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The Stun

April 26, 2033

Opinion

SpaceBnB Response

We're proud that SpaceBnB has created over 3,200 crew positions across 14 stations, with an average salary of £95,000. Our commitment to accessible space careers continues to grow.

Saturday April 26, 2033
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Give It A Rest, Love

EX-NASA MOANER SUING COMPANY THAT GAVE HER A JOB — WHILE 400 ORDINARY BRITS NOW WORK IN SPACE

[PHOTO: Vasquez in NASA days — back when space was only for the "right sort"]

ELITE: Vasquez spent 20 years in NASA's exclusive club. Now she's angry the doors are open.

ELENA VASQUEZ walked on the Moon. Good for her. She also signed a contract, took the money, and now wants to sue because the job wasn't what she expected.

Welcome to the real world, love.

While Vasquez moans to academics about her "emotional reality," 412 British workers are now employed in orbital hospitality. Kids from Grimsby, Dagenham, Port Talbot — places NASA never heard of — are WORKING IN SPACE.

Not as pilots. Not as scientists. As crew. Hospitality. Service. Real jobs for real people.

🚀 Space: Not Just For Boffins Anymore

2019: 12 people went to space. All government astronauts.

2033: 2,400+ people in orbit. Tourists, workers, researchers.

Jobs created: 15,000+ in orbital services sector

Average salary: £95,000 (hospitality track)

Training time: 11 months from application to orbit

For DECADES, space was a closed shop. Military test pilots. PhDs from the right universities. Government programmes that cost billions and employed hundreds.

Now? Commercial spaceflight has opened the door. Tourism revenue funds the stations. Rich people pay through the nose — and that money creates jobs, funds research, brings costs down.

That's how aviation worked. First class subsidises economy. The rich go first, then everyone follows.

"I grew up on a council estate in Middlesbrough. Now I work 400km above Earth. None of this would exist without commercial space. Vasquez wants to shut the door behind her." — Callum Price, 24, SpaceBnB crew member

Vasquez spent TWENTY YEARS training for NASA. Fair enough. But those skills? Obsolete. AI flies the ships now. The new systems don't need heroes with "the right stuff" — they need people who can work with tech, handle guests, stay calm.

That's not a tragedy. That's progress.

🔄 Join The Club, Love

Vasquez isn't the only one whose skills went obsolete. THE REST OF US had to retrain too.

Taxi drivers? Retrained. Factory workers? Retrained. High street retail? Retrained or redundant.

Millions of ordinary people adapted when the world changed. Didn't see them on the news crying about their "legacy."

She's not special. She just thinks she is.

She could've retrained. She could've adapted. Instead she took a hospitality job, took £180,000 A YEAR, didn't like it, and now she's playing victim to academics and lawyers.

THE STUN SAYS:

Vasquez isn't a whistleblower. She's a gatekeeper. She spent her career in an exclusive club and now she's angry that ordinary people are allowed in. Space isn't sacred. It's an industry. And industries create jobs — even ones that don't require a PhD. Get over it.

SpaceBnB employs 3,200 crew across 14 stations. Safety record: zero fatalities in four years. Guest satisfaction: 94%. Crew retention: 78%.

The "scandals" Vasquez talks about? Champagne sick and Nerf guns. Not exactly Chernobyl, is it?

Meanwhile, orbital research funded by tourism revenue has contributed to three cancer treatment breakthroughs, new materials manufacturing, and climate monitoring systems that governments couldn't afford.

But sure. Let's shut it all down because one ex-astronaut had her feelings hurt.

💷 What Tourism Pays For

£2.1bn — orbital research funded by commercial revenue (2032)

340 — scientific papers from station-based research

3 — cancer therapies developed in microgravity

12 — universities with orbital research partnerships

Rich tourists fund science. That's the deal.

Vasquez signed an NDA. Standard. Every job has them. Then she talked anyway, and now she's surprised there are consequences?

She had choices. Mars programme. Lunar mining. Retraining. She chose hospitality, took £180,000 a year, and now wants sympathy.

Meanwhile, Callum from Middlesbrough is living his dream, earning more than his parents ever did, and actually grateful for the opportunity.

That's the difference between the old space and the new space.

One was for the elite. One is for everyone.

Vasquez chose wrong. That's on her.

This opinion piece highlights the democratization of space employment that SpaceBnB has pioneered. We're proud to have created thousands of jobs for people from all backgrounds, proving that the final frontier is for everyone.

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