The Grand Tour: The Maiden Voyage of Odyssey I - Part 1

Introduction: This is, at this point in time, a hypothetical voyage.  It anticipates design breakthroughs in propulsion systems and spacecraft systems that can accommodate a large population of crew and passengers. Is it theoretically feasible? Yes it is; however, there will be considerable variances from the systems and processes that are presented here.  Most of those variances will be eye-popping amazing and far more supportive of the concept of a Grand Tour than we present here.  So if you have more far reaching ideas and concepts, please share them in our comment sections. The goal is the Grand Tour, and the mission is to take as many Earthlings as possible on that tour.   All Aboard!


The Spacecraft: I am not an artist, so I will have to just describe Odyssey I. She is like a very large flying saucer, but with a huge globular center. Some say Odyssey I resembles the starship Enterprise from the old "Star Trek" series. The globular region is the passenger area that includes all services and support for their extended voyage.  The saucer area of the spacecraft houses the command and control center, crew quarters,  and the VASIMR type propulsion units. These units will enable Odyssey I to achieve speeds of 22.22km/s which is approximately 80,000km/hr (just under 50,000 miles/hr). Additionally, the uppermost area of the passenger globule houses the docking ports for when Odyssey I is attached to its geosynchronous spaceport.  The spaceport, is, in turn, the upperlevel terminal for a space elevator located on Earth at its equator.  The spaceport is positioned 150,000 miles above planet Earth.

Earth gravity compensation: Both the operations/crew area as well as the passenger globule maintain independent 1G environments.

Passenger Accommodations: The planned Grand Tour is expected to take just over 4.5 years.It includes a swing-around flybys of both the planet Jupiter and Saturn as well as a three day stop over on the planet Mars. Details of the tour are discussed in Part II, under Itinerary.  Because of the total length of the tour, passenger accommodations are quite extensive and plush. In addition to luxury "shipboard-like" cabins for a total of 250 passengers, the passenger globule provides 5 restaurants, 3 IMAX-style movie theaters, a small, stylish casino, a fully staffed health care center, and a sport center that supports, tennis, handball, basketball, a gym, and a roller rink.  The casino also includes a luxury bar and entertainment center.

• Space Observatory: The most important and outstanding special feature is the Space Observatory.  Here the passengers have the opportunity to view the solar system and the galaxy through the on-board 3 meter telescope as well as actual sightings in the observation chamber. These same views are also broadcast via the starship's CCTV system.  
• Astronomy Tutorial: Not all of the passengers are expected to be avid amateur astronomers and in recognition of this, they will have the opportunity to access, via the computer systems in their cabins an excellent introductory tutorial on our solar system. They will also receive, upon their return, their own personal set of Passenger Space Wings along with a Certificate of Achievement in Astronomy.

About the passengers:  All of the passengers, for this inaugural voyage must be at least 20 years of age and no older than age 55.  Future voyages will consider including younger passengers. There are no restrictions regarding the sex of the passengers. The individual cost for the Grand Tour is $5million.  This cost pretty well determines who the first passengers will be; the very wealthy. They come from all over the globe and in some instances are official representatives of their governments.  Each passenger has had to undergo a rigorous physical and mental evaluation that includes many of the tests that all astronauts must complete.  Additionally, they all must be exposed to the effects of weightlessness (the "vomit comet") even though it is not expected they will be in a total 0G environment.  They still need to experience this in case there is a loss of the 1G environment on Odyssey 1. 

About the crew: There is a total of 300 crew members on Odyssey 1 of which 175 are humanoid and 125 are robots.  The all human crew are involved directly with spacecraft operations and command including key engineering responsibilities. All operations staff are certified astronauts. Human crew also makeup a portion of the staffs of passenger services; including the health services area.  The robot crews perform maintenance and control functions and are also restaurant and bar wait staff.  Other robots serve as nurse-aids in the health services center.  All robots are under the supervision and control of a human, staff officer. On occasion some of the robots gather together to entertain the guests with their musical skills.

Costs and profits: The total gross passenger income from this program comes to $1,250,000,000.00. Additionally each of the vendors in the passenger center have "bought" into the program at $7.5million each. There are 10 vendors under contract producing a gross income of $75million. Finally, the program operates under a Federal space exploration grant of $10 billion.  The total gross income + grants comes to $11,335,000,000.  The anticipated gross profit is set at 8.5% of gross income (less the grant $) or $113,475,000.

THIS COMPLETES PART I of THE GRAND TOUR.  NEXT, PART II - THE VOYAGE.