FYI,

"Space Hotel Sees 2012 Opening"
Stuff.co.nz
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4161458a34.html

: Galactic Suite, the first hotel planned in space, expects to open
: for business in 2012 and would allow guests to travel around the
: world in 80 minutes.

: Its Barcelona-based architects say the space hotel will be the most
: expensive in the galaxy, costing $US4 million for a three-day stay.

: During that time guests would see the sun rise 15 times a day and
: use Velcro suits to crawl around their pod rooms by sticking
: themselves to the walls like Spiderman.

: Company director Xavier Claramunt says the three-bedroom boutique
: hotel's joined up pod structure, which makes it look like a model
: of molecules, was dictated by the fact that each pod room had to
: fit inside a rocket to be taken into space.

: "It's the bathrooms in zero gravity that are the biggest
: challenge," says Claramunt. "How to accommodate the more intimate
: activities of the guests is not easy."

: But they may have solved the issue of how to take a shower in
: weightlessness - the guests will enter a spa room in which bubbles
: of water will float around.

: When guests are not admiring the view from their portholes they
: will take part in scientific experiments on space travel.

: Galactic Suite began as a hobby for former aerospace engineer
: Claramunt, until a space enthusiast decided to make the science
: fiction fantasy a reality by fronting most of the $US3 billion
: needed to build the hotel.

: An American company intent on colonizing Mars, which sees Galaxy
: Suite as a first step, has since come on board, and private
: investors from Japan, the United States and the United Arab
: Emirates are in talks.

: PLENTY RICH ENOUGH

: If Claramunt is secretive about the identity of his generous
: backer, he is more forthcoming about the custom he can expect.

: "We have calculated that there are 40,000 people in the world who
: could afford to stay at the hotel. Whether they will want to spend
: money on going into space, we just don't know."

: Four million dollars might be a lot to spend on a holiday, but
: those in the nascent space tourism industry say hoteliers have been
: slow on the uptake because no one thought the cost of space travel
: would come down as quickly as it has.

: Galactic Suite said the price included not only three nights in
: space. Guests also get eight weeks of intensive training at a James
: Bond-style space camp on a tropical island.

: "There is fear associated with going into space," said Claramunt.
: "That's why the shuttle rocket will remain fixed to the space hotel
: for the duration of the guests' stay, so they know they can get
: home again."

: In an era of concern over climate change, Galaxy Suite have no
: plans so far to offset the pollution implications of sending a
: rocket to carry just six guests at a time into space.

: "But," says Claramunt, "I'm hopeful that the impact of seeing the
: earth from a distance will stimulate the guests' urge to value and
: protect our planet."

website
http://www.galacticsuite.com

Mark Reiff