Want To Spend Two Months On The Space Station? It'll Cost You Rs 360 Crore

About a week ago, NASA announced on its website that it's opening up the International Space Station for commercial business.

Basically, that means US companies can now officially fly tourists to the space station, for what's likely going to be a huge sum.

Images courtesy: NASA

One of the first to make known their intentions is billionaire hotelier Robert Bigelow. He also owns another company, Bigelow Space Operations, which is apparently going to run his space tourism initiative. Bigelow announced that the company will send 16 private astronauts up to the ISS in the coming year (though not all at once).

And all it will cost them will be a cool $52 million, or about Rs 360 crore.

That sum will net each visitor a seat on a SpaceX rocket up to the ISS, and a one to two-month stay. There's no clarity on the actual time you'll get, but that's probably because your "taxi" back to Earth can't be called whenever you feel like it.

All of this of course depends on SpaceX actually getting a move on its commercial crew flights, something it expects to achieve by 2020. Bigelow hasn't offered any more details, but he has put down large sums of cash since 2018 in order to reserve future SpaceX flights for his passengers.

At least the view from your room is great

So, what will that astronomical price tag net you? Well, you'll get to ride a freaking rocket! If you're not too old of course. And in acceptable health conditions. Then you'll get to float around the space station, enjoying the feeling of weightlessness and taking in the greatest view on (of?) Earth.

There are a few drawbacks to consider though. For one thing, if Bigelow sends more than one person to the ISS per trip, things could get a little crowded. The station has a pressurized volume of 32,333 cubic feet, which is about the same as a Boeing 747. The difference is, only about a third of that space is habitable by astronauts.

What that means is, there can be a maximum of four tourists sent up to accompany six NASA astronauts. So 10 people sharing about 10,000 cubic feet of space (floor space doesn't matter here because microgravity, duh), for 24 hours a day seven days a week. If that sounds like a recipe for claustrophobia and flaring tempers, you're probably right.

No spacewalks for you unfortunately

Sleeping quarters are comfy at the very least. You won't have your own room, but each astronaut gets a pod of their own, with space for a laptop mounted on the wall across from them. You don't have to worry about having the right kind of pillow or mattress, because you're body is floating anyway. You're just given a sleeping bag you can climb into that's strapped to the wall.

As for eating arrangements, you can forget about room service, buffets, and pretty much anything fancy. Astronaut food is mostly rehydrated energy-rich stuff, though they at least also have some amount of comfort food at hand. Oh yeah, and there's no booze either so tough luck.

The hardest parts to get accustomed to however, especially when you're spending hundreds of crores for this, are the bathroom arrangements. Everyone on board the ISS has to pee into a vacuum tube with a funnel, so the waste can be siphoned to a storage tank, from where it goes for purification and reuse.

And if you need to poop, that means clenching and pushing through a hole the size of a dinner plate. Whatever you do, DO NOT miss and do not forget to eat lots of fiber. Because if your poop doesn't get into the storage device it's supposed to, or you manage to clog the toilet, it's going to get everywhere. And again there's no cleaning staff to take care of it.

Say hello to your shitter for the next two months

But hey, at least you'll get to walk around in space! That makes it all okay, right? Well.. not really. You see, you may be paying a boatload of money to go to space, and that's doable. But spacewalks are probably going to be a hard no for untrained private astronauts. Leave aside the logistic hardships of manufacturing a $10 million space suit to fit each visitor. The main reason is spacewalks are incredibly dangerous for even trained personnel.

So basically, a space vacation involves being young(ish) and healthy, stupidly rich, and also willing to live rough for up to two months. That seems like a small group of people. Any takers?