Space tourism firm offers flight around the moon on Soyuz crafts
US space tourism firm Space Adventures is offering a spaceflight around the moon to private tourists on “proven” Russian Soyuz spacecraft – saying that the sponsors will not have to wait for long for their trip.
READ MORE:Pay and go: ‘Soyuz’ space ticket at US$45-50 million
Space Adventures has posted a statement describing its ‘Circumlunar’ mission on its website.
“Using flight-proven Russian space vehicles we will fly two
private citizens and one professional cosmonaut on a free return
trajectory around the far side of the moon. They will come to
within 100km of the moon’s surface,” the statement said.
The exact price of the space trip is not listed. “The price of
the spaceflight depends on the vehicle you choose, the timing and
the exact mission profile.”
Meanwhile, Space Adventures estimates that the first mission will
kick off by 2018.
Some of the main attractions on the journey will include an
“illuminated far side of the moon” and “Earth rising
above the surface of the moon.”
The space adventure will begin with the launch aboard a Soyuz
spacecraft. The travelers will then disembark at the
International Space Station where they will spend 10 days.
A second rocket will then launch a Lunar Module, which would
consist of a lunar living module and a propulsion module.
The Soyuz spacecraft will rendezvous with the Lunar Module in
low-Earth orbit. The other part of the journey will take six
days, according to the company.
Space travel has been making waves in the entrepreneurial world
of space discovery.
In May, Russia’s Energia Rocket and Space Corporation announced
that anybody willing to go to orbit may travel to the
International Space Station for $45-50 million via the Soyuz
spacecraft for a two-week tour.
Back in 2012 US space entrepreneur Art Dula, founder and chief
executive of Excalibur Almaz, said he is planning to send 30
people to the moon and back by 2025. He has bought two 1970’s-era
Soviet space stations and four re-entry capsules from Russia.
READ MORE:US businessman bids for space tourism with Soviet
craft
Meanwhile, an ambitious crowd-funded project Mars One has
narrowed down the candidates for its first Mars colonization
project to just 705 out of 200,000 earlier this year.
Of the shortlisted 418 men and 287 women from all over the world,
only six teams of four will be eventually selected, according to
the project’s plan.
Despite massive enthusiasm surrounding the project, many are
still skeptical it will be able to raise even the very modest set
sum of $6 billion to cover the flights, the equipment and the
preparations for establishing a human settlement on Mars. So far,
a total of $544,000 has been raised, as of February 28.
However, the project’s team hopes to turn the first Martian
settlers’ work into a reality show to help raise the money.
READ MORE:Girlfriend or Mars? RT interviews Mars One hopefuls
