The Hilton hotel company is to help build NASA’s new space station. A well-known brand, of course, will be responsible for the comfort of the astronauts and help in the design of the crew cabins.
The International Space Station (ISS) is expected to operate until 2031, when it is scheduled to be decommissioned. The American space agency NASA is already thinking about the next station in Earth orbit and is hiring well-known companies for a joint project.
NASA Starlab - Hilton to design cabins for astronauts
One of the plans is the NASA Starlab station, which is a joint initiative between Voyager Space, Nanoracks and Lockheed Martin. As it turned out, an unusual company, Hilton, also made the list. The hotel empire must help equip the space inside the space station.
“Hilton will have a unique opportunity to take advantage of a unique environment. [kosmosu – przyp.red.] and improve guest comfort. […]. Our mission is to provide an enjoyable stay for everyone, whether they are traveling on Earth or in space,” says Chris Nassetta, President of Hilton.
NASA donated $160 million to companies last year to build Starlab. Voyager Space and partners are to design and build a space station capable of hosting up to four astronauts. There will also be advanced space laboratories on board. However, this does not mean that the astronauts will endure great inconvenience.
“Voyager and Hilton will focus on creating innovation for the future of all mankind. Our joint project is to show what is possible when we focus on the aspect of comfort, designing interiors designed for living and working related to space exploration,” adds Dylan Taylor, president of Voyager Space.
NASA is looking for a successor to the ISS - which station will be the first?
NASA can’t afford a break in space presence, so it’s already hard at work to replace the International Space Station. The Americans are considering a large number of projects, assuming that one of them will be able to put into orbit by 2031.
Others in the race are Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ space company, and Virginia-based Northrop Grumman. All projects are created under the Commercial LEO Destinations program (LEO stands for Low Earth Orbit). By hiring private companies to design space stations, NASA wants to optimize costs. The agency estimates that this will save about $1 billion each year.
Source: Wprost
