When the name Robert Bigelow comes to mind, it is strongly associated with the growing development of commercialized space travel for the private sector, while promoting space tourism in general. It has become prominent in society’s eye thanks to the successful first launch of Bigelow Aerospace’s Genesis I, an inflatable space module used as a prototype for upcoming commercial space stations.
A strong man who has no problem getting things done, he is a fierce critic of the NASA agency, arguing that commercialization of space is about business. NASA is a federal agency that is basically exempt from paying taxes, yet brings in more than $14 million a year without paying taxes. He believes that NASA believes they “own all space”, and says their logo should say “NASA Standards for No Access to Space for Americans” because they seem to think that everything in space has a lock and should have control over everything.
Commercialization of the space
Commercialization of the space is an important goal for Robert Bigelow for several reasons. Interested in space since he was 15 years old, he has lived in a world where the Russian space program and NASA control the limited privileges of space – compared to tourists and private companies. Robert Bigelow applied to build a space station that promotes unprecedented commercial interest in the private sector.
Bigelow has authorized a NASA plan — an inflatable technology called “TransHab” — to fill space with his company’s habitable complexes. To get his application through the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval process as safely as possible, he hired Patton Boggs, a Washington attorney, to do it. With its three-storey space module open to everyone, the whole idea is about making space available to everyone.
The man with many hats
Robert Bigelow is known for his outrageous contributions to many fields besides space tourism – he studied banking and real estate business, where he was the developer of the Budget Suites hotel chain in Texas, Nevada and Arizona, where he eventually made his fortune, and is considered as the largest funder of paranormal research in the United States. He also founded another organization, the National Institute for Discovery Science, that researches UFO and the paranormal.
The bulk of his money went toward developing the Bigelow Physics Building, in addition to the UNLV Bigelow Chair of Consciousness Studies, with the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) receiving the bulk of his many donations. He believes in “rational investigation of the mysteries of human consciousness, including the possibility of consciousness’ survival after death,” which he devoted to the UNLV Bigelow Building.
Julie-Ann Amos is a professional writer and business consultant. She has published more than 14 books in many countries. She runs Exquisite Writing , a large freelance writing agency that produces a wide variety of articles, web pages, website content, books and ebooks for an international client base. Top experts available for a wide variety of fields, including cheap airline tickets for students and other travel topics.