The conversation covers the engineering details behind these proposed "Space Islands," including agricultural tanks for growing food, hydroponics systems for oxygen recycling, and inflatable interior modules designed decades earlier by Goodyear. Meyers reveals that major cruise lines have expressed interest in the concept, comparing the cost of a commercial shuttle to that of a luxury cruise ship at roughly $500 million.
Art and Meyers explore the possibilities of booking two-week orbital vacations, with tourist suites positioned in the zero-gravity core of the station. The discussion expands to even grander ambitions, including propelling entire stations into orbit around the moon within three days or reaching Mars in nine months.
Key Moments
External tank fate: burns up over Pacific: Meyers explains the shuttle's external tank rides 98-99% of the way to orbit, then is dumped to break up like a meteor between Hawaii and California - wasted hardware the size of a 747 fuselage.
Ring of twelve tanks: the Space Island design: Meyers proposes joining a dozen empty external tanks into a rotating ring like 2001 or Deep Space Nine - three decks each, two tanks through the center as an axle, spokes connecting in to a zero-G hub.
Cost: $10B for first station, $4B each after: Meyers names the price: the first Space Island ring would run about $10 billion, the second $6 billion, and from there roughly $4 billion each - versus NASA's projected $100 billion for the much smaller International Space Station.
Docking section: a 20-foot trunk on each tank: Meyers details the engineering: build a 20-foot non-fuel section onto the bottom of each tank with a prefabricated connector inside, then use a TRW-developed orbital robot forklift to nudge tanks together and bolt them in place.
Fly the whole station to the Moon in 3 days: With small engines for orbit-keeping plus extra fuel, the entire ring station could fly itself into a figure-eight Earth-Moon orbit in three days, or to Mars in about nine months - passengers transferring at the Earth swing-by.