Paths to Space Settlement: Space Tourism, Space Solar Power, Planetary Defense

By Al Globus, to Aerospace Technology Working Group, Dec ’08, Posted 02/08/09

Link: http://alglobus.net/NASAwork/presentations/ATWGDec2008.pdf

Globus presented this at the Aerospace Technology Working Group that met at NASA ARC, Dec. ’08. Among many other things, he is a master of the short pithy statement. One that he made recently (below) in an email provides insight into the role that the Russian and US space agencies played in catalyzing space tourism.

“The International Space Station’s (ISS) most important legacy may be jump-starting space tourism. Consider: the first space tourist, Dennis Tito, was supposed to go to the Soviet era Mir space station. Under pressure from NASA, Russia de-orbited the Mir which resulted in Mr. Tito going to the ISS instead. Now the Mir was a terrific space station, but by the time of Tito’s trip it was also old, smelly, crowded and probably not all that nice. The ISS was brand new, shiny, much more roomy, etc. Mr. Tito came back to Earth with glowing accounts of how great space is. Would his experience have been as good on Mir?”