Excellent, more [real-life] context for something [fictional] that happened on “Mad Men.”
“When I say I want the moon, I expect the moon.”
Hilton's 1967 plan for a space hotel
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Re: Hilton's 1967 plan for a space hotel
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
Would a manned Mars mission really have been feasible? Is it feasible now? I have no idea, myself. The shuttle might have been fine if it weren't twisted into the boxcar-like thing the Air Force insisted upon. And if the other parts came along with it: space tug, lunar-orbiting station, etc. Instead we got a starter salad and then were shown the door. Perhaps it was a lack of money. The U.S. worrying so much about (S…
>Would a manned Mars mission really have been feasible? Is it feasible now? I have no idea, myself. No less than Michael Griffith, * the NASA Administrator* , said in 2007 that the shuttle was a mistake ( https://aviationweek.typepad.com/space/2007/03/human_space_e... >), and that NASA should have instead continuing launching Saturn rockets: >If we had done all this, we would be on Mars today, not writing about it as…
Thanks for your link about a NASA administrator saying "the shuttle was a mistake". As someone who was a pre-teen during the Apollo area, this warms my heart.
However, even is Saturn V was an extraordinary engineering feat, to explore space we needed something much less expensive, much less polluting, much more secure.
Perhaps SpaceX fills better this niche, but I hope that we simply become a space species with most jobs and people at least in orbit around Earth or Moon.
Re: Hilton's 1967 plan for a space hotel
#13"Bizarre" seems a bit strong - anyone remember reading Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl? I remember reading it as a kid, and the concept of the "Space Hotel USA" seemed a little fantastical, but not out of the realm of possibilities. That was published in 1972.
Just because something was commonly accepted at one time does not mean it cannot seem bizarre in retrospect.
Re: Hilton's 1967 plan for a space hotel
#14I don't see the bizarre part. Wikipedia says Barron was born in 1927 when we were still figuring out the basics of aviation, and just a few decades later he was making these plans in the midst of the space race. Considering the rate of progress he had witnessed in his time, it's not very surprising that he expected us to aggressively colonize space in his lifetime. Maybe I have overly romanticized notions of what cou…
People who are saying that is not possible and that it does not make sense economically speaking have won. We are now in hands of managers, not dreamers.
Bureaucrats, not engineers. The difference being that bureaucrats are there to pour glue over something to stabilise it, whereas engineers are meant to try new things.
Re: Hilton's 1967 plan for a space hotel
#15I don't see the bizarre part. Wikipedia says Barron was born in 1927 when we were still figuring out the basics of aviation, and just a few decades later he was making these plans in the midst of the space race. Considering the rate of progress he had witnessed in his time, it's not very surprising that he expected us to aggressively colonize space in his lifetime. Maybe I have overly romanticized notions of what cou…
People who are saying that is not possible and that it does not make sense economically speaking have won. We are now in hands of managers, not dreamers.
It is possible, perhaps even 10 or 20 years ago, But it isn't economically feasible. You could build or refurbish the ISS into something that looked a Japanese capsule hotel 'fairly cheaply', but getting there still costs millions, we are thousands or 10s of thousands of spacecraft away from making them cheap to produce and run.
Hotels on earth aren't exactly money spinners and apart from the zero gravity and looking at the earth the novelty of being in space would probably wear off after a day or two. Projects like Virgin Galactic - for a 'near space' fun ride will probably be more lucrative in the short term. Getting (government funded) astronauts and satellites into orbit is where the money is right now.
Re: Hilton's 1967 plan for a space hotel
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
People who are saying that is not possible and that it does not make sense economically speaking have won. We are now in hands of managers, not dreamers.
Bureaucrats, not engineers. The difference being that bureaucrats are there to pour glue over something to stabilise it, whereas engineers are meant to try new things.
I never thought about bureaucrats that way, it makes sense and it's refreshing.
Re: Hilton's 1967 plan for a space hotel
#17I don't see the bizarre part. Wikipedia says Barron was born in 1927 when we were still figuring out the basics of aviation, and just a few decades later he was making these plans in the midst of the space race. Considering the rate of progress he had witnessed in his time, it's not very surprising that he expected us to aggressively colonize space in his lifetime. Maybe I have overly romanticized notions of what cou…
Yeah there's nothing bizarre about it. Moore's law could as well be applied to space travel, why shouldn't you expect that a field that was new would reduce costs exponentially over the next few decades? Turned out to hit a wall but there were reasons to be optimistic at the time.
And the demand side of that business is still there. Who wouldn't book a hotel in space for a few days if the price came down to an annual salary, then a monthly?
Re: Hilton's 1967 plan for a space hotel
#18It has to be "bizarre" or I won't click on it, is that the deal?
Re: Hilton's 1967 plan for a space hotel
#19I don't see the bizarre part. Wikipedia says Barron was born in 1927 when we were still figuring out the basics of aviation, and just a few decades later he was making these plans in the midst of the space race. Considering the rate of progress he had witnessed in his time, it's not very surprising that he expected us to aggressively colonize space in his lifetime. Maybe I have overly romanticized notions of what cou…
Would a manned Mars mission really have been feasible? Is it feasible now? I have no idea, myself. The shuttle might have been fine if it weren't twisted into the boxcar-like thing the Air Force insisted upon. And if the other parts came along with it: space tug, lunar-orbiting station, etc. Instead we got a starter salad and then were shown the door. Perhaps it was a lack of money. The U.S. worrying so much about (S…
> Would a manned Mars mission
I think you mean 'crewed Mars mission'.
Re: Hilton's 1967 plan for a space hotel
#20[deleted]