Re: Starship Passengers and...

.... and even more on trade and commerce.


Rob Dean asks about Mike Surman's observation that space flight costs so
damn much.

:What do you need to maintain life in space?  Food (cheap), air (cheaper),
:water (cheap), power (lots of it on a ship), specialized equipment (already
:included in the cost of the ship--extended life support isn't real cheap,
:plus we pay annual maintenance on it.)

Well, if I were running a little passenger line between say Efate and
Bounghe, or some such, I'd also throw in:

   salaries of people aboard
   dead-head space (passengers who won't be there for a return flight)
   routine bribes
   PROFIT  (double all yer expenses...)


I guess this is just another symptom of trade and commerce needing fixed
rather than just dusted under the rug.
- --
Richard Johnson     [email removed]
Sue Congress!