On Tue, 13 Jan 2004 14:10:22 GMT, John Schutkeker
wrote (in part):


I agree with everything you've just said except the tourism part. You are
assuming a market that may or may not exist. Although there is clearly a
market for tourism on the ISS, those flights last days, and the visitor is
allowed to hang around on the most prestigious piece of hardware America
owns, with substantial room to move. A sub-orbital flight only lasts about
fifteen minutes, which is hardly enough time to interest the majority
of status seekers.


Why do you imagine that the primary purpose (or any purpose) of a
suborbital tourist will be to seek status? Think thrills. Think novelty.
Think vast vistas. Think of it as a sort of combination of a roller-coaster
ride and a climb up a mountain without the bad weather and exertion.

Sure, the first few will have (and use) some bragging rights. But that
will wear out quickly, and there's no way it would ever sustain a tourism
industry -- on Earth or in space.

I do grant that "tourism" may not be the right word for a suborbital
flight. But that's just a quibble.