Mir space station may become hotel for the rich By Merissa Marr LONDON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - It would be the ultimate tourist destination -- the Russian Mir space station orbiting 200 km (120 miles) from earth decked out as a luxurious resort. A group of investors has signed a $20 million deal to rent Mir and turn the ageing space station into an out-of-this-world holiday spot and commercial laboratory. "We're sending a mission up in March to knock on the door, switch on the lights and see how everything's going up there. It's a risky venture but we're feeling confident," said Jeffrey Manber, president of MirCorp, the company behind the venture which is due to unveil the project in London on Thursday. But it doesn't come cheap. Tourists will be asked to fork out $20 million a head to visit the station which measures five school buses in size. "We may even have a visitor in the first mission. He's a Russian actor who's been in space training for many months but it's still a bit uncertain because he doesn't know if he's going to be able to raise the money in time," said Manber. The brains behind the venture is Washington millionaire Walt Anderson who has drawn together a group of investors including venture capital firm Gold & Appel and Internet investor Chirinjeev Kathuria to form Amsterdam-based MirCorp. MirCorp -- which will spend up to $200 million to renovate the station -- bought the rights from former Russian state agency RSC Energia which also has a stake in the new venture. "We want to draw other corporations into this venture as well. This is not just a hotel for the rich, it has many potential uses from pharmaceutical experimentation and beaming live images back to earth, to advertising and satellite repair," Manber said. The 14-year-old station has surpassed its expected five-year lifespan. It is suffering from metal fatigue, corrosion and chemical contamination among other problems. It is estimated it will cost over $100 million a year to man and maintain it. Mir was set to be dumped into the Pacific this year after being abandoned by its crew last August but was saved after Anderson paid $7 million to keep the station alive. Manber accepts the project is risky. Mir suffered a near-deadly fire in 1997 and a crippling crash that forced one section to be sealed off because of a punctured hull. "The mission could well go up in March and find it's not feasible. But we know from cameras pretty much what the state of it is now and it's a wonderful view from up there," he said. ) copyright 2000 Reuters, Ltd.

-- Possible Impact (posim@hotmail.com), February 16, 2000

Answers

...Tourists will be asked to fork out $20 million a head to visit the station...

...and $40 million if they want to come back. (Hey, it's just an idea!)

-- I'm Here, I'm There (I'm Everywhere@so.beware), February 16, 2000.

I'll bet that beauty smells like a bad locker room.

-- JB (noway@jose.com), February 16, 2000.

Only 20 million for weightless sex! Sign up me and Miss January! Oh, Wilt would have loved this so.

-- (HughH@pajama.rama), February 16, 2000.

According to ABC, Gold&Appel have signed on the dotted line, for $20M.

Here's a link to a guy who wrote a book featuring golden apples...

-- number six (#@#.com), February 18, 2000.

...fuck it!

robert anton wilson

http://www.rawilson.com/links.html

-- number six (#@#.com), February 18, 2000.