I’ll Teach Them How To Spend Money Instead
February 16, 2000
Mir Space station: an aging heap of metal the size of five school buses.
“The 14-year-old station has surpassed its expected five-year lifespan but is suffering from metal fatigue, corrosion and chemical contamination among other problems and it is estimated it will cost over $100 million a year to man and maintain it.” (YAHOO)
It’s 9 years past its death date, it was supposed to be dumped into the ocean last year, there’s a big hole in the hull from a collision of debris, and cosmonauts fear it when they step inside.
So, some people are turning it into a hotel. I’m not kidding you. Some investors leased the Mir (pronounced g’ar’bi’ge), plan to renovate it, and then have rich morons pay $20 million to live in it.
If you’ve ever seen it on the news, you’ll notice it’s quite cramped in there, or was it because they brought really large russians into it? Anyways, the question you need to answer is, would you spend a your vacation in a piece of metal that’s about to disintegrate in space a la Deep Impact? Regardless of how much it costs, you wouldn’t catch me in the Mir if Shoo said she’d marry me if I went.
And then there’s the price tag. $20m. Most of us will never know how much $20m is, not with our salaries of what? $50k? $60k? Sadly, I’m sure there are many rich, idiotic tycoons who will dish it out and stay up there.
Wow, 20 million can buy you a lot of stuff. Why would people buy a trip to live in the most unsafe thing orbiting the earth? Hell, I’m sure Fox’s satellites are safer.
