AWST reports that Sen. John Glenn (D.-Ohio), the first American to orbit the Earth (in 1961), has a "..burning desire to go back to space..." NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin is reported to be considering his request to fly again. Glenn is 76 years old, and he would become the oldest person to visit space.

It is very unlikely that there will be any health problems due to his age, provided that he's in normal health - since going to orbit and living in zero G is not stressful. However, NASA is not allowed to carry people other than professional staff related to the work of each mission on board the space shuttle, and it seems unlikely that US taxpayers will wish to pay for his trip. Now if some company was only offering tourist flights... -SFJ

Company Press Release

Steamboat Springs, CO - SpaceDev chairman James William Benson today announced that Roy Tucker of Tucson, AZ became the first winner in the $5,000 "Benson Prize for the Amateur Discovery of Near Earth Asteroids" competition.

The Benson Prize was announced at the American Astronomical Society meeting June 10, and Mr. Tucker, using a camera-equipped 14-inch telescope in his backyard, became the second amateur to ever discover a near earth asteroid, and the first winner of one of the ten $500 Benson Prizes.

Mr. Tucker began looking for earth-approaching objects in May, and was pleased to find a near earth asteroid so quickly. Mr. Tucker plans to use the Benson Prize money to help buy a better camera for his telescope.

Mr. Tucker first spotted the object on June 28. Additional observations came from observers in the Czech Republic, Australia, Italy and the U.S. By the morning of July 2 the orbit computations were considered secure. The object was designated 1997 MW1. The discovery was confirmed by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center on July 3.

SpaceDev, LLC is a commercial space exploration company, and will announce in September details of its premier venture, the first unmanned spacecraft to another planetary body. Mr. Benson, a geologist and native of Kansas City, sold his computer companies in McLean, VA in 1995, and founded SpaceDev early this year. For more information about the Benson Prize, and how to discover asteroids, contact Diane Murphy, 703.893.0740 or visit www.skypub.com/benson/prize.html.

Q: The St. Louis-based X Prize Foundation has announced that 10 teams have registered to compete in the first private race to space. Could you shed some light on your plan to participate?

A: This [race] is extremely important and interesting, because I think it can [lead to] flight out of the atmosphere--just what the barnstormers opened up to flight in the atmosphere. It won't be done by NASA. And it won't be done by governments, and it won't be done by industry. It will be done by the barnstormers of space. That's what will let the common man fly out of the atmosphere. I think even suborbital flights--where you have 3 to 5 minutes of weightlessness--will be so much fun that it will be a profit-making tourism business. I have structured a plan, and a preliminary design, and a unique way at addressing the factors that make rockets dangerous, and eliminating those dangers. And if those guys put that money in the bank for the prize-winners to get, I'm going to go after it. Sure, why not?

The Space Development Corporation LLC of Steamboat Springs, Colorado has established a prize to spur amateur discovery of near Earth asteroids. Named after the company's founder, James William Benson, the Benson Prize will award $500 for each discovery made by amateur astronomers of objects with perihelia less than the Earth's average distance from the sun.

Space Development Corp. is a private space exploration company that will announce in July a venture to build the first private spacecraft to go beyond Earth's orbit.

The Society is still going through its growing pains, but is starting to focus on workshops and publicity. Anyone who is interested in joining the Society, may contact Mr. John Spencer at 310-472-0846, or via email at jssdesign@aol.com. Over twenty members attended the brainstorming session and meeting. The following issues were discussed:

• "High Society" Newsletter -- There will be three seperate documents: a high quality introduction brochure; bi-monthly UPDATE; a "High Society" magazine modeled after the National Geographic magazine
• Space Tourism Workshop -- Mr. Charles Carr is the chair of a one day workshop for planning the 1998 Space Tourism Symposium. It will be held on December 13, 1997 on board the Queen Mary cruise ship, which is in permanent dock in Long Beach, California. Anyone who wants to participate, please contact Mr. John Spencer.
• NASA/STA Space Tourism Workshop -- the report on the workshop will finally be published in mid-summer. STS will secure copies and distribute them to the membership.
• "X Prize" Gala -- STS will participate in the September 27, 1997 event in St. Louis, Missouri. This event will be used to make the first national press announcement about STS. (September 26, 1997 will be the first anniversary of STS)
• Annual Lifetime Membership Award -- Dr. David Webb was awarded an annual lifetime membership because of his outstanding efforts in promoting commercial space development. Some of you may remember his involvement with the National Commission on Space, and the book they published called "Pioneering the Space Frontier."
• Corporate Sponsorship -- Three companies have requested corporate sponsorship materials. These materials are still under development.
• Conferences -- STS has been invited to the "Humans to the Moon 2000" symposium on July 4 in Pasadena. They have also been invited to the Space Frontier Foundation Conference on November 7-9 in Los Angeles.
• Media Coverage -- Several members have participated in several TV and radio programs, including "Strange Universe."
• "Space Lottery" -- STS is working with "Buzz" Aldrin on his lottery concept since it means opening space to the average person.
• MIR Space Station Commercialization -- STS also supports Mr. Derek Webber's efforts in privatizing MIR space station.
• "Space Tourism Dinner Theater" -- Mr. Mark Reiff presented his ideas for a comical "Murder Mystery" dinner theater performance loosely based on an Arthur C. Clarke story.

IP Space Tours GmbH just released a report on the media coverage of the first International Symposium on Space Tourism. It was held from March 20-22, 1997 in Bremen, Germany. Here are the statistics from coverage in Germany: 1.560,000 listeners on radio, 30,706,196 readers on print media, and 34,800,000 viewers on television are estimated to have seen or heard about the event. Through wire reports such as Associated Press, ISST was reported in dozens of countries, including the United States.

Another important measurement was the style of the news reports. All of the reports accepted the vision of space tourism as serious. Only one out of 101 reports was negative. The rest were ranged from neutral to enthusiastic.

Space Tours' report included details of the German media outlets, and photocopies of several newspaper articles (all in German, of course).

Welcome to the ultimate penthouse suite: a hotel orbiting Earth. Nasa, the American space agency, is sponsoring a project to build a space station for holidaymakers by 2012.

Space, the final tourist destination. The Japanese Rocket Society ( JRS) has embarked on a 13-year mission to boldly go where no group tour has gone before.