StarTalk Radio - Would You Be a Space Tourist?

Episode Date: June 8, 2009

Richard Branson has formed Virgin Galactic and is now taking reservations aboard the maiden voyage of SpaceShipOne. Would you spend the estimated $200,000 for a 45-minute trip into space?Neil and Lynne also discuss the mechanics of sex in space.NOTE: All-Access subscribers can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: https://www.startalkradio.net/all-access/would-you-be-a-space-tourist/?_sf_s=would+you+be+a+space+tourist Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ on Apple Podcasts to listen to new episodes ad-free and a whole week early.

I'm identifying frequencies. 3.3, 7.6, but I... Our universe is filled with secrets and mysteries, leaving us with many questions to be answered. Now more than ever, we find ourselves searching for those answers as the very fabric of space, science, and society are converging. Here for the first time, these worlds collide. As we give you the knowledge that breaks the barrier

between what is science and what is merely pop culture. This is StarTalk. Now, here's your hosts, astrophysicist Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Lynn Coplitz. Star Talk. Welcome to Star Talk. Welcome.

Lynn, how are you today? I love our intro. Well, comedian. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and the hooker with a heart of gold. Well, actually, I have a day job. I'm the director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City. I know you, and actually, I have a day job. It's a director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City. I know you and I don't have a day job. I'm a comic.

I'm just a funny monkey who's here to add some color to this. What are we talking about today? So comedians don't have day jobs. They have night jobs. You guys work. No one goes to the comedy shops at 10 in the morning. No. Not if you're normal.

Neil, what is today's show? Today, we're talking about space tourism because it in the morning. No. Not if you're normal. Right. Neil, what is today's show? Today, we are talking about space tourism because it's the holidays. People go on vacation. And we are not that far away from going into space as a choice among your vacation destination. Can we do that now? No. I mean, this is very exciting because I have some people I'd like to send up into space right now.

Well, there are people who are taking it very seriously, entrepreneurs with a lot of money. One of them, Richard Branson. Do you know Richard Branson? Yes, Richard Branson is a Virgin Atlantic guy. Virgin Atlantic guy. Well, he's being entrepreneurial, and he started Virgin Galactic, which won't only take you from one country to another. It'll take you into space. Okay, but this is what gets me about this.

When is he planning on doing this? In 2009, you told me? Well, no. They need a working spacecraft to make this happen, and they don't have one yet. But he's already collecting money, correct? People have already bought their seats. How much, Neil? A couple hundred grand.

A couple hundred grand. A couple hundred grand. How many seats has he sold already? More than 100, but more than what would fit on his first flight. So he doesn't even have this made up yet. He hasn't even made a vehicle. But he's collecting money to do so. People listening, they should know that they can, listening to us right now, should know that they can call in.

Because I don't know if anyone else is as interested as I am. And you know I went and interviewed people on the street. But I think that this is crazy. Crazy. You think it's crazy. Well, first of all, it's a maiden voyage. You can call StarTalk at 1-888-520-9710. Oh, and by the way, Lynn, I told my publisher that I'm doing the program.

And they offered free books for all callers who call into this show. Your book. My recent book, Death by Black Hole, inscribed. If you call in, you get a free book and you get a free membership, one-year membership to the Planetary Society. Well, that's very nice. Yeah. Wow.

We're offering fancy stuff. We are. We are. But we have to, I don't think you should just be able to get, these are nice gifts. So I think we have to really feel that your question was a good question. Okay. Well, you can, you can judge that. I'm not that mean. I'll be the judge. And I'm sorry for giggling at the title of your book, but I feel like it

should be called Death by Black Hole or How to Get Rid of Your Mother-in-Law. Well, you know, I bumped into Bill Nye about this. He's an old bud of mine. You know, he's an engineer, and he's thought a lot about trying to go into space. Bill Nye, the science guy? The science guy. Bill Nye, the science guy? The science guy. Bill Nye, the science guy. Let's see what he has to say about this. Okay. Hey, Bill Nye, the science guy here. I know what you're thinking. What does the vice president of the Planetary Society think of space tourism? Well, it's fine if you've got 20 meg, 20 million dollars U.S. So maybe it's not for everyone. But

the current space tour guides are trying to build a rocket that may take us all closer to solving the old beer can problem. See, an airliner, like the one you might take to a talk FM radio listeners convention, is about 90% people and plane and only 10% fuel. Well, for some future space plane to take off from a runway, fly around in space and get back, it would have to be 95% fuel. Just 5% for rocket frame, your friends, and you. That's a ratio akin to that of liquid to metal in a soft drink or beer can. We'll need new materials and new ways to put them together. Maybe the new space tour designers working away from the old aerospace world will help us come up with these innovations.

A ticket to space may be a way to create a new kind of rocket science. Well, I've got to fly. Bill Nye on the sky. All right, Neil. Well, here's the good news. We found someone who's a bigger geek than you. We are all card-carrying geeks out there, let me tell you. Oh, my gosh, Bill Nye.

He's our man, Bill Nye. He's like the nation's science teacher. Okay, he's an engineer. He's an engineer. And I'm just trying to wrap my little simple brain around all this. And you're an astrophysicist. An astrophysicist. So you can't turn the TV on these days, Neil,

without some sort of show about people stranded on an island. Yeah, okay. So I want to know who would be more important to have on the island, you or Bill Nye? Well, I could certainly give you some romantic nights pointing out the sky, but I have to confess, I would pick Bill Nye over me. So you could say, this looks bad, but Bill could actually create something to get you off the island?

He will create the machine out of the coconuts that will help you get off the island. So he would be like the professor? Like the professor on Gilligan's Island. And you would be the movie star? For sure. You can call in the movie star. For sure. You can call in and tell us what you think. 1-888-520-9710. Get yourself a free book and a free year subscription to the Planetary Society,

of which Bill Nye serves as the vice president, as he duly allows. So what is this thing that Bill Nye was just talking about? And people listening, tell me if you get it. Maybe I'm just simple. Maybe people out there are just much smarter, but it's weird because you and I are the two sides of the spectrum. You're the genius, and I'm the not genius. So here's my question. His beer can theory, is Bill Nye basically saying that this can't happen yet?

Yes. He's saying it because we don't have spacecraft that are 95% fuel that can just sort of take off from a runway and then land on that same runway. And so he's saying that Richard Branson's idea is kind of crazy considering to take that much money from that many people when you might have to send them out two at a time. Am I right? Consider them investors. Investors. They're not probably thinking of themselves that way. They're thinking of themselves as first passengers.

They're rich and crazy is what they are. Crazy rich people. That's exactly what that is. That's scary to me. And, you know, when you're up in space, if they finally gets it done, you get a few minutes of weightlessness and a gorgeous view of the earth. That's it? What kind of seat do you get?

Well, I don't know. You hope you get a window seat. Yeah, for $200,000 because here's the earth. That's it? What kind of seat do you get? I don't know. You hope you get a window seat. Yeah, for $200,000 because here's the deal. This is what really ticks me off. He's sold 100 and whatever seats, 175 fares, and that means like 170 of those people are probably rich.

And then five are spending their pension to go up there. Of course, that's right. And invest to be part of this. Is there a screening process to make sure crazy, because I don't want to be sitting next to Britney Spears who gets a window seat, and all I have is a picture of her bald head with a slice of the earth behind it. And of course, you know, when you're weightless

a lot of people get queasy stomach, and they might throw up. And it turns out, when you're weightless, if you throw up, the vomit kind of floats around the air. It could get caught in your hair and things. So, these are things that are not yet fully resolved. Why would you buy? Oh my gosh. Am I the only person in the world who would

not do this first? Did you go on the street and talk to people about this? I did. And funny enough most of them said they would do it. Okay. Let me hear what you got there. First question is would you want a seat on it if you had $200,000? If that was the best thing I could think of to do with $200,000.

It's a maiden voyage to go out into space. It would be fun, sure. Does it scare you that it's the first time it's ever gone out? Someone has to be on the first one. Well, he's sending his mother. If you could send just anyone out to space, who would you send? Depends whether or not they're going to come back. I would like to go.

I would like to go. When? Do you see what I'm talking about? Right, right. But he's not, everybody said that they would want to go. Most everybody, except for one lady who was like 80. She said she wouldn't go which i was surprised why not the same reason i wouldn't go if you're 80 you're 80 dude take on life if you're 80 because she's

wise neil listen to me two words maiden voyage was titanic not a maiden voyage it was he doesn't even know am i wrong but let me just get let me get all the details for people who are listening okay branson is taking this money. We don't know. $200,000 per person. Right. At this point, there's no spacecraft built yet. That's correct.

We have no idea what kind of security. There's not even a spaceport for it yet. That's correct. And NASA is not involved in this, right? They're not involved. The whole point is that it's entrepreneurs doing it basically in their garage. Okay, and you don't find that even a little frightening? No, because.

Would you do it? Would you go out now? No, because I'd wait for like the first few hundred to do it because I'm not, you know, I was like the second or third out of the cave, not the first one. Okay. And you're an astrophysicist, which makes you practically a genius and you wouldn't do it. No, not yet.

I'm, you know, because a lot of people, you know, die trying. And so I don't want to be the first one to be on the list of those who were the pioneers who died. I want to know if Branson is close to his mother. If anyone knows that Branson is close to his mother, call us because I don't like that.

Branson is touting. This is like, I'm sending my mother. Really? That's great. But if you don't like your mom, then what's the big, I want to know if you're spend $200,000 to go.

Give us a call here at 1-888-520-9710 and get a free book, Death by Black Hole, my recent book, supplied by the publisher, WW Norton. Death by Black Hole or Dating Lynn Cobbler. Actually, I don't know. If you give a gift called Death by Black Hole, do you give that to someone you like or someone you don't like? Someone you don't like. Or someone who's just really into science. But that's another good reason to call and win the book because it's a great re-gift for, like, your father or something.

And with the holidays here. Well, we've got Jerry calling from Long Island on line one. He wants to know about whether travelers go through the same training. Let's hear your question, Jerry. Well, you know, I saw the movie The Right Stuff, and I saw what they did to all those guys. Yeah, that was quite a sight. Yeah, this is going to be the wrong stuff, Jerry.

It's a little scary. I'd be a little scared to actually, if I was going to send my mom up into space, to have her go through all that. But if you did want to go up and take a tour, would you have to go through that kind of testing process? And would they poke and prod you? No, in fact, this is an excellent question. And it turns out a lot of that training in the old days was in case the ship

did like an emergency landing in the desert, and then they had to survive until they were picked up. Today, you know, you're picked up within minutes by rescue vehicles. You don't have to like eat lizards. No, but Jerry has a great question. I mean, Jerry, are you also, like, are you with me on could other things go wrong? Is that what you're kind of asking? Well, yeah.

I mean, besides just what they would do to me before I got up there, I'd be a little afraid of what happened after I got up there. Exactly. Yeah, well, they probably wouldn't, they probably want you to lose a little weight if you're a little bit overweight because that's sort of extra fuel they'd have to carry to take you up. But other than that, they'll give you some like air sickness or space sickness medicine. And no, you wouldn't need special training for this because they'd launch you and bring you right back. You land on the runway, you know, 45 minutes later.

Neil, do you not realize how crazy that sounds? Like you have to have special training to get on the airplane, right, Jerry? Yeah. When you're in the airplane, don't they tell you? So is it 200 grand for 45 minutes? Yeah. Yeah. It's not very long.

But the question is, would you do it? Let's say you were worth a million dollars. Would you spend a fifth of your net worth to do this? Not for 45 minutes. Yeah. Thank you, Jerry. Jerry's on my side. One for my team.

Guess what you won, Jerry? You won the black hole and other cosmic quandaries by Neil deGrasse Tyson because that was a good question and you're a smart man. Jerry, stay on the line. We'll get your name and address and tell me how you'd like it inscribed and we'll get it out to you. Thank you, my friend. All right. So, Lynn, you know, you get up there. He's right.

And I'd be concerned that if you were not on the side of the ship that would happen to be looking at the earth because I'm never on the right side of the airplane. Exactly. The Grand Canyon is off to your left and I'm on the right friggin' side of the airplane when that happens. What else can you see, Neil, that couldn't be good? Like, could you see an asteroid 5i and be like, what's that? You could, but we would have known that in advance. You would launch when

an asteroid was not going to hit large enough. But little ones, you don't know. Some are small and are not tracked. And they're going 18,000 miles an hour. I mean, aren't there things going on in space that we don't know of? There's floating debris. There are fragments of spacecraft. There are fragments of the Chinese space.

Chinese. They broke up their satellite. I have no idea. They tomahawked out of orbit one of their satellites, and it broke into a gazillion pieces. Those pieces are in orbit now, 18,000 miles an hour. It's dangerous going into space. So that goes with Jerry's question. Why isn't there training?

Well, you can't be trained to duck from something moving 18,000 miles an hour. No, but you can be told, first of all, are they wearing a space suit when they go up there? It's not known yet whether it'll be a pressurized cabin, in which case you'd have a helmet, but then that'd be really nasty if you threw up. So you would want a pressurized cabin, but maybe like a cool space

outfit. Okay, Neil. What? Listeners, did you hear what Neil deGrasse Tyson just said? We don't know if it's a pressurized cabin. So somebody, there are 175 dingbats out there that spent 200 grand, and they don't even know if it's a pressurized cabin. I'm an idiot.

All right, call me. Tell me if you would go. We're here at StarTalk. I'm your idiot. All right, call me. Tell me if you would go. We're here at StarTalk. I'm your host, Neil deGrasse Tyson with comedian Lynn Koplitz. 1-888-520-9710. Then we've got

Trisha calling in. She said she doesn't want to go. Line two, Trisha. Hello, Trisha. No, I wouldn't go. I think all of the points that you're making

of reasons why it would be dangerous and it shouldn't be done are very valid. I wouldn't go if somebody gave it to me as a gift. But, Patricia. That's a great answer. That is not a good gift to me, floating around in my own vomit and other people's vomit.

No. Wait, wait, Patricia. Does that mean that you would be like the last one? Let's go back in time. You would have said, I'm not going out of the cave to see what's on the other side of the river because something bad might happen. You'd be like back in time. You would have said, I'm not going out of the cave to see what's on the other side of the river because something bad might happen. You'd be like, back in the cave?

Would that be you? Okay, first of all, Tricia, you don't even have to answer that. To go into space. I don't know. Maybe we are crazy. Maybe we're the two crazy ones, Holland. I don't know. Yes, maybe.

No, we are smart. Tricia, do not listen to Dr. Tyson over here because he said he wouldn't go, so he'd be cowering in the cave with you. Wait, wait, no. We are smart. Trisha, do not listen to Dr. Tyson over here because he said he wouldn't go. So he'd be cowering in the cave with you. Wait, wait, wait. Trisha, if you were 80, would you go? No. Still not. You know what?

You know what? Trisha, let me tell you why we're smart. Let me tell you right now. Because for 200 grand, people are already putting money up there. You're not screening out the crazy. We have no idea who's going to screw off their helmet and start losing it up there. And in 20 minutes, a lot can go on. Am I not wrong?

A lot can take place in 20 minutes. It could go downhill really quick if you get ugly. Exactly. All right, Tricia, thanks for that. We'll stay online, give you your address. We'll get you the free book and the year's membership. Thanks, Tricia, for calling in. Another one on my team.

No, no, I found someone. It's Cheryl from Chatsworth who apparently would love to go. Line three. Cheryl. Hello. Hello, Cheryl. Hello. You want to go.

Oh, I would go in a heartbeat. There you go. See, here's someone. I have always wanted to go into space, although my family says I'm there all the time. Exactly. That's the point. Cheryl, are you on any kind of medication? Are you nuts?

No, no, I'm not. No. But you know what? I just, I love, I walk at night and I look at the stars and I just would love to be up there amongst it. I would go in a heartbeat. That is a beautiful, that's beautiful. And I'm glad there are those among us in our population who'd be the first to go.

Like you may have heard me say, Cheryl, I would not be the first. I'd be like the third to go. Oh, would I have to be the first? Who? Yeah, it's a maiden voyage. That's the point. You'd be going up with, Cheryl, that's the scary part. You'd be going up with people. You know what?

I still would go because I'm sure that they would do, you'd have to have some training and have to have some psychological evaluation. I would assume. Yeah, I think so too. Some psychological stability test would be necessary. You don't go berserk in space. You do think that would happen? I would assume. Yeah, I think so, too. Some psychological stability test would be necessary. She'll go berserk in space. You do think that would happen? I would hope so.

I would hope, yeah, I would hope so. Yeah, but, okay, so you wouldn't be on the maiden voyage. I presume they'd send up other animals just to check out to see what would happen. Cheryl, tell me for $200,000, just tell me this, Cheryl. You're going up, you're spending $200,000. What would you expect to get for your money? Give me three things you would expect to have happen.

Because the whole thing is last, you know, half hour. It's a half hour trip. What do you expect to get out of it? I would expect to just have the feeling of weightlessness, which you get. I would expect to just have an awe-inspiring feeling of looking down at the earth and being in space. So you see Earth out the window. So you want a window seat. Absolutely.

I'll put a window seat out of the way. And number three, one, you want to feel weightless, window seat. And just something that when I'm 80 years old, I can look back and say, you know what? I did that, and I did it. There you go. I love it. I think you can get the same feeling from the rodeo. Not so much. I think we put you on same feeling from the rodeo. Not so much.

I think we put you on one of those fake cow things. You'll feel a little weightless. And a little lightheaded at the end. You'll get a great story to tell when you're 80. And I think the maiden voyage in space will be a much better story. Well, thanks, Cheryl, for calling in. And we'll get you a book and a free year membership to the Planetary Society. Thank you very much.

All right. So, Lynn, you know, other stuff free year membership to the Planetary System. Thank you very much. All right. So, Lynn, you know, other stuff, a lot of stuff. She was nuts. No, she was nuts. Just face it. She was crazy. No, no. She's one of my peeps there, I think.

She knows how to get out there. I mean, a nice lady. Glad she called in. I'll tell you, of the things you'll see out the window, you'll see the stars in broad daylight because the atmosphere would otherwise be lighting up your sky. That's kind of cool. You'll see the atmosphere of the Earth and the curvature of Earth's surface. Wow. It is very cool. Could you take a picture?

Bring your camera. Take a picture out the window. Lean over the person next to you, even if it is Britney Spears. You're listening to StarTalk. Our toll-free number is 888-520-9710. We want to hear if you'll go into space. We'll be back shortly. The future of space

and the secrets of our planet revealed. This is StarTalk. Whether you're a space cadet or a rocket scientist, we want to hear from you. The phone lines are open. Call now. This is StarTalk. I like that intro, too.

So you're the rocket scientist and I'm the space cadet. I'm taking it. So from the space cadet, Neil, and people who are still listening, you're telling me at the break that you could see. Neil told me at the break, guys, that you could look out the window on the Virgin Galactic and possibly see a wrench flying by. Well, there's some tools that floated away from earlier space stations and things. Do you know how annoyed I would be if I bought my mother a gift to go out in space and she came back with a picture of a wrench? Space is not empty. There's satellite parts and other things.

Well, here's another thing I started to ask you before we had to go right back on the air. Yeah? You told me this story recently about how we sent the name of the chimp we first sent up in space was called Ham. Ham, Ham, yeah. And Russia sent a dog. Yes. Named Laika. Yes.

But we brought Ham back and they left Laika. Yeah, Laika was left to die in orbit. So could you look out the window and maybe see Laika like in Twister just flying by? Frozen Laika. Could you? No? No, no. Laika long ago reentered the atmosphere up in a puff of smoke.

We've got more people who are experts on this. People who are pioneers in space industry. There's a guy named Bob Weiss, who some may know as a movie producer of some of the zaniest movies ever made. Kentucky Fried Movie, Undercover Brother, Naked Gun 2 1⁄2, Tommy Boy. He's got quite the profile. That's you. Tommy Boy. He's also a space geek. I was going to say, see, this is what gets me about

the space geeky people. It's like Canadians. You have a Canadian friend and all of a sudden they're like, let's go oot. And you're like, oh my god, you're not American. You're a fake American. There's a lot of fake people you don't know. He's co-founder of the XPRIZE. Co-founder of the XPRIZE. What is that? Well, let's find out. And by the way, what is the XPRIZE Foundation?

The XPRIZE Foundation was established originally to promote alternative ways of getting to space. I had- Alternative to NASA. Alternative to NASA. What's wrong with NASA? NASA's doing lots of good things. However, they're doing it with taxpayer money, of which there is not an unlimited supply. Okay.

And they're doing them in a particular way that's steeped in their culture and history and not necessarily addressing a lot of the things that should be addressed. So you want to create a new space culture? We do indeed. And we at the XPRIZE, we're interested in transforming how people thought about space and space culture. We do indeed, and we at the XPRIZE were interested in transforming how people thought about space and space travel. That's Bob Weiss as a co-founder of the XPRIZE. He's a pretty, I mean, for a pretty cool guy, he is kind of a science geek. Yeah, but he's a cool science geek, I think. But now let me get, let me just... I want to go to a call.

We've got a caller who's ready. We've got John from Orange County. John, would you go up now? It's pretty conditional. What are your conditions, John? I would have to be really rich, and I'd want about 300 or 400 safe flights before I went. 300 or 400, that's a good number. So you would not do the maiden voyage? No, definitely not.

Okay, but how rich? Wouldn't you want to have a lot of flights under your belt before you went? We like experiment. Yes, he would, but he's kissing Richard Bramford's butt. Yeah, but John, let me ask you, how much richer than $200,000 would you have to be to spend the $200,000? I think I'd want to be in that set that's looking for ways to get rid of money, probably $20 million or so. $20 million, okay. John, now you heard that, but we were just talking about Bob Weiss has created this X Prize. Yep.

And the prize is asking people to go out there and come up with ways to go out into space. Yeah, for that to happen, that's right. In fact, he's going to tell us how cheap he wants to get it. So let's see what Bob also tells us. Thank you so much, John. We'll pick up. Well, what the marketing research shows is that people will spend an equivalent amount of money to the family car to be able to take the adventure of a lifetime. Oh, so this is not just something you do every time.

It is the one-time trip that you live for. Pretty much. So family cars nowadays, let's say $20,000, $25,000. $20,000, $25,000. That's the price point we would like to see at right now. Just so you have a sense of scale, people are flying into space

for $20 million on hardware, essentially leftover from the Cold War or the first space raid. Let me just get this straight, please. Yes, go. So Bob Weiss, his XPRIZE Foundation, he's offering $10 to $20 million for people who can, like, pimp your space mobile is basically what you're saying? Basically, yeah. It's a prize.

If you have the first vehicle, it'll take people into space for cheap. So he's telling people to go out into their garage. Yes. Clever people. No, not clever people. It's clever people. No, just anybody. He said anybody can do, so no, you know, no, no, not clever people. No, just anybody. He said anybody can do this. Okay. He did say anybody. I'm sorry. Which means there's someone in like my hometown in Stanton, Virginia right now who just pulled out the duct

tape and is like, I got a great idea. All right. Do you, all right, Lynn, you got somebody who's got another idea? Let me hear it. Well, I mean, I'm just saying, is there anyone out there? You know, I went on the street and I talked to somebody. Okay. You're talking to people on the street again. What happened? Go. It was frightening.

Do you have an idea? Any ideas? Another way other than like a rocket, some cool new plane, rocket, shuttle thing that could get out into space. If I were a scientist, maybe I could come up with something. Okay, John, give me your idea for the X Prize. I like your idea. Okay, a Jiffy Pop popper.

A Jiffy Pop popper for a human being? Absolutely. How would that work? Absolutely. I have no idea, but if you throw them inside the Jiffy Pop, throw a flame underneath and they pop them right out. Win. Really, honestly, people listening, I'm not even kidding, call,

because am I nuts? Am I really nuts? Is this a good idea, this commercial space stuff? Because I like NASA. I like things the way I like having engineers. I like trained professionals going out into space. And the idea of, did you hear what I just got off the street, Jiffy Pop? That was crazy.

This was this guy's first idea. You're listening to Star Talk. I'm your host, Neil deGrasse Tyson, with comedian Lynn Komplitz. And we're just trying to find out what would get you to go into space. Or do you have a better idea for the X-Prize? No, I remember when I was a kid looking at Jiffy Pop. It was like magic watching this thing expand up right on the stove. And Neil, tell me what you do with Jiffy Pop.

It was magic. You heat it, and the bottom gets hot. Neil, tell me what you do with Jiffy Pops. It was magic. You heat it, and the bottom gets hot. I want to hear what you have to say. Call us at 1-888-520-9710. It may take more than just clever engineers in their garage to figure out how to go into space. Maybe sources of money not yet tapped for it. I want to go back to Bob Weiss and find out what he tells us.

Please. I remember when I saw the movie Weiss and find out what he tells us. Please. I remember when I saw the movie 2001, Stanley Kubrick's brilliant film. 1968, I guess that was. 1968, exactly. And they depicted a future in space, then some 33 years in the future. We all remember those scenes. Exactly. And there was a ship that was traveling from the Earth into space.

And there was a logo of what at the time was a world-class commercial airline called Pan Am, now defunct, and there were things like Howard Johnson's on the space station. Hojo's on the space station. Exactly. They had the Earthlight Room. I remember seeing that, and that worried me greatly. I thought, oh, there goes the neighborhood.

No, but you had more commercial foresight than I did. I thought space should be left pure, but, of course, you can only enable this if it becomes an industry. That's your point. Exactly right. And also in that film. You didn't comment that every one of those businesses is now defunct. With the exception of Hilton.

Oh, Hilton. They're still in business. But that gave that whole film a reality. The fact that they were commercial interest involved. A reality check. This is good. I mean, I like that Bob Weiss is trying to do this

on the cheap, but I gotta tell you, of course. I mean, Starbucks and Gap, they show up everywhere. Do you think there's going to be some sort of sponsoring or advertising? Call us at StarTalk. 888-520-9710 and if you call in, you'll get

a free inscribed book, Death by Black Hole and Other Cosmic Conjurings. I happened to write that book. My publisher heard I was going to be on the air and offered free copies for it. And that's very sweet. You also get a free annual subscription to the Planetary Society. Because I happen to know you're very cheap. So it's very nice of you to give that to me. I got to go to Greg on Line 5.

He said he would go, but, Greg, but what? He said he would go, but, Greg, but what? The basic thing is that I get a little queasy when I go on flights, just regular airline flights. But you would nonetheless go. You would nonetheless go into space. Give me, like, you know, mega doses of, like, you know, some kind of thing to take care of the queasiness or whatever. What kind of thing to take care of the queasiness or whatever. Dramamine. But I would need about a, I'd have to have be about worth $100 million, I think, to spend the $200,000.

Okay. Well, if you were worth that much money, you would definitely have, you could get a shot of something that would not make you nauseous. But chances are, because I also get seasick and motion sickness, you would probably fall asleep from whatever they gave you. Oh, that wouldn't be bad. So that would stink. It would be dramamine.

You wouldn't remember anything. That would be bad. But would you be the first to go, Greg? Yeah, why not? I mean, why not? Well, let's find out. Somebody's got to do it. Somebody's got to do it.

Somebody's got to do it. Thanks, Greg. But Bob Weiss has a... Chuck Yeager had to be the first to go past the seat of sound. Somebody's got to try it. That's right, but he wasn't throwing up the whole time. Not that we were told. Yeah, but see, this is my point, too.

The people that are going up are going to be the pukers and the crazies. Let's find out what Bob Weiss said about dying trying. The prize gives them focus. How many of them are just going to kill themselves trying? Well, we hope none. We were very fortunate. Many people died at the dawn of aviation. Absolutely.

So we're going to have to expect some of this. Yes, and we're opening up a new frontier. A new way to die. Well, here's the thing, though. That's what it is. It is, but it's in service of a good cause. And I think what's happened is the culture has become too risk-averse. And when you try to play it safe all the time, then you don't get to stretch the boundaries.

And then you never leave the cave. You do not leave the cave. And if that's okay with you, and you're okay with the cave getting real cluttered and dirty, you stay in there, and it's kind of dark and a mess. But I think that a lot of us have more hope for the planet than... Well, it turns out, Lynn... I'm fine with the cave.

Lynn, the Wright brothers, we know of them, but surely people died before them. Surely? What about the Schultz brothers? We never heard about them. That's my point. The Wright brothers got all the press, but there were a lot of wrong brothers. The wrong brothers.

Oh, wow. Okay. Well, I got to hear from, who's this? We have another problem. I lost her. Where is she? She's from, Carmen from Brooklyn. You said you would not go?

Carmen. No. Sensible she? She's from Carmen from Brooklyn. You said you would not go. Carmen. No. Sensible Carmen. She's from Brooklyn. There's nothing you could do to get me there. Nothing. First of all, I don't go anywhere where there's not at least a three-star hotel. I get seasick on the subway.

You're putting me in a station for 45 minutes. I'd be the one to throw up, and they'd be like, great, the fat girl screwed it up for us. It would be horrible. Oh, Carmen. No, I think boundaries are a good thing. And I think like the atmosphere, that's a boundary. And if a scientist is going to go and they're going to do some kind of, you know, expert mission or whatever, but me, I live a virtual reality life.

I am a pro golfer, tennis player, and boxer on my Wii, and that's good enough for me. Good girl. You have plenty to talk about. Carmen in the house from Brooklyn. Thanks, Carmen, for that. Thank you, Carmen. And I agree with you, and I think you're very smart.

All right, so what else did Bob Weiss have to say? I think we heard all we can from him. You're going to die. You might. Poor Bob. Let me see if I get one more call in in the last few seconds. Let's say Laura from L.A. Line two.

Laura, are you still there? Yeah, Laura. Hi. I just want to know, you know, Virgin's sort of known for the amenities, because I would love to go. Yeah. But are they going to, you know, I mean, is there drink service? Is there, like, steward and stewardess? You know what, Laura?

Is there food, you know? Yes. That's what I want to know. Is there an astro flight attendant? Good question. Let's pick that up after the break, and we'll talk about whether they serve drinks and any other amenities. And keep listening, because we're going to talk about sex in space too indeed with us star talk bringing space and science down to earth you're listening to star talk

unlocking the secrets of your world and everything orbiting around it this is star talks orbiting around it. This is Star Talk. Our last caller, Neil, is Laura, and she does win a book, Death by Black Hole and Other Cosmic Quandaries, that she wrote, and the Planetary Society membership. Because she brought up a very good point, I thought, about how she wants to know what she's getting for $200,000 because she likes five-star hotels.

And that's a great segue into the next thing I wanted to talk about. What is that, Lynn? Sex in space. Lynn. Because we know you found it and you sent it to me, Neil, and we are talking about it. Pierre Kohler, who is a French scientist, he wrote this thing in his book, correct,

about apparently there's a little mission that NASA sent astronauts up in space to try out 10 sexual positions. Yeah. They had a list of 20, but they narrowed it down to 10. Can you imagine that day, people, when you're an astronaut and they knock on your door and ask you, and you find out you're like a piece of astronaut because they want you to be one of the people that tries out the 10 positions? Anyway, so the point I'm making is that there's a NASA sex tape floating around out there. Am I correct? Well, sort of, yeah. I mean, I don't know how floating it is. But there were four sexual positions, and I want callers to tell us what they think,

four sexual positions that were the good ones that could be used out of the 10 without help. Well, yeah, here's the problem. When you are weightless in space, a lot of things that go on between the sheets can't happen that way in space. So call in and tell us what you think would be the worst position, the hardest one in space, because we know which one they said was the hardest. We got Mike from Santa Monica on line one, which is asking that outright. And Mike, you want to know if there ever has been sex in space? The answer is yes, the Russians did it first. And there were other missions for which that was the case. And so what we don't know is if any baby has been conceived in space.

That's another thing to know. Really? Is Mike on the line right now? Mike, are you on the line, line one? Yes. Yeah. So, Mike, is this something you would do, I guess? Absolutely. But my question was that I've heard talk that there has been a lot going on in the International Space Station, not just with the Russians, and that there was, in fact, at least one pregnancy that transpired in the International Space Station that NASA and the European Space Agency have hushed up. And I was wondering if you know anything about that.

No, I am not authorized to divulge. Seriously, are there some space hoes out there that no one knows about? Space hoes? Yeah, that's what Mike's asked now. Mike, do you have an idea on what you think would be the most difficult sexual position? I think female superior would be difficult given the weightlessness. Female superior. I love how scientific you are. Does that mean girl on top?

Yes. Yeah, that's an excellent point because that one relies heavily on gravity to return to where you once were. So that's not the hardest one, though, but that's one of them? Yeah, I think that the standard positions, what happens is if you remember your Newton's laws of motion, one of them— I'm sorry. I just fell asleep for a minute. Sorry if you don't remember it from your high school physics. Did you take high school physics, Lynn?

Mike, are you still with us? Did you take high school physics, Lynn? Mike, are you still with us? Did you fall asleep? You've got to remember, one of the laws of physics is... Oh, for every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction. See, he fell asleep for a minute. Now he remembers. Yes, Mike, you remembered. And so in space, where there's no friction to

hold you in place, any thrust in one direction, there's a recoil, and you end up flying apart from each other. Next thing you know, you have a broken nose. Exactly. Exactly. Thank you, Mike. You have won a book, Death by Black Hole and Other Cosmic Quandaries, and a year's membership.

A year's membership? A year's membership to the planetary side. Thanks for calling in, Mike. For Karen. Thank you. And for letting us know that there might be someone who got knocked up out on the Russian space station. So the point is, the future of space tourism would include hotels

and residences and this sort of thing. So typically... Could you spread someone's ashes out in space? That as well, but you hope you wouldn't have died in space to make that happen. But see, again, that's a kook. You know, some kookaburra is going to go up there and do just that. I'm taking my helmet off.

I want to go. We want to know what you think on StarTalk. Our phone number is 1-888-520-9710. If you call in, you get a free inscribed book, Death by Black Hole, which I happen to write, but my publisher heard I'd be on the air this afternoon and offered free copies. I like that you said you're a publisher

because I happen to know you're a little tight in the wallet. It was very nice of you. I'm just playing. You also get a free year's subscription and membership to the Planetary Society. Nelly, I like Mike because what did he just call a woman on time? What did he say? Female superior position? Yeah, he's got like lingo for this.

I didn't know there was lingo. He's a nerd like you, I think. Well, maybe he's a student of positions. But if you are, and he remembered his Newton's laws. So maybe he's like more into this than we had thought. I'm glad because I can maybe have sex in space because I hate that position. It's exhausting. Too much work. So that would be like the 200 mile club if you needed to. Yeah. Isn't it farther than that? No. Low Earth orbit, anywhere between 200 and 300 miles will work for you. The space station

orbits at 240 miles around there. Oh, wouldn't that be cool? You could have little quickie hotels, little quickie space stations where you just check in for 15 minutes. So the point is, as we go into space and there are hotels and restaurants and, you know, probably brothels will follow. How long is this going to

all take place? Because you should know that astrophysics, the study of the universe, is the second oldest profession. So if we get you out there, the first oldest will probably take over. Space hookers. Space hookers. That was StarTalk. StarTalk was brought to you by the Planetary Society.

Did you know that, Lynn? Can I just ask a question before we leave? What? What is the Planetary Society? It happens to be the largest space interest group in the world, Lynn. If you remember, you participate in discovering new worlds, the search for life. They work with NASA. Oh, that really is cool.

All of this. It makes space exploration happen at planetary.org. They're awesome, then. You've been listening to StarTalk. Tell us what you think at StarTalkRadio at Mac.com. Give us your points of view. That's our show this week. I'm Neil deGrasse Tyson.

And I'm Lynn Kovlitz. Saying goodbye. Over. 97.1. KLSX. Free FM.