Behind the Scene's of Kubrick's 2001" A Space Odyssey

"The Discovery

The vehicle selected for the Jovian mission is the impressive, 700-foot long spaceship Discovery. So-called "Cavradyne" gaseous core, nuclear reactor engines at the rear provide the craftls propulsion. Hundreds of feet of tankage and structure separate the spherical part of the ship where the crew quarters, the computer, flight controls, small auxiliary craft, and instrumentation are located. In the centrifuge, the crew enjoy Earth-like gravity conditions created by spinning; it is there that they spend most of their time and where the hibernating astronauts sleep in their hibernacula. Actual piloting, navigational checks, and the like take place in the zero-gravity environment command module. Other sections of the sphere include the pod bay, where three one-man repair and inspection craft are housed, and the HAL 9000 computer with its level-upon-level of memory storage and related elements."

2001 was a ground breaking piece of cinematic art.  It showed the dreams of space travel that could become possible reality.

Stanly Kubrick wanted a realism so real, that many thought what he showed was actually exiting technology.

I have always thought, that NASA should turn to Hollywood when it comes to creating the tools necessary for our exploration of space.

Could you imagine, what would happen if Hollywood was tasked with designing and building a EVA Space suit that would cost less than 50 thousand dollars per suit?  I bet you they could do it and do it so the final cost would be considerably less than 50k.  The Disney Imagineers could probably do it for less than 20k a suit.  Just give them the specs and turn them loose.

People like Elon Musk, and many others have the ability and the imagination to build the future of space travel.  Burt Rutan has taken one of the many steps needed to bring the future about.

The largest problem we have currently, is the hindrance of big government.

I bet if NASA joined with private industry and offered a prize for the first private space station to reach orbit in one of the Lagrange points, inside of 7 years the prize would be collected.

Bigelow Aerospace, has already built several inflatable stations that are in current orbit.  I bet if they were offered the opportunity to put a station in L2 with some help for launching their units, they would jump at it.

So we have the technology NOW to build Kubrick's and Clarke's dreams.  Do we have the determination to do so?

The International Space Station is getting a new room

"LAS VEGAS (AP) — NASA is partnering with a commercial space company in a bid to replace the cumbersome "metal cans" that now serve as astronauts' homes in space with inflatable bounce-house-like habitats that can be deployed on the cheap."

I'm glad that Bigelow Aerospace is being allowed to show just what their systems can do.  Their Genesis I and Genesis II modules are still orbiting the earth and can be tracked along with the ISS at the following link.

Our Planet Earth from Space

Bigelow is still working on their BA330 Module which is much larger than their two previous modules, and the TransHab systems are getting proven in space.  And hopefully in the coming years space tourism at an reasonably affordable price will be the jump start necessary to increase our use of space and the second step of our possibly colonizing other planets.