Just a few days ago, it was announced that water was found on the moon. Shortly after came the news that there will be a hotel in space by 2012. Which will obviously be super convenient, since the earth is slated to crumble that year. Xavier Claramunt, the founder/president of the Galactic Suite Space Resort, says, “Tourists come to the hotel with all the necessary items to stay, as if they were staying at the most extreme refuge on earth.” In his magical resort, wealthy patrons can spend about $1,496,499 a night to watch the sun rise 15 times a day, killing the romance of that once precious sight. They’ll be orbiting around the Earth every couple hours, which, if reality is anything like science fiction, will age them years and years. The price tag doesn’t include the rocket trip into space, or the airfare to the Caribbean where the airstrip will be built for these launches. Plus, the project will cost nearly $5 billion to build. Most critics say this won’t be a reality for at least another 15 years. And who knows how long it’ll be before a moon vacation is affordable for the Ramen and comic book crowd. Hopefully the suites will come equipped with hover boards, astronaut ice cream, and Tang made from moon water. But, most importantly, we’ll finally know what it’s like to do it sans gravity!  [Asylum] 

On July 16, 1969—40 years ago this week—the Apollo 11 spacecraft landed on the moon while millions of people watched on their television sets. Four days later, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took the first steps on the moon, which according to legend should still be visible since the moon has no atmosphere or wind to erase the footsteps. Most people will never forget watching the Apollo 11 astronauts skip about on the moon’s surface like little kids. That was a big one, but here are some other space firsts. [Chicago Tribune]

Space mission. Space station. Space junk. We’re proud of space-loving astronaut Megan McArthur, who’s on board the Space Shuttle Atlantis with six dudes. The ship’s mission is to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, and as chief robotics officer Megan used the shuttle’s 50-foot robotic arm to release the Hubble back into orbit. No one will see it again until 2010. [CNET]

Space, the final frontier, is getting a new voyager and some sperm that’s outta this world! Richard Garriott, the video game visionary behind Tabula Rasa, is going to be the sixth private citizen to be sent to outer space. How’d he get so lucky? Well, he’s started a program to collect, create, and carry digital DNA and snippets of human history as a time capsule to be stored at the International Space Station. The paranoid gamer is worried androids, the apocalypse, and natural disasters could make us all extinct. His fear has inspired him to create the project, called “Operation Immortality,” to ensure a future for humanity. So who’s genetic code is he cracking? So far, brilliant comedian and well-known narcissist, Stephen Colbert, has agreed to donate, but even the average Jane can offer up her stuff too!  All you have to do is play the free trial of Tabula Rasa and your name could get selected at random to become a sample.  But if DNA seems a bit too personal, you can simply send a message to the Universe by typing a note about the 21st Century here. Mr. Garriott will be collecting information until October when his shuttle launches. So, with a month to go, we’d like to recommend a few good peeps we think the future could use…

If you’re having trouble finding a location for your wedding, you have a new option: space. Japanese company First Advantage and the U.S.-based private space flight firm Rocketplane Global announced last week they will host weddings in space for $2.3 million. Who knows whether happily married couples will get to consummate their marriage while they’re among the stars, as a spokesperson for NASA said, “We don’t study sexuality in space, and we don’t have any studies ongoing with that.” [Space.com]

Despite all the Star Trek I watched as a kid, it didn’t teach me much about space or science because I almost failed astronomy in college and didn’t graduate. That said, I think the idea of the universe being filled with all these other planets and stars and what have you is insanely fascinating. And now there’s more to be psyched about! Astronomers in Europe have found a trio of “Super-Earths” surrounding a star 42-light years away, the smallest of which is four times larger than our planet. Sadly, they are too hot to support life. This is disappointing to me because one thing Star Trek did teach me is that life on other planets, in other solar systems, is not so hard to believe and generally pretty awesome. [CNN]

Stories about old people in love make us go awwww, even when they’re slightly creepy. For the last 14 years, 75-year-old Wan Fengxia has reportedly been writing letters to her husband, who has been dead the whole time. “If I tell people around me all the time about my feelings, they might get bored,” she explained. “But the letters won’t.” How sad is that? Mostly, she writes about their life together and her current life, and what’s going on in the world. She even keeps him informed about things like the Beijing Olympics and the launch of a space shuttles because he had always followed big news events. [AHN]