Not so much "If you build it, they will come", but more "If they can finance it, they will fly!"
I'm floored at the idea that space access should only for those who have fully educated themselves (by school or self) on the intricate workings of the launch vehicle that would carry them. While I do agree that those who have dedicated their lives to this should be first in line, I also believe that there is room for more than just the engineers and millionaires. Space tourism should be exactly what it is... Tourism. If you can finance a $400,000.00 house, why not a trip to orbit? Lets see, $400,000.00 loan at 7% for 30 years comes out to about $958,036.60 (Not too shabby) ($2,661.21 per month is affordable for upper middle class). You take reservations, start the loan process and deposit the down payment and future monthly payments in escrow. They then get put in line and train/fly in the order in which they signed up. (Full fare paid up front clients would fly first) After flight, they continue to pay their monthly payment until either the loan is paid off, or they pay the principal. Lenders insurance would help with those who default (and if they have not flown yet, they lose all money paid thus far). If you could make room for 12, you would get a minimum of $4,800,000.00 (assuming paid in full passengers). If you could keep the costs of training and flight operations to under $800,000.00 per flight, you could walk away with $4,000,000.00 ($10,696,439.20 if they all financed full term). I won't argue that most of these people are not space enthusiasts, but they have $$$ and would love the bragging rights that would come with an orbital adventure of some sort. Remember this... The technology that you are all using to trade messages on this list at one point was completely useless to the masses. Before there was product, there was no market. Give them product, (and a viable way to pay for it) and they will create the market. Video game sales were somewhere around $15 Billion this year, so the money is out there! It all starts with the enthusiasts and early adopters (and millionaires looking for bragging rights). In enough time, the rest of the world will get plenty jealous and want in on the action. Someone will put eventually put together a program that will allow this. (In the words of so many before me) If I had the capitol, I would do it myself! Sean -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, December 09, 2002 5:54 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: ERPS Main List Subject: Re: [ERPS] Slashdotters want to be astronauts Good call, Randall! Unfortunately, slashdot is not the only place with this laziness. I've seen interest in space fading everywhere. Space games are in; real space action is out. While I commend your "if you build it, they will come" approach, we still need to figure out "what people will really shell out money for" as opposed to "what people think is neato." Sam On Mon, 09 Dec 2002 14:08:58 -0800 Randall Clague <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Mon, 9 Dec 2002 12:32:26 -0800 (PST), > Michael Wallis > wrote: > > >Slashdot (http://slashdot.org), the news site > for Geeks, is running a > >"What do you want to be when you grow up?" > poll as their regular poll > >question. With over 30,000 votes cast, > becoming an astronaut is > >getting 25% of the vote. Unforuntately, > becoming a potato is getting > >31% and everything else has been CowboyNeil'ed > (ie - scoring lower > >that the obligatory silly CowboyNeil answer). > > > >While unscientific to say the least, it does > show there is a sizable > >population of people who are interested in > going into space. We just > >need to develop the technology so they can > afford to do it. > > Slashdotters are a non-market - they are > interested in space, but not > interested *enough* to do anything about it > that is more difficult > than watching the Discovery Channel. I had a > long conversation with > one such at Loscon. Twenty-something, average > potential intelligence, > compulsive gamer. His compulsive gaming had > prevented him from > getting even what public education is available > in California, and his > effective IQ was around 80. We've all heard > that a mind is a terrible > thing to waste, but I'd never seen one such > before last weekend. It > was appalling. > > If anyone wants to sell to the slashdot crowd, > I recommend they gauge > the seriousness of their market by getting a 1% > deposit up front. In > the case of a Space Adventures ride to space, > this would be $980. Of > the millions of /. that *claim* to be > interested in space, maybe a > dozen will fork over the cash to really do > something about it. > > I generally avoid marketing, promotion, and > advertising, preferring an > "if you build it, they will come" approach. > But that crowd? If we > build it, they will scorn. > > -R > > -- > "Is this a bagel?" > "It's the Guardian of Forever!" > "Well yes. But is it a bagel?" > --Overheard at Loscon 29 > _______________________________________________ > ERPS-list mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://lists.erps.org/mailman/listinfo/erps-list > _______________________________________________ ERPS-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.erps.org/mailman/listinfo/erps-list _______________________________________________ ERPS-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.erps.org/mailman/listinfo/erps-list
