THE INCREDIBLY HIGH COSTS OF SPACE TOURISM WILL MAKE INTEREST NEGLIGIBLE-Launius and Jenkins ‘07
[Roger, Division of Space History, National Air and Space Museum and Dennis, Verville Fellow, National Air and Space Museum; Is It Finally Time for Space Tourism?; Astropolitics; Volume 4, Issue 3, 2007]
Despite the insistence of diehard advocates, most reasonable studies concerning the demographics of possible tourists present a mixed message concerning space tourism. When asking a simple question—“Would you like to go into space?”—a majority of people respond “yes.” The pro-space community takes this as an indicator that the majority of the populace would pay to go into space. However, that is not what the question asked. If one asked the public if they would like to go to Paris for dinner, the majority would respond in the affirmative. If you ask them to fork over $10,000 for airfare on the Concorde, the number who would agree is decidedly smaller.
The same is true of space tourism. Simply asking somebody if they would like to go is not sufficient. For instance, many space tourism studies cite NASA's “General Public Space Travel and Tourism” study as evidence that many Americans want to fly in space. The actual question was, “Would you be interested in taking a two-week vacation in the Space Shuttle in the future?” Just shy of 40% of the 1,500 respondents answered yes. But when asked what they would be willing to pay, almost 12% indicated less than $500, and over 80% said not more than $10,000. Only 7.5% of the respondents who indicated they wanted to go were willing to pay more than $100,000.
SPACE TOURISM MUST NOT BE A STATUS SYMBOL FOR THE WEALTHY; WE NEED A TRUE DIALOGUE ABOUT WHAT WE ALL WANT AS HUMANS-Billings ‘06
[Linda; Research Associate, SETI Institute; Exploration for the masses? Or joyrides for the ultra-rich? Prospects for space tourism; Space Policy; August 2006; pgs. 162-164]
Instead of enabling humankind to continue its heroic journeys of discovery, by today's space tourism model space travel could ultimately become a status symbol—like owning a high-performance car. Present public interest in space tourism is being driven in large part by a megacorporate “brand producer”—Virgin—with a considerable flair, and budget, for design, marketing, advertising, sponsorship, and public relations [22], one of many such globalized producers that are peddling ideas or lifestyles as much as products or services. The idea that Virgin is selling is luxury, and the lifestyle is hyper-consumption—both good for business, but perhaps not good for humankind.
Will space exploration follow this global trend? Or could it become something more? A century ago, American philosopher William James called for a moral equivalent of war, a collective endeavor that could inspire people to turn away from war to more productive collective enterprises [23]. As spacefaring nations extend human presence into space, they can take with them values and habits that have not served people especially well on Earth. Or they can begin to consider what a spacefaring civilization might, could, or should look like in this new millennium. It is time for the global space community to initiate a broad public dialog about what sort of future in space all people want.
SPACE TOURISM WILL REPRODUCE HEGEMONIC SEPARATION BETWEEN THE ELITES AND THOSE THEY DOMINATE-Dickens and Ormrod ‘07
[Peter, Visiting Professor of Sociology at the University of Essex, and James,Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Brighton; Outer Space and Internal Nature: Towards a Sociology of the Universe; 2007]
Many contemporary visions of space tourism remain somewhat fanciful. A modern holiday production system of this kind will entail a wide range of intermediaries such as travel agents, brochure producers and the like, whose job is to invent new kinds of exotic destinations and to persuade people into purchasing new ‘authentic’ experiences (MacCannell 1976; Britton 1991; Urry 1992, 2002; Paradis 2006).
These intermediaries are not yet fully in place, though the first stirrings are apparent in the publicity of the small number of companies so far involved. The visions of space tourism currently on offer are an example of what Lefebvre (1991) calls ‘abstract representations’, those made by dominant elites. People’s perceptions and plans for outer space tourism are obviously very dependent on such images since very few of us have had the benefit of direct experience of living and working in outer space. How people actually perceive and behave in relation to an ‘outer spatial fix’ will ultimately depend not just on these representations but on space tourism as experienced, shared and remembered. But powerful ideas and myths about society’s relations with the cosmos are advanced by dominant elites when describing this industry with their ‘abstract representations’. This brings us back to question of hegemony.
Hegemony might appear to be a contemporary set of beliefs, but it can be shot through with much older ideas, traditions and ideologies. Indeed, reversion to old and familiar ideas helps to gain widespread popular support. As regards society’s relations with the cosmos, dominant forms of hegemony use, depend on and reinforce a very ancient and very powerful myth about what the universe actually is and how human society relates to it. It is a myth encountered in many early societies and their theologies, in which the cosmos is a zone of peace and God,one entirely separate from that of everyday existence with its pain, insecurity and suffering. We discussed some of these ideas in Chapter 1.
The result today is an uncomfortable, even contradictory, form of hegemony. On the one hand, it is recognizing an essential difference, that between ourselves and an external, literally universal, ‘Other’ containing ‘life’s great secrets’. At the same time, these qualities and secrets are to be understood by penetrating and actively humanizing it. The Enlightenment instigated the removal of God from the heavens. Now humanity is slowly starting to take his place. The pre Enlightenment notion of the perfection of the heavens endows this mission with special significance for those able to make the trip.
SPACE TOURISM LIKELY TO COST HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS PER PASSENGER-Cronian ‘09
[Darren; Travel Consumer Advocate; Space tourism will never take-off; Travel Rants; 16 July 2009; http://www.travel-rants.com/2009/07/16/space-tourism-takeoff/; retrieved 14 August 2011]
The cost for a space ticket with Virgin Galactic is only £107,000 and a £20,000 deposit.
Surely the likes of Virgin would be better spending their money on improving the dreadful British rail system, which is a completely unreliable. As someone who has travelled on Virgin trains and other rail networks, I would prefer it they would spend the money on something more realistic.
SOLVENCY: DEBRIS/ENVIRONMENT
CRITICAL THAT WE CONSIDER ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF SPACE TRAVEL-Freeland ‘10
[Steven; Professor of International Law, University of Western Sydney; Fly Me To The Moon: How Will International Law Cope with Commercial Space Tourism; Melbourne Journal of International Law; 2010]
The protection of the natural environment of outer space is an important element of the ‘province of all mankind’ philosophy. The international law of outer space makes some reference to environmental protection, though these provisions are neither sufficiently detailed nor rigorous when compared to the international law of the sea.[107] The main provision concerning environmental protection in the Outer Space Treaty (art IX) is ill-defined and imposes only minimal obligations on states.[108]
SPACE TOURISM WILL INCREASE DEBRIS IN SPACE-Freeland ‘10
[Steven; Professor of International Law, University of Western Sydney; Fly Me To The Moon: How Will International Law Cope with Commercial Space Tourism; Melbourne Journal of International Law; 2010]
In addition, there is currently no express definition of ‘space debris’ and there is no absolute consensus among space lawyers as to whether space debris would even fall within the definition of ‘space object’ for the purposes of the Liability Convention, at least in most cases. Thus, under international space law, there are no specific mechanisms to adequately regulate space debris. Relatively little has been done to tighten the legal requirements relating to the environmental protection of outer space, principally due to the significant costs associated with ‘clean’ space technology and practice. Nevertheless, progress has recently been made with an agreement on debris mitigation guidelines endorsed by the UN General Assembly in 2007[109] and the Inter-Agency Debris Coordination Committee (‘IADC’) guidelines a few years earlier.[110]
SPACE TOURISM WILL INCREASE GLOBAL WARMING-Freeland ‘10
[Steven; Professor of International Law, University of Western Sydney; Fly Me To The Moon: How Will International Law Cope with Commercial Space Tourism; Melbourne Journal of International Law; 2010]
Space tourism activities will inevitably result in greater pressures on the environment of Earth. There are claims that space tourist vehicles will one day become the world’s primary source of carbon dioxide emissions[111] — as well as of outer space. They will lead to the pollution of previously pristine areas. The regulation of human activities like littering would cost relatively little in dollar terms. It is imperative that this is done to minimise the impact on the space environment.
SPACE FLIGHTS WOULD INCREASE CARBON EMISSIONS-Mann ‘10
[Adam; Space Tourism to Accelerate Climate Change; Nature News; 22 Oct 2010]
The results are surprising, says Simone Tilmes, an atmospheric chemist at NCAR who was not involved in the study. "What's interesting is that if you force the whole climate system in one point or one hemisphere you can make big changes," she says. Further, more detailed studies examining the circulation of particulates will to help to reduce some of the uncertainties in the model, she adds.
Ross and his team hope to organize scientists, engineers and members of the private space-flight industry to discuss the kinds of measurements that need to be made to produce more definitive results.
"The goal here is to support the commercial space industry so that it can develop normally," says Ross.
He compares the problem to another one facing the industry: space debris — waste that remains in orbit and can present a potential collision risk to astronauts. "We have to come together to take care of the space commons," he says.
SPACE TOURISM WILL IMPACT THE HERITAGE SITES OF SPACE AND CREATE LEGAL NIGHTMARES-Freeland ‘10
[Steven; Professor of International Law, University of Western Sydney; Fly Me To The Moon: How Will International Law Cope with Commercial Space Tourism; Melbourne Journal of International Law; 2010]
As well as protecting the space environment from pollution, it is also appropriate to consider important sites in outer space that are (and will be) historically significant. Legal regulation will be required to provide for ‘heritage sites’ in order to protect particular areas from accidental or deliberate damage by space tourists, such as the site of the first lunar landing by humans.[113] Similar concerns apply to other space activities that cause damage to outer space and celestial bodies, such as the deliberate crashes into the Moon’s surface that formed the basis of the LCROSS experiment referred to above.
This also gives rise to an even more complex issue that will need to be (re)assessed in the future — whose heritage is space? How should we regard human inhabitants of future space colonies, particularly those who are born and live their entire lives in outer space, perhaps in a settlement on the Moon? What are their rights and how do they relate to (or differ from) those international legal rules for outer space that have evolved on Earth?
These are, obviously, difficult questions and will not arise in the near future, although they represent important elements in the overall planning of an appropriate international legal regime for human activities in outer space, including space tourism. It will be important to develop comprehensive and universal ethical standards and practices to deal with the continued utilisation of outer space in this way.
OUR BEHAVIOR WHEN IT COMES TO SPACE TOURISM WILL BE REPLICATED IN OUR TREATMENT OF THE EARTH-Freeland ‘10
[Steven; Professor of International Law, University of Western Sydney; Fly Me To The Moon: How Will International Law Cope with Commercial Space Tourism; Melbourne Journal of International Law; 2010]
Moreover, just as the exploration and use of outer space is impacted by terrestrial concerns — including economics, politics, social and fundamental human rights — it also serves as a model for our future activities on Earth. There are many lessons that we can learn from our (over-)exploitation of the Earth’s natural resources. Should we adopt this ‘efficiency’ approach to the exploitation of the resources of outer space, doing it as quickly as we can, irrespective of the longer-term consequences? Or, rather, should our future activities in outer space — and ultimately on Earth — be more considered and measured, taking into account the differing expectations and capabilities of the various countries on Earth?
All of these issues represent considerable challenges as to how international law, incorporating the international legal regulation of outer space, will be able to cope with future activities in space, including the advent of commercial space tourism. The way in which the law is developed and adapted to meet these challenges will be important not only for outer space itself, but also for future generations living on Earth.
Outer space belongs to all of us. Our use of it should reflect underlying notions of cooperation and shared benefit, which must remain as the cornerstones in this next phase of human achievement. International law has a crucial part to play in this regard.
SPACE TOURISM WILL INCREASE CARBON EMISSIONS; WE ARE ALREADY AT THE BREAKING POINT-Mann ‘10
[Adam; Space Tourism to Accelerate Climate Change; Nature News; 22 Oct 2010]
Climate change caused by black carbon, also known as soot, emitted during a decade of commercial space flight would be comparable to that from current global aviation, researchers estimate.
The findings, reported in a paper in press in Geophysical Research Letters1, suggest that emissions from 1,000 private rocket launches a year would persist high in the stratosphere, potentially altering global atmospheric circulation and distributions of ozone. The simulations show that the changes to Earth's climate could increase polar surface temperatures by 1 °C, and reduce polar sea ice by 5–15%.
"There are fundamental limits to how much material human beings can put into orbit without having a significant impact," says Martin Ross, an atmospheric scientist at the Aerospace Corporation in Los Angeles, California and an author of the study.
Private space flight is a rapidly maturing industry. Spaceport America, a launch site in Las Cruces, New Mexico, opened its first runway on 22 October. During the next three years, companies such as Virgin Galactic, headquartered at Spaceport America, expect to make up to two launches per day for space tourists. Meanwhile, the NASA Authorization Act passed by US Congress in September provides US$1.6 billion in private space-flight investments to develop vehicles to take astronauts and cargo into orbit.
INCREASED SPACE TOURISM WILL CONTRIBUTE TO CLIMATE CHANGE-LiveScience.com Staff ‘10
[Space tourism will drive climate change, study suggests; The Christian Science Monitor; 25 October 2010; http://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/print/content/view/print/334375; retrieved 14 August 2011]
As space tourism increases, the soot and carbon dioxide emitted from rockets will contribute to climate change, new computer models predict.
Humans’ attempts to visit space may not be good for the folks back home, according to a new study that finds soot emitted by space tourism rockets could significantly contribute to global climate change in coming decades.
The researchers assumed that a fast-growing suborbital space tourism market will develop over the next decade, and they examined the climate impact of soot and carbon dioxide emissions from 1,000 suborbital rocket flights per year, the approximate number advertised in recent materials promoting space tourism.
"Rockets are the only direct source of human-produced compounds above about 14 miles (22.5 kilometers), and so it is important to understand how their exhaust affects the atmosphere," said the study's chief researcher, Martin Ross of The Aerospace Corp. in El Segundo, Calif.
He and his colleagues describe their findings in a scientific paper that has been accepted for publication in Geophysical Research Letters.
According to the study, soot particles emitted by the proposed fleet of space tourism rockets would accumulate at about 25 miles (40 km) altitude, three times higher than the altitude of airline traffic. Unlike soot from jets or coal power plants, which is injected lower in the atmosphere and falls to earth within weeks, the particles created by rockets remain in the atmosphere for years, efficiently absorbing sunlight that would otherwise reach the Earth's surface. [Infographic: Earth's Atmosphere Top to Bottom]
The result is a global pattern of change, according to researcher Michael Mills of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo.
"The response of the climate system to a relatively small input of black carbon is surprising," Mills said in a statement. "Our results show particular climate system sensitivity to the type of particles that rockets emit."
STUDIES THAT ARE REALISTIC ABOUT THE AMOUNT OF CARBON FROM INCREASES TOURISM PROVE CLIMATE CHANGE-LiveScience.com Staff ‘10
[Space tourism will drive climate change, study suggests; The Christian Science Monitor; 25 October 2010; http://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/print/content/view/print/334375; retrieved 14 August 2011]
The researchers based their predictions on business plans for suborbital space travel in the year 2020, Ross said. The current global fleet of hydrocarbon-fueled orbital rockets emits about one-tenth of the soot assumed in the study.
"Climate impact assessments of suborbital and orbital rockets must consider black carbon emissions, or else they ignore the most significant part of the total climate impact from rockets," Ross said. "This includes existing assessments that may need to be brought up to date."
THE DRAMATIC INCREASE IN ROCKETS FROM TOURISM WOULD BE THE SOLE CONTRIBUTER OT HUMAN-PRODUCED COMPOUNDS ABOVE 14 MILES ABOVE THE EARTH’S SURFACE-Clark ‘10
[Robert; Space tourism will add to carbon footprint; The Green Channel; 5 November 2010; http://green.enterpriseinnovation.net/content/space-tourism-will-add-carbon-footprint; retrieved 14 August 2011]
Emissions from space tourism rockets in the upper atmosphere would disrupt the Earth’s climate and result in a net increase in temperatures, a scientific study has warned.
The report, to be published Geophysical Research Letters, predicts that rocket soot would cool areas by up to 0.7 degrees Celsius and raise temperatures in others by as much as 0.8 degrees.
Funded by NASA and The Aerospace Corporation, the report also warns that the increased number of rocket flights will also impact the ozone layer - equatorial regions will lose about 1% of ozone cover and the poles will gain about 10%.
It concluded that "the globally integrated effect of these changes is, as for carbon dioxide, to increase the amount of solar energy absorbed by the earth’s atmosphere".
Martin Ross, the study's chief author who works for The Aerospace Corporation, said the emerging space tourism industry needed to better understand the environmental impacts of their planned flights.
The study assumes that the industry will achieve its target of up to 1,000 suborbital rocket flights a year by the end of the decade.
“Rockets are the only direct source of human-produced compounds above about 14 miles [22.5 kilometers] and so it is important to understand how their exhaust affects the atmosphere,” Ross said in a statement.
THE NEW ENINGES BEING DEVELOPED FOR CHEAPER TOURISM COULD MELT POLAR ICE UPWARDS OF 15%-Singh ‘10
[Timon; Space Tourism Could Exacerbate Climate Change; Inhabitat; 25 October 10; http://inhabitat.com/space-tourism-could-severely-exacerbate-climate-change/; retrieved 14 August 11]
Martin Ross, one of the authors of the paper, said that simulations predicted that over 1,000 space flights a year could increase polar surface temperatures by 1 °C, and reduce polar sea ice by 5–15%. “There are fundamental limits to how much material human beings can put into orbit without having a significant impact,” Ross said, who is also an atmospheric scientist at the Aerospace Corporation in Los Angeles, California.
Currently, commercial rockets burn a mixture of kerosene and liquid oxygen that release large amounts of carbon. Several companies are attempting to change this however by developing a more economical ‘hybrid’ rocket engine that ignites synthetic hydrocarbon with nitrous oxide. However the authors of the paper say that these new hybrid engines emit even more black carbon than a kerosene and oxygen engine.
SOLVENCY: TOO DANGEROUS
HYPE ABOUT SPACE TOURISM IGNORES THE FACT THAT 4% OF THOSE WHO HAVE FLOWN IN SPACE HAVE DIED-Bensoussan ‘10
[Denis; Space Tourism Risks: A Space Insurance Perspective; Acta Astronautica; Jun-Jul 2010; pgs. 1633-1638]
‘Historically, 4% of the people who have flown in space have perished’ according to NASA.3 Such records together with the highly visible Challenger and Columbia disasters and more recently with Scaled Composite accident and Soyuz repeated near-catastrophic re-entries, tend to prove that Space transportation is inherently risky as spaceflight, commercial or otherwise, is still in its relative infancy and rocket technology is all but fully mastered.
In its landmark report, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board warned that ‘because of the dangers of ascent and re-entry, because of the hostility of the space environment, and because we are still relative newcomers to this realm, operation […] of all human spaceflight must be viewed as a developmental activity. It is still far from a routine, operational undertaking’. Federal Aviation Administration Associate Administrator Dr. George C. Nield once said that ‘Passengers will be riding a vessel packed with a volatile mix of carefully processed chemical ingredients, thousands of interdependent parts, and extremely sophisticated software; and they will be bound for an inhospitable environment far, far away from where they bought their tickets. Private human spaceflight is like climbing Mount Everest with a lot farther to fall’.
Space tourism risks are often downplayed or forgotten and it is easy to get lured in the hype and glossy marketing that is often associated with this activity and the ventures seeking to serve that emerging market.
THE RISK OF DEATH IS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THAN OTHER EXTREME ACTIVITIES-Bensoussan ‘10
[Denis; Space Tourism Risks: A Space Insurance Perspective; Acta Astronautica; Jun-Jul 2010; pgs. 1633-1638]
Behind the smoke screen created by glossy brochures, websites and public relations stunts boasting recreation in the fantastic space environment and the thrill of a daring life-threatening adventure to would-be clients, lie space travel grim reliability and safety records.5 The risk of death is an order of magnitude higher than for other extreme experiences like bungee or base jump or acrobatic flight.6 Potential customers need to be explicitly warned of the full dangers of space travel. Here is the paradox of space tourism, torn between the promotion of risk and the promise of maximum safety, between marketing and reality.
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