Jews join the quest for space commerce

JewishJournal.com ^ | 11/02/06 | Adam Wills

[KevinDavis]

In the 1968 film "2001: A Space Odyssey," a commercial Pan Am Space Clipper flight carries civilians to the wheel-shaped Space Station V, which features a Hilton Hotel and a Howard Johnson's. Naturally, the calls to Earth via videophone are handled by AT&T's forerunner Bell, and the charges for the call go on American Express.

While the film's rampant commercialism was more social commentary than foresight, recent technological advances have boosted private enterprise into a field once considered government's exclusive domain.

Commercial space interests are now playing a critical role in the dawn of the second space age -- one built on business ventures and international cooperation. Instead of Hilton and Pan Am, the corporate names associated with the commercialization of space include Budget Suites and Virgin.

[KevinDavis]

[Slings and Arrows]

SEE JEWS IN SPAAAAAAAACE!!!!!

[true_blue_texican]

YOU BEAT ME TO IT!!!!!!!!!

[Slings and Arrows]

YOU BEAT ME TO IT!!!!!!!!!

Just lucky.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

American companies do seem to be pretty slow getting into space, but few big companies are solely in one country today. Americans invented the airplane, but the first passenger planes were British, similar to what could happen if SpaceShip 2 ever gets launched.

[Zuben Elgenubi]

So if I remember correctly, we had PanAm, IBM and Howard Johnson.

Now, PanAm is no more, IBM is a shadow of it's former self and god know's what up the Hojos

[anymouse]

They seem to be reaching to tie in a Jewish connection to commercial space in this article. Frankly if it wasn't published in a Jewish publication, you would think this was a poor attempt at a anti-semetic hit on commercial space as being "controlled by the joooz." :)

After all citing former NASA Administrator, Dan Goldin as a proponent of commercial space is extremely misleading, as he spent most of his tenure trying to kill emergent commercial space efforts. Commercial space only started flourishing after Goldin was given the boot by President Bush.

[KevinDavis]

Then all of the sudden Goldin left...

[jmcenanly]

But space tourism continued to be viewed as the stuff of "2001" until former JPL scientist Dennis Tito paid $20 million to U.S.-based Space Adventures to visit the International Space Station on April 28, 2001, with the assistance of Russia's federal space agency. His seven-day space holiday, and that of three other space tourists, has brought the dream of civilian space flight another step closer.

It was the stuff of 2001, unfortunately it wasn't anything like what Arthur C. Clarke had written about