Grey Havoc

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View: https://www.reddit.com/r/RetroFuturism/comments/z8frvx/what_happened_to_hiltons_hotel_on_the_moon/




First on his road map was the Orbiter Hilton, a sort of space laboratory whose 14 levels were designed to accommodate up to 24 people. It was intended for "short trips in space," such as stopovers on a journey to the moon or another planet, and would welcome guests arriving in "a six-man ferrycraft," Hilton explained.

Once the orbital capsules were established, Hilton's next step was to build a fully fledged underground hotel on the moon, the Lunar Hilton.

The entrance would have been at surface level, with the rest of the structure 20 to 30 feet underground, to keep a constant temperature more easily -- surface temperature on the moon can vary from a scalding 260 F (127 C) to a freezing -280 F (-173 C).

The Lunar Hilton was designed with three levels: a mechanical one at the bottom for all the equipment and engineering; a middle one with two 400-foot corridors containing 100 guest rooms; and a top one for public space, including a cocktail lounge.

"The bartenders will have an easy job," Hilton said. "They will push a button and out will come a pre-measured, pre-cooled mixture of pure ethyl alcohol and distilled water. Into the mixture the bartender drops a tablet -- martini, Manhattan, scotch, gin -- you name it. Instant drink!"

Cooking, rather worryingly, would be done in a "nuclear-reactor kitchen, mostly by machines."

The rooms would look remarkably like those on regular Hiltons.

"They wanted to retain as much of the feel of a hotel room on Earth as they could, within the limitations of space technology -- which is kind of interesting, I think, because if you're an astronaut, that's probably the last thing you're worried about," said Young.

To better sell the idea, Hilton consulted with Don Douglas, then chairman of the McDonnell Douglas aircraft manufacturer, with a feasibility study done by students at Cornell University, who came complete with some interesting sketches and props.

 
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Oh Gosh, thank you a million times for that gem.
Best part is this
The entrance would have been at surface level, with the rest of the structure 20 to 30 feet underground, to keep a constant temperature more easily -- surface temperature on the moon can vary from a scalding 260 F (127 C) to a freezing -280 F (-173 C).
Wait, Hilton, you don't need to dig anything. Mother Nature has done a stupendous job, for free. Lunar lava tubes of mind-blowing size. Imagine the Hilton we could stuff inside (an I'm not talking about Paris Hilton sex tape... wait, forget this).

Cherry on the cake: in my TL the said giant lunar caves are discovered at random, NOT by Kaguya in 2009 but Lunar Orbiter 5 in August (drums rolling) 1967. Just in time for Hilton. Talk about a happy coincidence.
 
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Hi.
Very interesting and thanks for sharing.
Do you know where this ad was ever published?
I tried to find a published source and there is so much "noise" I can't find it.

A.
 
Clearly, Barron’s vision has yet come to pass, but the idea has never fully gone away. In the late 1990s, the firm backed plans for a private orbiting space station whilst in a separate plan, British architect Peter Inston was commissioned to draw up a plan for a 5,000-room domed structure on the Moon for the hotel chain. As the plans were shown off, the then president of the firm – Peter George – reportedly repeated the hotel’s maxim: “One day soon, there will be hotels on the Moon. The Hilton wants to be the first.”
Regarding that incarnation, a little more detail from an old (late 1990s / early 2000s) website:

Top British designer Peter Inston (Inston Design International, 33, Cork Street, London W1X 1HB) has been chosen to design the new building, which will include a vast rotunda containing 5000 guest rooms and a central "activity" dome bigger than the controversial Millennium Dome in Greenwich in London. The Lunar Hilton project has gained momentum recently due to the possibility that there are vast ice reservoirs in lunar craters. Ice means plentiful supplies of water and oxygen.

As well as having its own beach and swimming area, the new Lunar Hilton will include a working farm, a multi-denominational church and a medical center. The pressurized bedrooms, all with bathroom suites, will all boast superlative galactic views. The entire building will be clad in heat-resistant tiles, to protect the superstructure from the powerful rays of the sun and two massive wings containing thousands of solar panels will harness the sun’s power. Of course, for safety reasons there will also be backup life-support systems.

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Moonbase concepts and a deleted scene from 2001.
 

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