Those who want to become space tourists would likely have to spend large sums of money to make their dream of traveling to space a reality but for Buzz Aldrin, the second man to set foot on the moon, getting his feet on the lunar surface did not take him millions or even thousands of dollars.
Aldrin was the Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 11, which made the historic landing on the surface of the moon on July 20, 1969. On Thursday last week, the now 85-year old famed astronaut posted on social media photos of the 1969 documents that revealed how much it cost him to make the historic walk on the moon.
The Apollo 11 Voyager turned out to have only spent and was reimbursed $33.31 for the amount he spent to make the lunar flight. The bill was used for his transportation on Earth. The travel voucher, which spanned from July 7 to July 27, 1969, was for the astronaut's round trip to the moon from Houston, Texas with travel points in Florida, Hawaii, the moon and the Pacific Ocean.
It also itemized Aldrin's travel arrangements, which involved government spacecraft, aircraft and vehicles, suggesting that the expenses were for travel between various airports.
Adjusted for inflation, the amount indicated in the voucher is equivalent to about $215 today, which is nowhere near the cost of tickets that spaceflight company Virgin Galactic charges for its planned commercial space voyage.
In 2011, the company sold tickets for a space trip at $200,000 per person but the cost was raised to $250,000 in 2013. The price explains why space tourism appears to be currently limited for the rich and famous.
Aldrin shared to his followers online that the expense claim was the favorite of his manager and mission control director Christina Korp in his Apollo 11 collection.
"#TBT My mission director @Buzzs_xtina's favorite piece of my memorabilia. My travel voucher to the moon. #Apollo11," Aldrin captioned the images of the forms that he shared on Twitter.
Aldrin also posted his custom form that reported the moon rocks that they have brought home from their lunar trip. The astronaut brought back a total of 50 pounds of rocks from the moon.
Aldrin, along with fellow astronaut Neil Armstrong, collected lunar materials during their trip to the moon. The materials were brought back to Earth to be studied by scientists.
