Instapundit has some more on space tourism and commercialization. I think he's becoming a space blogger!

I think he's becoming a space blogger!

Well all the cool kids are - it's the hip, happening thing to be.

I think people are severely under estimating the power of the tort system. Remember people that can afford a $200k trip can also afford very good lawyers, and even though the “victim” would probably not want to sue, there will probably be many greedy family members that will. Any lawyer will tell you that it is not possible to sign away your right to sue for someone else’s negligence. One of my favorite expressions is; “it may be true, but it ain’t right.”

If that ensued, it would move the industry off-shore. I suspect states like New Mexico will enact strong protection for the companies similar to what Virginia recently enacted.

Legal protection in the states where the vehicles launch are good start, but not enough. But you also need it in the states where the vehivles and their components are built. Remember it won't be just the operators that are the targets, it will be the builders, designers and anyone who provides support services.

brian d: Remember people that can afford a $200k trip can also afford very good lawyers, and even though the “victim” would probably not want to sue, there will probably be many greedy family members that will.

While it may seem morbid, and could potentially scare away less serious customers at first, I think there may be a case for requesting that spaceflyers write personal letters to be delivered in the event of a fatal mishap. It could be delicately suggested, perhaps by example of the most dedicated of the first, that such testaments include explanations of their reasons for wanting to fly and appeals to family members not to pursue litigation. In the event of an accident, even if the family isn't persuaded by such appeals, juries and judges might be.

Also, as operators develop a record of safety, such testaments might begin to seem more romantic than morbid, playing up the adventure of the flight while risks continue to be minimized. Analogies to early explorers of the Americas, English colonists, and pioneers of the West could be emphasized, perhaps with literature describing similar practices of those eras being given along with the detailed legal preparation materials. I believe strongly that the experience of the flight will be intensified if flyers feel a sense of importance and, yes, nontrivial but reasonable danger rather than being like a thrill ride with an awesome view. Operators would be foolish and myopic to neglect the spiritual aspects of what they're offering and just focus on fun or novelty.

When an actual disaster does occur, after a tasteful amount of time, and with approval from families, people who die in accidents may become symbols of what the whole thing is all about rather than deterrents. As long as the accidents are part of the inherent risk rather than carelessness, and they happen far less often than NASA's record, they may actually stimulate demand. Convincing the FAA to restrain its instincts might be a harder proposition, though.

anonymous: Legal protection in the states where the vehicles launch are good start, but not enough. But you also need it in the states where the vehivles and their components are built.

There may also be an issue with where the debris of a failed vehicle could land. If some piece of flimsy plastic from the craft is blown across state lines and recovered, could that entitle family members to file suit in that state? Or even if ash from an (unlikely) explosion lands in one state, but is blown by the wind elsewhere? We might also consider the implications of transporting the vehicle from the manufacturer to the launch site--does every state it crosses become a potential venue? If the disaster occurs in space, does that allow for litigation in international courts? What about crimes that occur in space, between passengers and/or crew? Who exactly is the legal authority from the time the vehicle passes the consensus (but still unofficial) boundary of space until reentry? Can a regulatory body like the FAA assume statutory authority in such a domain? And if we assume states have jurisdiction, would the boundaries of such jurisdiction extend outward radially in a spherical wedge or in parallel vertical lines maintaining the 2-dimensional projection of the state's land?