House Passes Space Tourism Bill

[Khephra]

WASHINGTON -- Paying passengers would be able to blast into space aboard privately operated rocket ships under legislation the House passed Saturday.

Propelled by last month's successful flights of a privately financed manned rocket over California's Mojave Desert, the bill by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., would give the Federal Aviation Administration authority to regulate commercial human spaceflight.

No such jurisdiction now exists, even though airline mogul Richard Branson has already announced plans to offer six-figure commercial space flights by 2007, and thrill-seekers have begun plunking down deposits.

The bill was passed by a 269-120 vote but only after a contentious debate Friday over how much protection lawmakers should provide potential space tourists. A two-thirds vote was required for passage. It was uncertain whether the Senate would take up the bill before Congress adjourns.

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-congress-space-tourism,0,6148292.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

[NVMojo]

1. feck up this world, time to feck up another!!!

Like these assholes don't have anything else more important to worry about right now then tourism in space? Shame on them, we have kids dying in Iraq, suffering, wounded, and on and on.

[NYC Liberal]

2. I'd rather all the Repukes would move up

to the moon and leave Earth to us.

[oscar111]

8. MOjo, you have it right! they have

no conception of reality in iraq, or even right here.

[dweller]

3. no matter how they try and try

they still can't get it right...

I.G.Y.

Standing tough under stars and stripes
We can tell
This dream's in sight
You've got to admit it
At this point in time that it's clear
The future looks bright
On that train all graphite and glitter
Undersea by rail
Ninety minutes from New York to Paris
Well by seventy-six we'll be A.O.K.

What a beautiful world this will be
What a glorious time to be free

Get your ticket to that wheel in space
While there's time
The fix is in
You'll be a witness to that game of chance in the sky
You know we've got to win
Here at home we'll play in the city
Powered by the sun
Perfect weather for a streamlined world
There'll be spandex jackets one for everyone


What a beautiful world this will be
What a glorious time to be free

On that train all graphite and glitter
Undersea by rail
Ninety minutes from New York to Paris
(More leisure for artists everywhere)
A just machine to make big decisions
Programmed by fellows with compassion and vision
We'll be clean when their work is done
We'll be eternally free yes and eternally young

What a beautiful world this will be
What a glorious time to be free

Steely Dan


dp

[countmyvote4real]

4. Nice connection. Thanks for that.

“The Nightfly” is one of my favorite CDs.

BTW: It was a Donald Fagen release, not Steely Dan.

[oscar111]

5. direct loss in tax dollars? FAA costs. Squandered dollars costs lives

1. cost of FAA staff for this lunacy?
2. 4 Billion needed to end homelessness. 84OOO die /yr from homelessness. I wager that space tourism will squander four billion fast. That means lives lost on our sidewalks from heat, cold, and rat bites, in the downtown of every US city. Our cities are killing grounds.

[oscar111]

6. dweller, steely dan: you are FOR massive waste?

is that what the lyrics mean?

pretty ambiguous

[Jack_DeLeon]

7. WTF is it with Republicans and wanting to control things...

Geez we've had all of what? 3 Private space flights and now they already want to regulate it.

[daleo]

9. No doubt there will be stiff regulatory fees

"Following negotiations between the House Science Committee and the Senate Commerce Committee, the new version would allow the Federal Aviation Administration to begin issuing regulations to protect spaceflight passengers and crew, but only eight years after enactment of the bill.

The FAA also might issue regulations to protect the safety of passengers and crew before then if someone should be killed or injured seriously or some unplanned event should occur on a space flight."

And any space flight (if these sub-orbital pop-ups deserve the name) that hasn't got government permission will be in serious trouble, maybe target practice for Ballistic Missile Defense.