Are you guys fed up by going to a beach or a hill station on vacations…? How about a trip to the moon…? If you really are an adventure freak and want to go to the nearest celestial neighbor of Earth, then you surely are in good luck.
Space Adventures is planning private trips to the Moon aboard Russian spacecraft Soyuz. The trip which will cost you a whooping $100 million will carry two passengers at a time along with a crew member.
Eric Anderson the president and CEO of Space Adventures stated that he is confident that the tickets for the first mission will be sold by the end of the year. The company will conduct the missions on the trusted Russian technology, its Soyuz spacecraft. A pilot and two passengers will leave Earth in the spacecraft, which will ferry them to orbit. Later they will be linked up with an unpiloted kick stage for a boost that will finally take them to Moon.
The mission seems simple on paper but actually it will make use of the most advanced technology present on the planet.
Anderson also stated that the Soyuz was originally designed as a circumlunar spacecraft however till now it has not flown private passengers to the Moon. He also said that he is fully confident in this hi-tech Russian technology and also thinks that the mission can be conducted any day and that too without a test flight. All the Soyuz will need is some upgrades to the communication system and a bigger window from which the passengers can admire the beauty of the Moon.
However, the passengers and the pilot will not go into lunar orbit. This will later be added to convince more millionaires to go for a space flight. The flight costs $100 million dollars per passenger that means the entire trip will fetch $200 million. Anderson however believes that the mission can be conducted in under $200 million.
Space Adventures is not just shooting an arrow in the dark by saying that the company will conduct private missions to the Moon. The company has a good reputation and is one of the best in the world in this business. The group has handled five private trips to the ISS and has had people like Charles Simonyi as their clients.
Currently the company is dealing with some more flights to the ISS and has stated that customers are lined up for flights to this orbiting outpost in 2008, 2009 and even further. The group is also conducting talks with the Russian space agency in an effort to increase the number of Soyuz launches each year. The number is set to increase from the current two to about four by 2009 and in future the number can increase even further.
Space Adventures has sold almost $200 million worth of spaceflights and have booked more flights into the future. The company now aims to train private passengers so that they can also go out for a stroll in space. However, for this they will have to get approval from NASA and all other space agencies who are working on the International Space Station.
Via: Foxnews
