WORLD
Lunar excursion package tours
Baku, May 2 (AZERTAC). Virgin Galactic will soon be routinely flying tourists into low earth orbit, but the next big step in space tourism is being pioneered by Space Adventures and their objective is a fly-by visit to the Moon. Space Adventures have sent seven tourists to the International Space Station in short duration excursions that lasted a few days and cost tens of million dollars ($20-35 million, €13.5-23.6 million). Going around the Moon is likely to cost around US$150 million (€101.3 million).
Even thought the price tag is high, one passenger for the maiden moon journey has already signed-up. A second passenger is needed to get the program going, and it can be ready for launch within 3-5 years.
"We need that second contract for the mission to go ahead," explained Space Adventures` president Tom Shelley. "But we`re confident that we`ll be able to make an announcement about that mission later this year."
The proposed method to get to the Moon is called Direct Stage, and involves a nine-day journey, encompassing a three-day low Earth orbit segment and a five-and-a-half-day Moon flight. You may have to `change planes` at the International Space Station (ISS) to get a booster rocket attached or rendezvous in another orbit with a rocket booster sent up previously. The rocket booster is needed to take the Soyuz on its lunar trek, as Soyuz does not have enough fuel and thrust to get there under its own power.
Using Russian Soyuz spacecraft that have been launched hundreds of times since the 1960s, the journey to the far side of the moon and back will be quite the adventure, even if there is no actual lunar landing. Only two dozen or so US NASA Apollo astronauts have ever gone around or landed on the Moon, so the Moon tourists would be joining a very exclusive club indeed.
Flying 100kms (62 miles) over the Moon`s surface and watching Earthrise, are sure to be truly `out-of-this-world` travel experiences. The travel pictures and video will surely go viral on the Internet.
A Russian mission commander will fly the two space tourists around the Moon. Hopefully someone will also calculate the launch greenhouse gas emissions and pay for the offsets, which is likely to be a tiny fraction of the US$150 million (€101.3 million) ticket price.