Space Hotels

Long Island Press ^ | 04/20/06 | Travis Carter and Robbie Woliver

[KevinDavis]

Visiting restaurants and strolling through gardens aren't unusual vacation activities, but imagine doing them under one-third the force of natural gravity. That's what Gene Meyers hopes his guests will do at his space hotel of the future: a revolving, Earth-orbiting space station shaped like a giant wheel. And in Meyers' vision, visitors will also share only-in-space experiences—like floating outside the station to the help the crew make repairs.

Meyers, 62, an industrial engineer born and raised in Buffalo, NY, is the president and CEO of the West Covina, CA-based Space Island Group. He's among the handful of pioneers with major financial backing who say that it won't be long before vacationers are packing their bags for space. These companies are not only leading the way in personal space travel, but are in the process of developing the space hotels of the near future.

[KevinDavis]

[billorites]

I want the toilets to flush.
And no Carnival Craps.

[operation clinton cleanup]

Back to the future....

[operation clinton cleanup]

Hilton to back space hotel

The space station will be made from spent Space Shuttle fuel tanks

By BBC News Online Science Editor Dr David Whitehouse

The hotel group Hilton International is to become the first sponsor of a privately funded plan to build a space station. It will be constructed from used Space Shuttle fuel tanks.

And when the Hilton Orbital Hotel is built, space visionary Arthur C Clark wants to be there for the opening.


[ image: Fuel tanks in production]
Fuel tanks in production
The project, called Space Islands, will connect together Space Shuttle fuel tanks, each the diameter of a Boeing 747 aircraft. At present they are the only part of Nasa's Space Shuttle that is not reused.

British Airways are also said to want to become involved in the project. Under consideration is a survey of BA and Hilton customers asking them if they would like to take a holiday in space.

They would be asked if they wanted it to be entirely gravity free and if they would like large windows to view the Earth. Would they like to take a spacewalk is another possible question.

"There is powerful support for this concept in Washington," said Space Island Group director Gene Meyers.

He told BBC News Online "There is no technical reason why it cannot be done."


[ image: The 47m (154 ft) long tanks are currently discarded]
The 47m (154 ft) long tanks are currently discarded
He hopes that the project will excite major companies to sponsor the project in the same way that they sponsor the Olympics.

"We need $6 - $12 billion," he said, "That is a fraction of the [$40bn] cost of the space station that is currently being built by the USA, Russia and other countries."

The space station would be made out of empty space shuttle fuel tanks. Currently, they are used once and allowed to fall back to Earth, burning up in its atmosphere. However they could easily be kept in space and outfitted as living quarters.

The most optimistic schedule for its construction is six years, given the money and the will to do it.

"Eventually there could be several of these space stations in orbit," says Meyers, "It would even be possible to put one in a figure-of-eight orbit around the Earth and the Moon. That would be quite a vacation."

The idea of using spent Space Shuttle fuel tanks is not new. It was once considered by Nasa as the basis for its own space station. However it was discarded as being too simple. It was possibly also seen as too commercial for an organisation that sees its role mainly in research and development.

Up to 100 people at a time could be ferried up to the orbital hotel, if a second-generation space shuttle was built.


[ image: A C Clarke backs the project]
A C Clarke backs the project
Space visionary Arthur C Clarke has been an enthusiastic backer of the project for a year.

He was to approach film director Stanley Kubrick to become involved. Together they designed the famous wheel-shaped space station for the film "2001 - A Space Odyssey."

But Kubrick's recent death has ended the chance for him to see his vision turned into reality.

It is no coincidence that in "2001 - A Space Odyssey" part of the space station is a Hilton hotel. The hotel group paid to be part of the film. Thirty years later Arthur C Clark has once again approached the company to be part of the new initiative.

"This space station could be built, there is no reason why it can't" said Gene Meyers "all we need is for people to find out that it can be done and then help us do it."

[operation clinton cleanup]

Bringing and using External tanks in to orbit was a cool idea...

I have no idea what materials they will use in the short term...

[monkapotamus]

[monkapotamus]

"It is no coincidence that in "2001 - A Space Odyssey" part of the space station is a Hilton hotel. The hotel group paid to be part of the film. Thirty years later Arthur C Clark has once again approached the company to be part of the new initiative."

[operation clinton cleanup]

Robert Bigelow, owner of the Budget Suites of America hotel chain, is investing $500 million of his own money in the project. The inflatable space-station module technology was developed by NASA as part of the TransHab project. The lightweight vehicles launch in a compressed state, allowing for less-powerful launch vehicles and more spacious modules. NASA pulled funding on the project before it ever got off the ground, and Bigelow bought the exclusive development rights.

Nice to see the private Citizen can take advantage of previous research left in the dustbin. $500 million is a serious investment!

[KevinDavis]

I agree..... Only in America...

[Boiler Plate]

Do you remeber when Pan Am sold tickets for their space shuttle.

[operation clinton cleanup]

I was to young to remember that... but I did buy and build the Orion model kit (with Pan-Am decals)!

I wonder if the Orion project contributed to their bankruptcy???

[andie74]

Somebody's been reading "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator."

[DoughtyOne]

Here's a question for those who would like to see the type of facility, that was first presented to the public in 2001 A Space Odyssey, become a reality. I don't know the answer, so I'm basically fishing for comments.

Anyone who has taken a bicycle tire off and used it as a gyro realizes that spinning objects have some interesting characteristics. If you take that tire when it's spinning and tilt it just a little, the torque is very strong.

Anyone who has had a tire balancing problem realizes that spinning objects need to be in balance, to perform smoothly.

I've always favored the spinning space station creating it's own gravity, but have come to question if it would be a viable concept.

It would seem to me that the station would have to maintain a certain level of balance. Even a small group of people changing location in the station might cause it to wobble, possibly throwing the station out of control.

Have any of you studied this phenomenon? I'm just curious if others have contemplated this and know if it would in fact be a problem or not. It sure seems like it would be.

[orionblamblam]

A common proposed solution to this is to pump a liquid, typically water, to different locations as needed. But as the facility gets bigger, it becomes much less of a concern. Note that the astronauts ran around the inside of Skylab and didn't noticably mess up station dynamics.

[anymouse]

Gene Meyers is a nut at best a conman at worst. I've known Gene since he first started hawking his book. I know the real engineers that did the External Tank development work that he passes off as his own. I know the graphics guy that created the fancy video that he uses to promote his Space Islands concept.

If you don't believe me, try to engage the guy in an in depth conversation about the technical details and see how much of it he really understands.

The sad part is that the basic concept had some merit back when we were flying shuttles and trashing perfectly good ETs every flight.

[Boiler Plate]

It was never anything more than your model and a distant dream. Pan Am was responsible for the 747 and numerous other Boeing aircraft. My favorite was always the Boeing 314.

[Erasmus]

A Spruce Gosling!

[Yo-Yo]

What date was that BBC article?

[Bryan24]

Some technical info here.

The Space Shuttle External Tank is actually an outer shell that covers 2 internal tanks. One tank contains Liquid Oxygen. The other internal tank contains Liquid Hydrogen.

Forget about cleaning all remaining LOX and Hydrogen out of the tanks right now, answer me this question - How exactly are you supposed to refurbish the inside of a fuel tank in space? You know, electrical lines, lights, living quarters, etc?

Oh, and don't forget, you are doing this to 2 tanks that don't have doors or hatches on them. Remember, they are pressurized fuel tanks.

Patently stupid article.