Money is not a goal but a means!
$19 million
The world’s most expensive toilet will not be found on earth. The Russian designed system was purchased by NASA for the International Space Station (ISS) from S.P Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation. It comes complete with leg restraints and thigh bars. It filters the urine into drinking water.
Cost: $19 million
$20 million
MR. DENNIS TITO waited for long and paid quite a sum. Yet, the dream he latched on to stubbornly for over four decades and the astronomical $20 million he deposited into an escrow account have opened the road to space, howsoever slim and distant, for the paying tourist. Man’s spirit for adventure has never ceased and Mr. Tito’s expensive travel is one such instance. However, it would take a considerable time for this one man’s adventure to become an affordable outing. Translating Mr. Tito’s space trip into a common occurrence could be a long way away given the expenses involved for such flights and the need for a consensus on the training criteria and the basic standards for permitting non-professionals to the International Space Station (ISS) which have to be evolved. An initial and crucial test would be the ability of the 60-year-old to cope with the pressures of living in space during his six-day travel. The well-intentioned decision by the ISS Partnership that none of its 16 members would propose similar flights until detailed crew criteria have been finalised and adopted effectively puts on hold some other expressions of intent to travel to space. More immediately, however, the travel by Mr. Tito has brought out the conceptual and practical difficulties in opening up space travel to the non-professional. The Tito flight reflects the spat in space between the two competitive pioneers in cosmic exploration, the U.S. and Russia.
That the loss of the Mir space station in March has vastly restricted Russian exploits in space is evident in the objections raised by the U.S. to Mr. Tito’s flight to the ISS. The reluctance of the U.S. to give permission for the former NASA engineer-turned-banker’s trip to the ISS following the deorbital of the Mir and the Russians’ assertion that they would fly their space tourist, bring to the fore the conflict between funding and expertise in manning and operating the 16-nation ISS project. The project, which was planned as a stellar example of international cooperation, with the U.S. as the major stake holder (45 per cent) followed by Russia (30 per cent) with the remaining split between Japan, Canada and members of the European Space Agency, should not be allowed to sour on account of such issues. Expectations of a further decline in the share of Russia, which has already ceded a quarter of its resources to the U.S. in exchange for help in financing the construction of the Russian modules, is but a pointer to the difficulties ahead. Read the rest of this entry »