Space missionFirst space hotel taking bookings for 2012 opening
Space tourism is nearing, with the first space hotel set to open in 2012; the Barcelona-based company is already taking bookings; the cost of three nights (plus a two-month training course on a Caribbean island beforehand) will be $4.4 million per guest
Have you made your travel plans yet for 2012?The first orbiting space hotel is on track to open for its first customers in 2012, but you should hurry, as bookings are filling fast.
The cost of three nights on the Galactic Suite Space Resort (plus a two-month training course on a
Guests would circumnavigate the globe every 80 minutes and see the sun rise 15 times a day. They would get around their “pod” rooms by wearing Velcro suits that stick them to the walls to enable them to crawl.
CEO of the Barcelona-based company Galactic Suite Ltd, Xavier Claramunt, said the hotel would make his company a leader in the fledgling industry, which he believes has a great future, with space tourism becoming commonplace. Claramunt, formerly an aerospace engineer, said that within perhaps only 15 years, it could be quite normal to spend a weekend in space.
The Galactic Suite Space Resort plans to start with one pod holding four passengers and two astronaut pilots. The pod would orbit 280 miles above the earth and travel at 18,640 mph. Passengers would take a day and a half to reach the pod by Russian-built rocket, after blasting off from a spaceport on a
Claramunt said the project had received an anonymous grant of $3 billion given to the company by a space enthusiast billionaire. Critics have questioned the timeframe, but the company is confident it is on track for the 2012 opening.
Another space tourism project under construction is Las Cruces, New Mexico-based Spaceport