SpaceX is gearing up to fly people around the moon using its Falcon Heavy rocket.
The private space mission will transport two paying passengers around the moon. They will fly with the Dragon spacecraft from SpaceX.
The confirmation comes straight from SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who shared the exciting news on Feb. 27.
"We are excited to announce that SpaceX has been approached to fly two private citizens on a trip around the moon late next year. They have already paid a significant deposit to do a moon mission. Like the Apollo astronauts before them, these individuals will travel into space carrying the hopes and dreams of all humankind, driven by the universal human spirit of exploration," notes SpaceX.
The Mission
The impending mission will fly two private citizens in a SpaceX rocket around the moon. The mission is being targeted in the second quarter of 2018.
The names of the two passengers who will be making this exciting trip have not been disclosed by SpaceX. The company has revealed that it intends to start conducting the training for the two passengers, as well as the requisite fitness and health tests this year itself.
SpaceX also disclosed that other flight teams had also made known their interest and the company expects more people to be keen. The details pertaining to the flight teams will be divulged by SpaceX later as this is hinged on it getting the green signal, as well as the results of the ensuing fitness and health tests.
The trip around the moon is expected to last a week and the spacecraft will be launched from LC-39A, which is at the Kennedy Space Center. This is the same Launchpad NASA deployed for its Apollo missions.
Musk said that the spacecraft would be autonomous, suggesting that it would not require any specially trained astronauts on board. However, the two passengers will be trained extensively prior the mission. The passengers are likely to be trained in emergency procedures, although they would not be in charge of operating the spacecraft.
To facilitate the deep-space flight, the crew capsule is likely to get an update for a better communication system.
Musk has revealed that the spacecraft may cover a long loop around the moon lasting for a week. The spacecraft is not expected to land on the lunar surface, but it may merely skim the same. The spacecraft will reportedly travel a bit into deep space before looping back to Earth. The mission may cover a trip of 300,000 or 400,000 miles.
Cost Of The Mission
Regarding the cost of the around-the-moon flight, Musk has disclosed that the mission is likely to cost more than a SpaceX resupply mission that has crew members on board. However, he did not divulge the exact figure.
"I ... can't say the exact cost, that's confidential. It would be comparable to maybe a little more than what the cost of a crewed mission to the space station would be," noted Musk.
Musk notes that the intended moon trip would be a large contribution to the company's ultimate goal of establishing permanent colonies on Mars.
Photo: SpaceX | Flickr
