And you thought your latest hotel bill was high? Las Vegas entrepreneur Robert Bigelow hopes that within 10 years, he'll be able to charge guests somewhere between $5 million and $13 million for a weekend at his proposed hotel. Even accounting for inflation and that raise your boss keeps promising you, the price seems a bit steep. On the other hand, you'll be able to bring home some fantastic photos — because his proposed hotel will be in space.
Bigelow's idea is to send an inflatable space module on top of a rocket, and then have it inflate and orbit the earth. It's kind of a combination blimp and space station. He launched a one-third scale model on top of a Russian rocket in July, and it's orbiting the earth right now. If he can just get that other two-thirds up there, people will soon be lining up to bribe the bellman to get the best moon-view rooms.
NASA worked on inflatable space modules until 2000, when budget cuts ended the project. So they sold their plans to Bigelow, feeling that he wasn't some nut, but was a guy with a viable research plan.
It's ironic that Bigelow made his fortune with the Budget Suites of America hotel chain. At his hotels, guests often pay $79 a day for a two-bedroom suite with a kitchen. Now he's thinking of charging people thousands of times that just to go around in circles in a room where you can't even open the window.
Bigelow has had a fascination with space since he was a child. His grandparents told him about a "close encounter" they had had with a UFO; ever since then, he has wanted to become involved in space exploration.
Not everyone who works for and with Bigelow shares his belief in the paranormal. He has hired professors, engineers, and even former astronaut Edgar Mitchell, the sixth man to walk on the moon. Many of his colleagues don't believe in things like UFOs, but they do believe that sending an inflatable object into space might be both possible and practical.
On the surface, it probably seems like the price tag is one of the major hurdles for the project. I know millions of dollars sounds like a lot of money for a weekend, but I'm sure there are a some super-rich people who would be tempted to cancel their weekend in the Hamptons or Vail for a chance at an outer space experience. It would have great snob appeal. They could brag that they were finally able to relax without worrying about "ordinary people" sharing their vacation space. They won't have to get upset about not being able to park their Mercedes right in front of their favorite wine-and-cheese store because some weekend tourists parked their old Toyota there.
Weightlessness could turn the space hotel into the universe's most desirable health spa. And if guests have any encounters with cute little aliens, they can always treat them as pets like those little dogs they carry in their purses.
But what about those of us who have limits on our Visa card somewhat below $5 million? How can Bigelow make this kind of travel appealing to us?
I have an idea for him. How much would it be worth to you to travel by air and actually have it be a pleasant experience? You know, like it used to be.
So, Bigelow should hire flight attendants who love their jobs and enjoy serving the public. He should let you use your cell phone in the air. He should have the air conditioning set to a temperature that doesn't freeze or broil you. You shouldn't ever have to sit next to someone who elbows you the whole flight. And passengers should be able to eat meals that are actually edible.
I don't know about you, but perks like those would make it awfully tempting to me. And when you think about it, is $5 million really that much to pay for a real-sized pillow and enough space so that your feet and your carry-on bag can both fit under the seat in front of you? In fact, I think I'm going to start saving now just so I can fly without today's hassles. If I start buying more generic stuff and make sure the living room light is turned off every night, it shouldn't take me long to save $5 million, right?
