[Article] Space hotel plans to open in 2012

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Spotted this on rte.ie. Lulz at zero gravity bathrooms.

Stanley Kubrick's 2001 vision of a hotel in space could become a reality, granted eleven years later and without the Howard Johnson's brand name.

'Galactic Suite', the first hotel planned in space, expects to open for business in 2012 and would allow guests to travel around the world in 80 minutes.

Its Barcelona-based architects say the space hotel will be the most expensive in the galaxy, costing $4m (€2.9m) for a three-day stay.
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During that time guests would see the sun rise 15 times a day and use Velcro suits to crawl around their pod rooms by sticking themselves to the walls like Spiderman (or Spiderpig, if they prefer).

Company director Xavier Claramunt says the three-bedroom boutique hotel's joined up pod structure, which makes it look like a model of molecules, was dictated by the fact that each pod room had to fit inside a rocket to be taken into space.

'It's the bathrooms in zero gravity that are the biggest challenge,' says Mr Claramunt. 'How to accommodate the more intimate activities of the guests is not easy.'

But they may have solved the issue of how to take a shower in weightlessness - the guests will enter a spa room in which bubbles of water will float around.

When guests are not admiring the view from their portholes they will take part in scientific experiments on space travel.

'Galactic Suite' began as a hobby for former aerospace engineer Claramunt, until a space enthusiast decided to make the science fiction fantasy a reality by fronting most of the €2.19bn needed to build the hotel.

An American company intent on colonising Mars, which sees the hotel as a first step, has since come on board, and private investors from Japan, the United States and the United Arab Emirates are in talks.

If Mr Claramunt is secretive about the identity of his generous backer, he is more forthcoming about the custom he can expect.

'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.'

'Galactic Suite' said the price included not only three nights in space. Guests also get eight weeks of intensive training at a James Bond-style space camp on a tropical island.

'There is fear associated with going into space,' said Mr Claramunt. 'That's why the shuttle rocket will remain fixed to the space hotel for the duration of the guests' stay, so they know they can get home again.'