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Space

Russia to Offer Space Mail 144

Posted by michael from the diving-in-to-capitalism dept.
0biJon writes "The BBC says 'For as little as $20,000, you could soon have a letter sent to a new "post office" aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and back care of the Russian space agency.' Maybe Lance Bass can mail himself up?"
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Russia to Offer Space Mail More

Russia to Offer Space Mail

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  • uhhhhh (Score:5, Insightful)

    by thesadjester ( 87558 ) on Saturday April 26, 2003 @03:35AM (#5814000)
    Is this a joke or just some stupid ploy to get money for the Russian space program. I mean, 20k...that's an expensive letter.

    What would the point be except for rich people to claim that they spent 20k on a stamp basically. I know of some crappy fundraisers, but this one sucks.

    I'd rather them just ask for donations really. It'd be more honerable I think.
    • I'm sure that you could just donate money, but obviously people aren't doing that. I don't really see this as much different then donating to a charity and getting a small gift.

    • Re:uhhhhh (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Prof.Phreak ( 584152 ) on Saturday April 26, 2003 @04:25AM (#5814092) Homepage
      I don't get it. You can send your ashes to space for $5,300 [howstuffworks.com], but a letter is nearly 4 times more expensive?

      • Re:uhhhhh (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward
        The ashes are on a one way trip. The letter ain't.
        • The ashes are on a one way trip. The letter ain't.

          So $5,300 x 2 = $20k?
          If only NASA ran an airline--then I could buy my one-way ticket home for 1/4 of the price instead of purchasing the (currently cheaper) round trip ticket.
      • You don't get to send much "Celestis will place cremated remains into personalized flight capsules that can hold approximately one-quarter ounce (7 grams) of ashes" It's a symbolic act. I'm guessing that your letters will weigh a bit more
      • I don't get it. You can send your ashes to space for $5,300 [howstuffworks.com], but a letter is nearly 4 times more expensive?

        The ashes stay in space - the letter hopefully comes back. The expense is in making the fligh a round trip.

        -josh
      • Sure, you have to pay 4 times as much, but you get to live, man! How can you put a price on your own life?
      • The ashes dont have to be brought back down and neither does the rocket which carries them, it also doesnt need life-support systems

        whereas to put mail up you would need to possibly have astronauts in with the mail which would mean life-support

        then again in They may just be stamping the letter in russia and "saying" that it was from space

  • only $20,000!? (Score:5, Funny)

    by RTPMatt ( 468649 ) on Saturday April 26, 2003 @03:36AM (#5814004) Homepage
    for 20g's can i request that lance recieve permanent residence?

    • no, wait (Score:2, Interesting)

      by RTPMatt ( 468649 )
      the article says:

      # Delivery of one kilo of cargo to the ISS: $10-20,000

      # Return of one kilo from the ISS to Earth: $60,000

      # Cost of one hour's work by the team aboard the ISS: $18-19,000

      "Cost of one hour's work by the team aboard the ISS: $18-19,000"????
      does this mean i have to pay for the post and the time to read it?? or does it mean i can pay an extra 20g's to have them do what ever i want? id donate to a fund to have lance take an hour space walk w/ no space suit!

      oh crap, i probably shouldnt post
      • Delivery of one kilo of cargo... ...
        id donate to a fund to have lance take an hour space walk w/ no space suit!

        Or how about have'em sent there a kilo at a time...

    • No (Score:5, Funny)

      by thejk ( 575418 ) on Saturday April 26, 2003 @04:17AM (#5814084) Homepage
      What do you think this is? A joke?

      But, if you want to save $2K and achieve the same result...

      1. Put Lance in an envelope with the sender's address as "Space Station, Earh Orbit"
      2. Mail him to your own address
      3. Refuse to accept him and send him back to the post office
      4. The PO will send the mail back to the original sender, i.e. the Space Station
      • Well, that would require postage. A better way is to put your address as the destination, and the ISS as the sender, but don't put postage on it. Seeing as how the letter had no postage, the post office would send it "back to the sender"

        I'm not sure if that works anymore, but I remember reading about how someone did this and they succeeded in mailing something, without postage, to one of their friends in the same city.

  • Ah, the future is coming closer and closer, although I think someone misunderstood. Just as long as the sender pays the postage, it'll be OK.

    Spammmm innnnn Spaaaaaaaace!

    I think someone should be kind and mail them a Victoria's Secret catalog, or similar amusement. I know I would appreciate it, were I in orbit.

    Somehow, I think this post is reason enough not to read slashdot at 4:30am...
    • If a letter costs $20k, a catalog will be a lot more. It might be cheaper to pay the $20 Million to have it hand delivered. Maybe by one of the models :).

      Jason
      ProfQuotes [profquotes.com]
    • I'm thinking masterbation in space must be a messy thing. Literally.
      • I'm thinking masterbation in space must be a messy thing

        Additionally, you always get a push in the opposite direction of where you noodle is pointing to (impulse laws). As Stanislaw Lem noted in "The Fiasco" (*): The perfect murder in space would be to place a naked person in the middle of a room, hovering. He mentioned that you have to be sure that that person has an empty digesting system and an empty bladder. The person would simply starve to death without any opportunity to reach the walls. He seem t
  • "Maybe Lance Bass can mail himself up?"

    And if we're lucky, permenantly!

  • load size? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by a302b ( 585285 ) on Saturday April 26, 2003 @03:39AM (#5814014)
    One question is whether the $20,000 for the stamp is merely an additional cost, or if it includes the cost of transporting a kilogram or so of cargo.

    It looks like a good method for space-based experiments, at least until a cost-effective private alternative is created.


    • > One question is whether the $20,000 for the stamp is merely an additional cost, or if it includes the cost of transporting a kilogram or so of cargo.

      Sounds like someone's thinking about becoming the system's first astrodealer. You reckon they smoke a lot of pot on the ISS?

    • theres no cargo.

      just the symbolic act of your LETTER having travelled to iss and back.

      and that's it. just a way to get financed, and a way to give something symbolic back to the people donating, making the donating much 'easier' for cheapskate-minded people with lot of money.
    • Probably an ounce. Or it's metric equivalent (28.35 grams). So, one first class stamp for the first 28.35 grams, $20,000. Whats it cost for each additional gram?

      For that cost, I think I'd go with DMT instead of THC.

      • Just finished reading the article (does anyone read before posting?)

        $10-20,000 for delivery to ISS.

        $60,000 for return to Earth.

        $18,000 min. for 1 hrs. work.

        So at least $88,000 for a key of DMT.

        Still, less than it costs now. Great sales pitch though.

        Now all I have to do is figure how to produce one key of DMT for less than $200k.

  • In Soviet Russia... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 26, 2003 @03:39AM (#5814015)
    oh wait...
  • so does it mean it'll be opened and read too? >:)

  • Great excuse... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Fat Casper ( 260409 ) on Saturday April 26, 2003 @03:41AM (#5814019) Homepage
    "The check's in the mail. It's probably still on the launch pad. I mailed it in plenty of time, though."

    I shudder to think of the kind of bills you'd need to have a $20-$30K stamp be a cost effective stalling method. I doubt they'd launch your letter before their check clears, at least.

    • I think that would depend on whether it gets postmarked on the pad, or on the station.

  • I wonder... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Pettifogger ( 651170 ) on Saturday April 26, 2003 @03:41AM (#5814020)
    Do you think you could use one of those business reply envelopes (postage to be paid by addressee) to send your junk mail offers back via the ISS and thereby really stick it to that bank that keeps offering you the 0.01% VISA card?
    • Maybe we can send through the ISS a couple (or several hundred) of those postage to be paid by addressee to spam king Alan Ralsky much like the people who signed him up for real junk mail in this /. this article [slashdot.org].

  • rubber stamped space mail (Score:3, Funny)

    by GregorianChant ( 655460 ) on Saturday April 26, 2003 @03:42AM (#5814025)
    Imagine the dismay on the senders face when their galactic letter comes back with "Return To Sender" on the envelope :) For 20,000 bucka you better make damn sure that the letter is addressed correctly!!
    • There's absolutely no way for them to prove whether they sent it up to space or not. They could just burnbag the mail and you would never know. Even if they did send it to space, would you expect a reply?

      Assuming they did send it to space, would you get refunded if the letter was on a shuttle that had a Columbia-like disaster?
  • I'll bet God and Santa Claus are on some very rich kids' space-mailing-lists now. Of course, in God's case, the letters shouldn't come back down, just get jettisonned Simpsons-style.
  • For $20,000 I would expect next day service.

    Bleh, rip off more like it, hehe.

  • Whats the point? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by rf0 ( 159958 ) <rghf@fsck.me.uk> on Saturday April 26, 2003 @03:47AM (#5814034) Homepage
    OK excuse me for being dumb but whats they point? You can send stuff into space and get it back. Great an expensive SAE :)

    Rus
  • Which spammer would pay these amounts for his junk?
  • I once had a package pass through New Jersey on its way from Sacramento to Seattle. But through the ISS? I'd like a screenshot of that tracking history.

  • NASA... (Score:3, Informative)

    by Michael's a Jerk! ( 668185 ) on Saturday April 26, 2003 @03:50AM (#5814039) Homepage Journal
    I wonder if it would be cheaper for NASA to outsource some of their experiments to the Russian agency?

    Really, I can think of a lot of cool experiments for the serious scientist. Things like insect eggs in space, effect of zero-G on seeds, that kind of thing

    • Except NASA is forbidden, by law, from doing this.

      I'd heard this several times, but this [spacedaily.com] is the only current reference to the law I can find (see the fourth and fifth paragraphs). Here is an older article [space.com] about the restriction before it was passed.

  • I'd like to recieve the mail... (Score:5, Funny)

    by aerojad ( 594561 ) on Saturday April 26, 2003 @03:51AM (#5814040) Homepage Journal
    If I lived somewhere where it cost 20,000 to mail me, I don't think any advertiser would bug me again... ever.

  • Well (Score:3, Funny)

    by Timesprout ( 579035 ) on Saturday April 26, 2003 @03:54AM (#5814045)
    I reckon my postie will be rightly pissed if he has to ride his bike all the way from the space station Post Office to my appartment. But he does need the exercise so if anyone wants to send mail to me this way .. feel free.
  • That $20K only is getting the one kilogram mass up, article says it is $60K for the trip back down.
    • I doubt that a typical letter weighs 1 kg. The $20k price is probably launch, return and processing of a typical letter (30-40 g).
    • $60K for it to come back down?!! What are they trying to do, get it delivered in one piece or something?! Like that ever happens with regular post. To get it back down I can't see why they wouldn't just throw it out the window. Sure, it may do a few thousand laps of the earth first (just like regular post), and it my burn up on reentry (your own fault for inadequate packaging), but think of the amount of Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf merchandise you could buy with the savings.
    • The weird thing is that instead of a few such mails, you can send your own satellite up...

    • Re:Cost, $20K is only one way. (Score:4, Informative)

      by gl4ss ( 559668 ) on Saturday April 26, 2003 @06:43AM (#5814241) Homepage Journal
      ehh. the bbc article seems a bit confusing about this.

      the per kilogram costs are cited from some russian sources as what it costs THEM to move that mail first up, then down, and to process it. one kilo fits quite many of those 20k$-30k$ letters.

  • Just wait... (Score:5, Funny)

    by cperciva ( 102828 ) on Saturday April 26, 2003 @04:05AM (#5814065) Homepage
    ...until someone sends an envelope full of Anthrax up there.

    Would they ever be able to decontaminate the place, or would they have to scrap the entire station?
  • ... I don't think they will be receiving any junk maianytime soon !
  • Will this be an Elvis stamp or a Dimitry stamp?
    Just curious about the consumer group they are trying to target.

  • NASA's new business model (Score:5, Funny)

    by duplo ( 253071 ) on Saturday April 26, 2003 @04:35AM (#5814110)
    1) Take Printer to ISS
    2) Tell people to send letters for 20K
    3) Scan letters
    4) email letters
    5) Print letters on ISS
    6) PROFIT


  • What's next, SG1-mail?

  • It shouldn't be too hard to mail Lance (Score:5, Funny)

    by tuxlove ( 316502 ) on Saturday April 26, 2003 @04:40AM (#5814115)
    Given a midsize cardboard box, a large garbage bag and a hacksaw, I think I can package him appropriately.

  • Coolness factors.... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by grantb ( 624519 )
    This has got an expensive "just because i can" and useless coolness factor to it like, renting a suite in a nice hotel, getting a buggy when playing golf or using a Palm handheld

  • A bit too much? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Prof.Phreak ( 584152 )
    Anyone who can afford this can probably afford to launch their own satellite...

  • ...you could send an engagement ring up there before use... just think of all the corny lines you could get away with...

    Er, no, actually, I can't think of any either. Ah well.

  • A request... (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Maybe Lance Bass can mail himself up?

    Sounds like a great idea. I have one request though...

    For the return trip, he takes the shuttle.

    Bad taste, I know, sorry. ;)

  • A touch of space (Score:3, Funny)

    by 2sleep2type ( 652900 ) on Saturday April 26, 2003 @05:11AM (#5814148)
    I can imagine that this is going to be very popular.

    Not just the wedding rings.

    But you could send your favorite SIFI junk then send it up and back again and sell it on as truly out of this world.

    Same kind of thing for new age healing power of space type junk

    Very special edition Franklin Mint includes 0.001% of real space exposed material

    That's just a few moments of thinking

  • Instead of dicking around with post-offices in space, why doesn't Russia offer to put a wireless webserver into space and sell access?

    Just think -- budding entrepreneurs could buy space on the server and upload copies of popular movies or music which people could then download for a small annual subscription using a regular satellite disk and PC card.

    How would the RIAA/MPAA kill that bird I wonder?

    Does the DMCA reach that far above the earth's surface? :-)
  • By the saem token getting NASA to send email to the Russian crew cost $0.00..

    Maybe Russians are more simple minded than us?
    • We spent many thousands (millions?) inventing a pen that would write in the low-gravity of space. Finally, we came up with a pen that had a nitrogen-charged inkwell to push the ink out.

      The russians used a pencil.
  • they should force spamm- err I mean advertisers to send all their mail this way.

    If they don't, punish them by firing them into space.

    Without a space suit.
  • Finally the astronauts can order pizza up to the ISS. The policy is that if it's not delivered within 30 days, they'll get it for free.

  • Why would anyone want that? (Score:3, Informative)

    by DaneelGiskard ( 222145 ) on Saturday April 26, 2003 @07:22AM (#5814304) Homepage
    Why would anyone want that, when you can actually talk [nasa.gov] to the peeps up there, which is free if you have the necessary license/equipment (which is easy to get and cheap)...
  • Maybe Lance Bass can mail himself up?
    Maybe somebody could "accidently" send him into deep space?
  • I've been trying for years to send mail to the post office that Apollo 15 left on the moon [alanbeangallery.com]. Although this was a notable achievement for the newly reorganized USPS, it doesn't seem to have a ZIP code...
  • Now the poor astronauts as ISS will also have to be bothered with white powder letters!
  • can I send Lance Bass' ashes to space?
  • And what if the post office loses the letter?
    Then i'm 20 thou out?
    -Grump
  • Diving into stupid buisness models a-la internet bubble.

    Obligatory slasdotisms
    1. find stupid people to give us $20,000 to put a piece of paper in space and bring it back
    2. ????
    3. PROFIT!!!

    What a horrible waste of resources. What does one get out of knowing that a piece of paper went into space? Retarded.

    Also, as far as the article goes, why are return costs so high for pulling back to earth a kilo of material? You've already spent the $10,000-20,000 per kilo to GET something into space, much less fuel is
  • Uh, Guinness Book of World Records...

    as the most expensive letter ever Returned to Sender.

    (thank you, thank you very much)

  • How can you tell? (Score:1, Insightful)

    by duncf ( 628065 )
    So lets say you deicde to drop $20,000 on a letter to space. How do you know it gets there? Do they send the letter back after, is it a round trip thing?

    And if it is, how do you know it hasn't just been half way around the world, not to our orbit and back? You can't. Do the contents smell different once they've been to space? Do they get heavier or lighter? NO!

    If the $20,000 is a one-way thing, they might as well throw it out before it gets on the spaceship... claiming it contained dangerous materials, or

  • Anthrax
  • in "The Man Who Sold The Moon".

    Of course in the story it was decided that the weight penalty of actually taking the mail to the moon to be franked was excessive so a little fraud was perpetrated instead ...
  • And can someone explain to me why you would want to do this for $20,000? Are the Russians really that hard up for money that they would try this scheme? If I was someone who was incredibly rich (and didn't care how my money was spent) I would send a box with a camera in it so I could see if it actually got to space.
  • imagine if we did to them what we did to Ralsky.......jesus, slashdotting the ISS with junk mail can't be a good thing. And the best part is hopefully the junkmailers would pick up the cost because they figure maybe SOMEONE finally wants to buy their product.

  • is for the collectability of the stamp.

    How much do you think the first stamp to be sent to a post office in space would go for? A hell of a lot more then 20K!
  • ...a few more rate increases and we'll be paying $20K a letter...

    Your government monopoly at work...

    Where is Lysander Spooner when we need him?

  • I guess the average astronaut wouldn't be able to afford a subscription to the NY Times while at the ISS then.
  • I once heard about a guy who built his house in the Alaskan wilderness by mailing himself cinder blocks. They were far cheaper to mail than to ship to wherever it was he was building.

    NASA could learn from this and mail components to the ISS, instead of shipping them up in their own spacecraft.
    -aiabx
  • Now spam for moon rocks
  • four words:

    white powder, and anthrax.

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