May 11, 2001: Space Tourism - David Livingston

Art Bell hosts Dr. David Livingston, whose doctoral dissertation examined the business prospects of space tourism, for a discussion on the future of commercial spaceflight in the wake of Dennis Tito's historic trip to the International Space Station. Livingston recounts how his research journey began after discovering Richard C. Hoagland's work, leading him to propose a space tourism dissertation that was nearly rejected by his conservative business school and only approved by a single vote.

Livingston outlines how NASA functions as a barrier to commercial space development, citing administrator Dan Goldin's statements that discouraged Wall Street investment in reusable launch vehicles and the agency's refusal to publish its own study showing space tourism could be profitable with existing technology. He contrasts 66 years of aviation progress from Kitty Hawk to the Moon with 29 years of stagnation since the last Apollo flight, during which launch costs rose from $1,000 to $10,000 per pound.

The conversation explores practical approaches to space hotels using modified wide-body aircraft fuselages, inflatable structures, and the cruise ship model for operations. Richard C. Hoagland joins to argue that NASA's resistance stems from a desire to maintain exclusive control over access to space.