As we approach the end of another year we all need to start planning that vacation we all keep promising ourselves, you know the short excursion to outer space?
The first space hotel is destined to open in a mere 4 years after all, yes, only 4 more years! I have mine booked already, have you? (kids under 3 orbit for free)!
The hotel, “Galactic Suites,” will allow travelers to enjoy a spectacular starry view from their hotel rooms, see the sun rise 15 times a day and take part in highly unscientific elementary grade, zero gravity, horticultural experiments. There were a few design kinks the company that is creating the hotel had to work out too, especially those involving water, and the gaudy plaid “tourist” attire fabrics requested by the programs first wealthy suscribers:
“They better have salted pecans on the flight,
thats all I can say Muffy”
“I hear you Skip”.
“It’s the bathrooms in zero gravity that are the biggest challenge,” company director Xavier Claramunt told Reuters. “How to accommodate the more intimate activities of the guests is not easy.”
They have found a solution to the problem of how to allow guests to shower however: a spa room where guests can float around in bubbles of water.
Oh and forget about “around the world in 80 days”, a guest in this hotel can neck a margarita whilst circumnavigating the world in 80 minutes.
The hotel was no more than a dream of Claramunt’s until a generous space enthusiast fronted the $3 billion needed to build the hotel. The trip isn’t cheap though, a three-day stay will lighten your wallet / purse to the tune of $4 million, according to Reuters. “We have calculated that there are 40,000 people in the world who could afford to stay at the hotel. Whether they will want to spend money on going into space, we just don’t know,” Claramunt told Reuters.
Virgin Galactic is on an even faster track, launching commercial space flights in 2009, Here is the Spaceport in New Mexico. Although seats on the first flights have been sold at a premium (starting at $200,000 for the first 100, after the first 500 passengers, seats will be booked with a deposit of US $20,000.
The first passenger flight is planned for 2010.
And this will be your experience:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IytjSl6voP0
From the new to the old. This decayed post oak leaf was an amazing lattice work on closer examination…it really reminds me of the structure on a dragonfly’s wing.
This was my bravest dragon to date. Hanging on to the summit of an agave spike, with the post oak as a backdrop. The word “dragon” comes from an ancient Greek word meaning “sharp-sighted one”.
“And now for something completely different from the
Carboniferous Period:”
Carboniferous Period forest
(from a display at the Chicago Field Museum).
In the Carboniferous Period, the time in Earth’s history from 360 – 290 million years ago, ancient dragonflies shared the land with early amphibians and the first reptiles. The forests were dominated by plants related to modern day horsetails and club mosses. Today’s trees and flowering plants had yet to evolve and the first dinosaurs would not appear for another 100 million years.
A dragonfly doesn’t see as much detail as a human can, but its eyes and brain are extremely sensitive to motion. They can detect movements separated by 1/300th of a second! To a dragonfly, a movie might look like a series of still pictures. If you have ever tried to catch one, no matter how close you are, this quickly becomes apparent.
Dragonflies are probably the best fliers on Earth. They can fly forward, backward and turn almost instantly. They can hover, turn while hovering and accelerate to full speed in a split second, then glide effortlessly.
Bare post oak leaf structure. Human blood vessels.
“I prefer z image on z right, if you catch my drift”.
“You can take our blood, but you will never take our FRREEEEDOM!”
William Wallace plays his bagpipes below the giant timber bamboo at the back of my yard, every full moon. The rest of the time he just quietly stands here, plotting his revenge on the English. He does occasionally challenge me to a rock throwing competition though.
“I see a strength in yee” he always recites before the challenge, which incidentally, I always win due to his tiny little stone arms and legs.
Fall Aster and a potato vine that just happened to appeared in this spot. I have three asters, such a happy looking plant, very psychedelic.
“Yeah, Aster, yeah, did you just
“fall” for me baby?… did you?
Fall Aster is one of the last flowers to bloom in the fall, putting on a grand display of flowers when all of the others are finished. The Greek meaning of Aster is “star” which describes the beautiful 1” blue flowers and yellow disk of this Texas Native.
Not only is the Aster beautiful, it is beneficial to wildlife as
wild turkey and other gamebirds will eat the seeds and
foliage in the winter. It is also a nectar source for butterflies
and bees.
Right side of property, agave and succulent bed. Post oak at the back.
Stay Tuned for:
“Take a Walk on the Wild Side.”
All material © 2008 for east_side_patch. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
