5 new papers relating to the JRS Space Tourism Study Program were presented at the 7th ISCOPS held in Nagasaki July 25-28, showing that this work is advancing on all fronts, and gathering interest from an increasingly wide range of experts - as it deserves to!

• "Dynamic throttling response of LH2 rocket engine for vertical landing rocket vehicle" by Y Naruo et al discusses the technical requirements for rapid throttle response for SSTO VTOL vehicles (like Kankoh-maru) in order to avoid the need to gimbal the engines (which adds to mass and complexity), and reports on recent experiments carried out on an LH2 engine that suggests that these requirements can indeed be met with existing technology. Very encouraging for reducing vehicle costs!
• "A common cost target of space transportation for space tourism and space energy development" by M Nagatomo et al estimates the launch cost targets that must be met in order for both space tourism services and transmission of solar-generated electric power from space to be commercially attractive propositions. In both cases the target is somewhere around $100/kg to low Earth orbit - a bit higher for tourism, a bit lower for SPS. If the launch industry can meet these targets they will be in a "whole new ball-game" with essentially limitless prospects for investment and growth, since they will be tapping two of the biggest business sectors in the world economy. Until this cost target is reached, space activities will remain a burden on taxpayers. Kankoh-maru and the cargo version are being designed to meet this target.
• "The JRS space tourism study program Phase 2", by P Collins and K Isozaki describes the current state of the JRS research, now in its 5th year. The 2nd Report of the JRS Transportation Research Committee has just been published, including cost estimates for development, certification and production of Kankoh-maru. The 1st Report of the JRS Business Research Committee is due to be published soon, including discussion of operating cost targets, operation of Kankoh-maru from airports, orbital accommodation and other matters. Plans for the 3rd phase of the JRS study (now beginning) are described.
• "Orbital considerations in Kankoh-maru rendezvous operations" by T Williams et al starts to analyze the use of Kankoh-maru for making return trips to orbiting hotels. Kankoh-maru is designed primarily to take 50 passengers for a short flight in a 200 km orbit, and reaching a hotel imposes new constraints on the vehicle design and operation - particularly since hotels will probably be sited in orbits of 355 km or above. The paper is written to be easily read by non-specialists such as airline planners, and looks forward to the day when phrases like "apogee", "RBAR", "Ten-to-one-rule" and "dog-leg" are as familiar to airline flight dispatchers as "great circle", "jet-stream" and "go-around" are today. And to when "passenger load factor", "block time" and "spacecraft utilization" are equally familiar to launch vehicle designers!
• "Pilot procedures for Kankoh-maru operations" by Erik Anderson et al is a real "first" - the first pilot's manual for an SSTO VTOL rocket. It discusses the need for rocket designers to adopt "aviation philosophy" if rocket transport is to become a mature business. And then goes through the procedures for a routine flight. The Appendix is a (simplified) version of a Flight Manual for the " Kawasaki S-1", an all-purpose variant of the Kankoh-maru. It reads like the real thing, and shows that if maintenance requirements can be brought down to reasonable levels, airlines will operate VTOL rockets just like aircraft. It even shows how, if there had been a pilot aboard, the DC-XA accident could have been avoided. A fun read for pilots!

  All in all, these papers are very encouraging to read, and show some of the widening interest in developing vehicles to provide space tourism services to the public. We hope they'll attract more researchers to join this field. For example, many university Professors, researchers and students have some flexibility to decide what subjects they will research. And as a research field space tourism has three great features - it's new, and so it's easy to do genuinely new work that is genuinely valuable - and even historic. It's fun - researchers will have no difficulty recruiting enthusiastic and able students - and getting media coverage for their work. And it's leading towards money - unlike almost all other space-related research. Tourism is one of the biggest industries in the world, it's growing fast, and it's always looking for new fields. So it's possible to do work that's not only new and fun, but also of real commercial interest.

A number of emerging technologies have the potential to provide major benefits to the aerospace industry. Among those recently cited by the judges of Technology Innovation Award is Space Tourism : `Recent in-depth studies suggest that currently available technology could make a two-stage spaceplane a reality within a decade (see also AWST Apr 7, p 58)'

AWST reports that Sen. John Glenn (D.-Ohio), the first American to orbit the Earth (in 1961), has a "..burning desire to go back to space..." NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin is reported to be considering his request to fly again. Glenn is 76 years old, and he would become the oldest person to visit space.

It is very unlikely that there will be any health problems due to his age, provided that he's in normal health - since going to orbit and living in zero G is not stressful. However, NASA is not allowed to carry people other than professional staff related to the work of each mission on board the space shuttle, and it seems unlikely that US taxpayers will wish to pay for his trip. Now if some company was only offering tourist flights... -SFJ

Company Press Release

Steamboat Springs, CO - SpaceDev chairman James William Benson today announced that Roy Tucker of Tucson, AZ became the first winner in the $5,000 "Benson Prize for the Amateur Discovery of Near Earth Asteroids" competition.

The Benson Prize was announced at the American Astronomical Society meeting June 10, and Mr. Tucker, using a camera-equipped 14-inch telescope in his backyard, became the second amateur to ever discover a near earth asteroid, and the first winner of one of the ten $500 Benson Prizes.

Mr. Tucker began looking for earth-approaching objects in May, and was pleased to find a near earth asteroid so quickly. Mr. Tucker plans to use the Benson Prize money to help buy a better camera for his telescope.

Mr. Tucker first spotted the object on June 28. Additional observations came from observers in the Czech Republic, Australia, Italy and the U.S. By the morning of July 2 the orbit computations were considered secure. The object was designated 1997 MW1. The discovery was confirmed by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center on July 3.

SpaceDev, LLC is a commercial space exploration company, and will announce in September details of its premier venture, the first unmanned spacecraft to another planetary body. Mr. Benson, a geologist and native of Kansas City, sold his computer companies in McLean, VA in 1995, and founded SpaceDev early this year. For more information about the Benson Prize, and how to discover asteroids, contact Diane Murphy, 703.893.0740 or visit www.skypub.com/benson/prize.html.

Q: The St. Louis-based X Prize Foundation has announced that 10 teams have registered to compete in the first private race to space. Could you shed some light on your plan to participate?

A: This [race] is extremely important and interesting, because I think it can [lead to] flight out of the atmosphere--just what the barnstormers opened up to flight in the atmosphere. It won't be done by NASA. And it won't be done by governments, and it won't be done by industry. It will be done by the barnstormers of space. That's what will let the common man fly out of the atmosphere. I think even suborbital flights--where you have 3 to 5 minutes of weightlessness--will be so much fun that it will be a profit-making tourism business. I have structured a plan, and a preliminary design, and a unique way at addressing the factors that make rockets dangerous, and eliminating those dangers. And if those guys put that money in the bank for the prize-winners to get, I'm going to go after it. Sure, why not?

The Space Development Corporation LLC of Steamboat Springs, Colorado has established a prize to spur amateur discovery of near Earth asteroids. Named after the company's founder, James William Benson, the Benson Prize will award $500 for each discovery made by amateur astronomers of objects with perihelia less than the Earth's average distance from the sun.

Space Development Corp. is a private space exploration company that will announce in July a venture to build the first private spacecraft to go beyond Earth's orbit.

The Society is still going through its growing pains, but is starting to focus on workshops and publicity. Anyone who is interested in joining the Society, may contact Mr. John Spencer at 310-472-0846, or via email at jssdesign@aol.com. Over twenty members attended the brainstorming session and meeting. The following issues were discussed:

• "High Society" Newsletter -- There will be three seperate documents: a high quality introduction brochure; bi-monthly UPDATE; a "High Society" magazine modeled after the National Geographic magazine
• Space Tourism Workshop -- Mr. Charles Carr is the chair of a one day workshop for planning the 1998 Space Tourism Symposium. It will be held on December 13, 1997 on board the Queen Mary cruise ship, which is in permanent dock in Long Beach, California. Anyone who wants to participate, please contact Mr. John Spencer.
• NASA/STA Space Tourism Workshop -- the report on the workshop will finally be published in mid-summer. STS will secure copies and distribute them to the membership.
• "X Prize" Gala -- STS will participate in the September 27, 1997 event in St. Louis, Missouri. This event will be used to make the first national press announcement about STS. (September 26, 1997 will be the first anniversary of STS)
• Annual Lifetime Membership Award -- Dr. David Webb was awarded an annual lifetime membership because of his outstanding efforts in promoting commercial space development. Some of you may remember his involvement with the National Commission on Space, and the book they published called "Pioneering the Space Frontier."
• Corporate Sponsorship -- Three companies have requested corporate sponsorship materials. These materials are still under development.
• Conferences -- STS has been invited to the "Humans to the Moon 2000" symposium on July 4 in Pasadena. They have also been invited to the Space Frontier Foundation Conference on November 7-9 in Los Angeles.
• Media Coverage -- Several members have participated in several TV and radio programs, including "Strange Universe."
• "Space Lottery" -- STS is working with "Buzz" Aldrin on his lottery concept since it means opening space to the average person.
• MIR Space Station Commercialization -- STS also supports Mr. Derek Webber's efforts in privatizing MIR space station.
• "Space Tourism Dinner Theater" -- Mr. Mark Reiff presented his ideas for a comical "Murder Mystery" dinner theater performance loosely based on an Arthur C. Clarke story.

IP Space Tours GmbH just released a report on the media coverage of the first International Symposium on Space Tourism. It was held from March 20-22, 1997 in Bremen, Germany. Here are the statistics from coverage in Germany: 1.560,000 listeners on radio, 30,706,196 readers on print media, and 34,800,000 viewers on television are estimated to have seen or heard about the event. Through wire reports such as Associated Press, ISST was reported in dozens of countries, including the United States.

Another important measurement was the style of the news reports. All of the reports accepted the vision of space tourism as serious. Only one out of 101 reports was negative. The rest were ranged from neutral to enthusiastic.

Space Tours' report included details of the German media outlets, and photocopies of several newspaper articles (all in German, of course).

Welcome to the ultimate penthouse suite: a hotel orbiting Earth. Nasa, the American space agency, is sponsoring a project to build a space station for holidaymakers by 2012.

Space, the final tourist destination. The Japanese Rocket Society ( JRS) has embarked on a 13-year mission to boldly go where no group tour has gone before.