All images: Thomas Tenery/Playboy Enterprises

We return to our regular broadcast of cosmic chimeras, death star budgets, and megastructural follies. The newest venture for Playboy, that respectable publication of investigative journalism, probing interviews, and in-depth profiles, is a return of sorts to its space-crazed heyday, when the nudie-magazine-cum-empire was riding the crest of its popularity and approaching its cultural apogee. Schematic renderings for the Playboy Club space station have been released, and it looks exactly how you imagined–in short, take the ennobled masculinity of “Mad Men” and send it into orbit, with the spectral colors of nebulae and nearby planets replacing the corner office views of Manhattan.

Following Virgin Galactic’s pioneering role in space tourism, Playboy commissioned artist Thomas Tenery along with several reputable futurists and NASA scientists to envision the “ultimate intergalactic entertainment destination.” The paintings, which are published in the March issue of Playboy, imagine a massive toroidal spacecraft whose large outer wheel would spin continuously to create gravity-like conditions within the club’s interiors–themselves designed to be “warm and elegant” rather than adopting the cold, uninviting “Star Wars look.” The megastructure is pocked with angled viewports, which open up the ship’s zero-gravity dance club, casino, hotel suites, and restaurant to the splendors of the universe.

In addition to those attractions, there will be a “human roulette”, an onboard zero-gravity bungee jumping station, and a swanky space bar complete with excessive neon lighting. Floating patrons in the dance club would be served drinks by jetpack-wearing Playboy bunnies, while those in the private “orbital pleasure dome” would be able to indulge their carnal fantasies in the presence of the celestial bodies, with panoramic views to the earth below and star clusters. It’s here where Playboy writers say the Kama Sutra will be “reimagined according to the rules of zero-gravity physics.” We’ll leave the visuals to you.

Click through for the rest of the images.

Gourmet restaurant

Zero-gravity Dance Club

Hotel suites

Gravity Room

[via Space.com]

by Samuel Medina

posted in Uncategorized

tagged club, Fantasy, megastructure, playboy, sci-fi, space, space station, space tourism

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