Space Tourism – The Moon and the Popular and Commercial Exploitation of Space
£5.00
R.L.S. Taylor (2002), JBIS, 55, 366-382
Refcode: 2002.55.366
Keywords: Orbital-hotels, robots, space-tourism, telechiric, teleoratic
Abstract:
Increasing numbers of people, within the space community, argue that the development of space tourism – initially to low-Earth-obit (LEO) and with `stop-over’ orbiting hotel facilities – would provide an important and significant economic and financial driver for the further expansion and utilization of space resources. In this paper the case for space-tourism is reviewed and it is concluded that the long-term economic expansion of the use and exploitation of space to meet and fulfil human needs cannot be based on operating from the surface of the Earth. A stable and viable Earth-space economy has to be centred upon the Moon. The technological, engineering and scientific requirements and a possible development scenario are discussed briefly and some of the wider implications are noted.
