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
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