Elderly/handicapped LEO facility

I've long felt that the first step towards space colonization will be athriving space tourism industry. The market is definitely there ifthe cost for a trip gets down to around $50,000 US. This step "only"requires better launch vehicles. My rough calculations suggest thatif NASA meets it's 2020 goal of $220/kg to LEO with one catatrophic failurein 10,000 flights, the tourist industry will be enabled.
What I'd like the group to consider is a possible second step: an elderly/handicappedLEO facility. The idea is to have a low or 0-g facility so that frailpeople can live without wheelchairs or the fear of falling and breakinga hip. Getting out of a wheelchair is a **BIG** deal, people willpay pretty much whatever they've got.
Pro:
-- Since many frail people are old, they've had time to collect considerableamounts of money (think Bill Gates in 30 years). Therefor, initially, pricescan be high.
-- Since space tourism already exists (by hypothesis), the grandkidscan visit fairly frequently (and they'll love playing in Grandma's zero-Grec-room)
-- the view is great
-- zero-G recreation should be accessible even to the frail
Con:
-- the medical facilities must be first class since many occupantsmay become quite sick at any moment.
-- this is a one way trip. After even a few months in 0g, a frailperson probably could not return to Earth and do anything but lay in bed.
Al Globus
aglobus@..., (650) 604-4404
http://www.nas.nasa.gov/~globus/home.html
The dinosaurs weren't spacefaring. We are. I don't think that's an accident.
Maybe we are life's taxi to the stars.
I think we should:
1. Devote half of NASA's budget ($7 billion) to reaching NASA's 2020goal of
reducing launch costs to Low-Earth-Orbit to $220/kg with a 0.01% failurerate.
This should enable space tourism. The resulting orbital hotels willneed to
develop efficient orbital life support and other necessary technologies.
2. Build orbital space colonies. The materials in the largest asteroidare
sufficient for orbital colonies with a combined surface area about500 times
greater than Earth's. Eros alone could make over ten thousand spacecolonies,
each with about about 10 square kilometers of 1g living area.
3. After a few generations of orbital living, people won't need theircolony
to be near Sol. Then small groups of colonies with populations in the
tens-of-thousands can set out on multi-decade journeys to nearbystars.
Except the launch goals, none of this is even a little bit official.