Considering the growing wealth of the .01%, I think that the SSBJ might actually happen. But yeah, even without the impossible timeframe, this is horribly optimistic.
This might just be the usual “renders are lies and omit things like power cables all the time” issue; but the design also looks ambitious to the point of (admittedly layman’s) incredulity on some logistical aspects, even if you let the timeline slip.
The ISS, say, has copious and prominent solar and radiator panels because keeping the lights on without also solving fusion power is good; and not being cooked alive by your own waste heat in an environment where convention and conduction do nothing and even an ideal black body doesn’t sink much heat at temperatures safe for humans and equipment.
I don’t see any such provision on the Donut of the Future here; and 450 guests plus R&D is going to involve a mite more infrastructure than the 6ish person ISS crew.
I’d also be curious to know how (or if) this is subdivided internally. The ISS is built of little habitubes bulkheaded together largely because it’s the work of multiple nations that can only launch cylendrical objects; but they’ve had reason to take advantage of the ability to compartmentalize the thing for safety a number of times over the years.
This design could well be full of elegant fail-safes and compartments on the inside, hard to tell from the outside shot; but, again given its size, I’d hate to have to start taking the long way around the donut to reach module 3 from module 1 because module 2 is sealed off.
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For a place like that, Cheap Trick’s “Reach Out” will do.
Just imagine how many launches it would take to supply the place, never mind shuttling all the guests.
And how usable is a wheel like this at less than total construction? I think that getting paying customers in before complete buildout would be an important design consideration.
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IIRC they were promising that the SSBJs would be available for sale and flying by either this year or next. I didn’t think that was a realistic timeline.
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Hmmm… I’ll go for Kubrick Station, Clarke Station, Goddard Station, Tilt-A-Whirl Station, Rolling Donut Station, Circle Them Thar Wagons Station, Centripetal/Centrifugal Disambiguation Station…
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I’m just hoping that O’Neill wasn’t an authoritarian sympathizer at this point.
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The timetable for those has been wildly optimistic, but there probably IS a small market for them. It is likely that the demand is only big enough for one manufacturer, so claiming to be almost ready is probably more about persuading others to not even try as it is about defrauding possible investors. But this hotel? I don’t think that considering the cost of putting stuff in orbit there is enough market for a 450 room hotel. Even if you could reduce the price to $100k, (and that would be a HUGE decrease) for a 1-2week stay, I don’ think that you could keep a 450 room hotel filled.
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Unfortunately (and I’m saying this as someone who had read all of Clarke’s writing published before 1984 or so), there are reports of Clarke being something of a predator.
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There is a set of international “guidelines” requiring a de-orbit plan and timeline for everything launched. AFAIK there’s nothing legally enforceable though, so that is a genuine concern. If they, by some miracle, actually built that thing, it would create a huge increase in the space junk problem when it is inevitably abandoned and left to break apart.
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Ugh, another year, another “space hotel” startup. I wish these entrepreneurs had ANY clue what they were trying to do before putting out press releases and nonsense renders of science fiction hotel rooms. Show me your plan to launch and assemble (in that order) the first ever orbital structure not made of small cylindrical sections that fit above the small top stage of a rocket. Please also show me your fuel calculations for lifting all that mass, because I’m pretty sure you have no idea, based on the luxurious open space displayed in your stupid render.
Signed,
Everyone who knows even the tiniest bit about orbital mechanics and the cruel physics of launch vehicles.
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I remember watching the news about Skylab. When they showed a map with huge areas highlighted where it was expected to come down, I realized NASA didn’t have much control at all. Maybe there will be future businesses that specialize in shelters - SafefromJunkFallingthruAirbnb or DeepCaveRentalByOwner…
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Taking bets on when Gateway folds and disappears with the investments.
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They must be gambling on a sudden breakthrough with hybrid rocket engines. Such a development would drastically reduce fuel needs and the whole space industry would very, very rapidly develop in the following years.
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