The cost of Mormon greed
Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 3:38 am
How much exactly did the LDS Corporation pay for the new mall in downtown SLC?
Lets put it in comparrison:
Whats the price tag again? I can't remember, it keeps rising so much.
Lets put it in comparrison:
Orbital Hotel
Cost: $1.2bn (Britain's Proposed ISS Astronaut's Lounge)
The International Space Station, at $20m a trip, isn't exactly a week in Tahiti. Hell, it's not even a dirty weekend at the local Lamplighter, as far as amenities are concerned.
A dedicated hotel? It makes a big difference who builds it: NASA managed to pork away about $50bn not finishing the International Skipping Stone, but Russia will complete its share of the project at a fraction of that cost. Neither seem interested, however, in space hotels.
Leave it to the Brits. After decades of disengagement from human space exploration, it recently reversed its position—to propose a lounge for the station. Either it understands something about space travel NASA doesn't, or it's mad. Can you say Virgin Orbital, Sir Richard?
So, how much would it cost to make a permanent hotel in space? If we don't allow ourselves the luxury of appending it to the ISS, it's going to cost tens of billions of dollars. Britain's supplemental habitation module, used as a hotel, would be far more economical: its proposal is tagged at $1.2bn. At $10m for a week on board, it could pay for itself in a couple of years—if the buyers are out there.
Whats the price tag again? I can't remember, it keeps rising so much.