a clue.
  • You've got to love this quote from the eBay info:

    Day Two: Driving tour of the major highlights of Moscow. After lunch you'll travel to Star City for a tour of the Yuri Garaging Cosmonaut Training Center, and begin the program.

  • From the Orbital Pre-Qualification Program description: "If you have the determination, the resources, and can meet the requirements. You to may join this elite group of space explorers and visit the orbiting Space Station."

    I'm a little concerned that the people. Who will send me to space. Haven't mastered where to place a period. I'd be bummed out if they accidently launched me into the wrong orbit and killed me because of a misplaced decimal point...

  • Hayden Planetarium's list? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by dpbsmith ( 263124 ) on Sunday May 19, 2002 @10:52AM (#3545943) Homepage
    When I was a kid, I signed my name and address in a book at t the Hayden Planetarium in New York indicating that I was interested in being a passenger on the first commercial passenger flight into space (or possibly to the Moon, I forget which).

    I wonder if they still have that list? I wonder if they maintain it? I wonder what the names on a mailing list of "middle-aged geeks interested in being space tourists" are worth?

    I wonder if I need to contact them and ask to have my name removed?

    I wonder what sort of junk mail I can expect to get if I don't?
  • "The real milestone is when tickets are listed on Travelocity. JFK->ISS, non-stop, no smoking, ..."

    I am a smoker and I can tell you, you don't have to ask anymore for smoking or no smoking. They are _all_ no smoking.
  • From the ebay page:

    Day Two: Driving tour of the major highlights of Moscow. After lunch you'll travel to Star City for a tour of the Yuri Garaging Cosmonaut Training Center, and begin the program.

    Who is Yuri Garaging? I'm familiar with the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Center and its namesake's accomplishments, but if they are sending you to some other place I suggest you stay away from these people.
  • Trade in your US Airways Dividend Miles for the trip. It's on their website at http://www.usairways.com

    Experience is what you get when you are expecting something else.
  • i hope the food is better than what they usually serve on planes

  • ISS is in maine (Score:2, Funny)

    by an_mo ( 175299 )
    According to this list [postmodern.com], airport code ISS corresponds to Wiscasset, ME. I wasn't able to get a quote from expedia or travelocity though.
  • Huh? Window or you'll... what? ;)
  • The real milestone is when tickets are listed on Travelocity. JFK->ISS, non-stop, no smoking, snack only.

    No, what's happening today are the milestones. Tickets on travelocity are the stuff of boredom.
    I can picture Michael witnessing the Wright Brothers first flight and saying "heck, the real milestone will be when I can buy cheap tickets for a transatlantic flight".
    Just a pet peeve...
    • On the contrary...I would say that putting something that once made everyone who saw/heard about it say "Holy s**t, can they do that?" within the reach of the average person to be a very important milestone in any technological development. Fancy technology is great, but if it doesn't eventually have an effect on everyday life, then, once you get beyond the "cool" factor, there's not much left for the average person to appreciate. Bringing new stuff to the masses may not be as revolutionary as inventing some incredible new technology, but I would still call it a "milestone."

      DennyK

  • It's interesting that /. completely ignored the world's second space tourist, and the first African in space. [africaninspace.com] South African .com millionare Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of Thawte, and who lists /., Linux and Mozilla among his favourite things, spent 11 days is space, from the 25th of April to the 5th of May.

    Guess the integrity of /. is so high that $20 million can't even buy you a story...

    Regards,
    -Jeremy

    • It's interesting that /. completely ignored the world's second space tourist, and the first African in space. South African .com millionare Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of Thawte, and who lists /., Linux and Mozilla among his favourite things, spent 11 days is space, from the 25th of April to the 5th of May.
      I suppose that when you plunk down $20M for a weeklong junket, you don't care much about /. ...
  • Did anyone notice that spelling errors abound in this "auction"? For crying out loud, they spelled Yuri Gagarin's name wrong! "Yuri Garaging"? WTF is that? "And various Hypobaric Altitude chamber tests"...it's spelled "Hyperbaric", dumbass.

    Since the auctioneer can't even spell correctly, do you (a) really believe this is genuine or (b) would you trust someone to shoot you into space if they can't spell correctly? Even if the writer was Russian, don't you think they would've at least run it through a spellchecker first?
  • http://www.spaceadventures.com/orbital/index.html

    It does indeed take all the fun out of it.
  • Scroll down to the bottom [ebay.com]. (Couldn't resist, sorry!)
  • It will be a long time before tickets to space should be listed on travleocity. To some degree, a guiding service could offer a 'ticket' to the summit of Everest on e-bay. but there are a lot of popsicles on it's slopes attesting to the fact that coughing up currency is a lot different than actually being qualified to attempt certain things. An endavor like serious mountianeering requires that everyone there be a useful part of the team. In more benign environments, a guide can really take responsibility for her clients (including things like literally picking someone up and carrying them to saftey). In an environment like high up on Everest, a guide is parely able to function himself, let alone 'rescue' a client in trouble. Only people who are themselves competent climbers should be up on high mountians. Essentially, a 'guide' service should be simply provididing the convenience of arranging the trip for people who are themselves strong climbers in these kinds of environments. Generally, high altitue guide services do screen prospective clients, but there's a lot of economic pressure on them to keep standards as low as possible. As the events chronicled in "into Thin Air" show, incompetent clients can get not only themselves killed, they can get the guides killed too.

    At some point in the future, space flight may be so regular and under-control that anyone can be strapped in and shot "like spam in a can" into space. For the time being there are some strict criteria for who should be put inot 'the can' and sent up, and lots of cash isn't one of them.

  • There's a retracted bid that says "$20,000,000 reserve? Ouch!" Assuming that really is the reserve (which he could have guessed by bidding/see if reserve is met/retracting) then that's outrageous. You don't even get to go to the stupid ISS!!!
  • The current high bidder is px21, and his eBay profile page says he's in high school. I'm in high school, and my current mode of transportation (my car) cost approximately 300 bucks. Damn.

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