Elon Musk has revealed that SpaceX will fly two private citizens to the moon and back next year for which they have paid the necessary money. It will be the first manned US mission since the 1970s and an expensive week-long trip with possible dangers involved. Musk has also disclosed that the space tourists do not belong to Hollywood.
The spaceship identified for the travel is being developed for NASA astronauts, and this Moon mission is a privately funded affair. Moreover, it will be the first ever flight beyond the International Space Station, probably in late 2018.
Details of the Moon trip
One way trip to the Moon stretches across nearly 240,000 miles, and the tourists will return almost immediately. Apparently, they will travel for thousands of miles in space within the week with associated risk factors which cannot be ignored. The moon landing is not on their agenda, and they are aware of this fact.
Elon Musk is bubbling with confidence. He has more of such missions in mind because his dream is to fuel the spirit of exploration present in every human being.
The space tourists have already been selected and are scheduled to undertake a series of health tests and training for their flight to the Moon. It will be an honor for them because they will relive the moments when American astronauts landed on the Moon and hoisted the Star and Stripes.
Busy timetable ahead for SpaceX
SpaceX has a busy schedule ahead. It plans to send NASA astronauts to the ISS in mid-2018 followed by the proposed Moon mission for tourism, tentatively arranged six months after the ISS mission.
The journey to the Moon will be in a Crew Dragon capsule and, an unmanned test flight of this capsule will be held later this year.
The design of this capsule is similar to the spacecraft that is presently being used to ferry cargo to the ISS but will be an upgraded version suitable for carrying humans.
The launching of the Crew Dragon capsule will be done by SpaceX's Heavy Falcon rocket - its first test flight is expected to be held later this summer.
