Space Adventures is now selling spacewalks as an add-on for its ISS tourist missions. What's interesting about this is not the fact that they're doing it, but why:

So far, three civilian men have paid their way to the ISS, but their 10-day pleasure cruises were confined to the pressurised hulls of the Soyuz and the station.

When they returned to Earth, they said they would have liked to have done a spacewalk, where the only thing separating them from the vacuum of space is a visor, says Space Adventures spokesperson Stacey Tearne.

In other words, SA is adding the spacewalk option because their previous customers expressed a desire for it -- customer demand is driving the improvement/expansion of an existing service.

I love capitalism!

I wonder, though, how this add-on option will fare once Bigelow has its full-scale inflatable modules in service. No, floating about in an enormous empty volume is not the same thing as spacewalking, and you don't get much of a view from inside an orbital balloon, but considering how much less expensive it would be for a similar sense of gravitational freedom (with the bonus of not needing a cumbersome pressure suit and all that goes with it), I would imagine it would be attractive as an affordable substitute.

On the other hand...if orbital space tourism really takes off, and there is enough of a market for spacewalks (even from cavernous Bigelow inflatables), it could drive the development of better suits. Reducing the time and effort required to prepare for and clean up after an EVA and extending the EVA's duration would not only make the service more operationally attractive to potential customers but also reduce the cost of the service and therefore its price. If they're made easier to conduct and less expensive, more spacewalks will be sold...which is also true of access to orbit.

Posted by T.L. James on July 23, 2006 09:16 AM | TrackBack