SpaceX to fly two tourists around the Moon next year!

[Scarlett.]

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/9D19/production/_94871204_16172d7c-7716-4ece-aafc-c270997c96f9.jpg

US private rocket company SpaceX has announced that two private citizens have paid to be sent around the Moon.

The mission is planned for late 2018, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said, adding that the tourists "have already paid a significant deposit".

"This presents an opportunity for humans to return to deep space for the first time in 45 years," he said.

The two unnamed people will fly aboard a spaceship which is set for its first unmanned test flight later this year.

Mr Musk said the co-operation of America's Nasa space agency had made the plan possible.

He said the two passengers "will travel faster and further into the solar system than any before them".

Mr Musk declined to reveal their identities, only saying that they knew each other and that "it's nobody from Hollywood".

"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.

"We expect to conduct health and fitness tests, as well as begin initial training later this year."

The first mission would be unmanned, and the next one - with crew - was expected in the second quarter of 2018, the billionaire entrepreneur and inventor said.

He also said the first passengers "are entering this with their eyes open, knowing that there is some risk here".

"They're certainly not naive, and we'll do everything we can to minimise that risk, but it's not zero."

The space tourists would make a loop around the Moon, skimming the lunar surface and then going well beyond, Mr Musk said.

The mission will not involve a lunar landing.

If Nasa decided it wanted to be first to take part in a lunar flyby mission, then the agency would have priority, Mr Musk said.

The US has not sent astronauts to the Moon since the early 1970s.

BBC News

[Withano]

Jelly

[reece(:]

Going to the moon then beyond? Will they be back? :joker:

[arista]

Going to the moon then beyond? Will they be back? :joker:

No its flying 2 Rich folks
round the Moon and Earth for a week
Doing more Testing at the same time.


No Landing etc.

[King Gizzard]

Can they take Farage and then leave him there

[arista]

Can they take Farage and then leave him there


No he does not have that much spare cash

[Northern Monkey]

Wish it was me

[Crimson Dynamo]

I once went a day trip to Dunoon

West coast not far from Glasgow

[Toy Soldier]

No he does not have that much spare cash

We can have a whip-round.

[ebandit]

....will this blow the conspiracy theory that astronauts never actually stepped foot

on the moon................idea given that spacecraft could not safely protect astronauts

from radiation from van allen belt?

Mark L

...and yes i divvunt fancy the trip to test.....................

[Northern Monkey]

....will this blow the conspiracy theory that astronauts never actually stepped foot

on the moon................idea given that spacecraft could not safely protect astronauts

from radiation from van allen belt?

Mark L

...and yes i divvunt fancy the trip to test.....................It will not.Crazy people need something to believe in.A false prophet.They will say it's not real and any footage is CGI.

[James]

The two unnamed people will fly aboard a spaceship which is set for its first unmanned test flight later this year.


:worry:

[Livia]

Sad really, that people can only get to do this if they have enough cash.

[ebandit]

Sad really, that people can only get to do this if they have enough cash.

........pheee....eeewww! that counts me out.....................

jump into a space rocket...light blue touch paper...hope luck is on ya side

Mark L

[Crimson Dynamo]

Sad really, that people can only get to do this if they have enough cash.

same as going to Disneyland etc I guess

[Will.]

Apparently Aliens have colonised the dark side of the moon.

[Jamie89]

I'd love to go into space

[Crimson Dynamo]

Apparently Aliens have colonised the dark side of the moon.

no doubt they will be coming here soon taking all our women and shagging our jobs?

:suspect:

[Will.]

no doubt they will be coming here soon taking all our women and shagging our jobs?

:suspect:

Maybe.

[Will.]

iG0zbgfeqKE

[ebandit]

I'd love to go into space

............can't believe spice was banned.............outa space experience

on the cheap...................

Mark L

[James]

There's a press conference now where the first paying-passenger (for the moon mission) has been announced: Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa. He's paying for it, and wants to pay for 6-8 artists to go with him on the trip around the moon. Won't happen next year though. They are aiming for 2023. New plan is to develop a new bigger rocket.

zu7WJD8vpAQ

Anyone fancy going? Here's the website - https://dearmoon.earth/

[James]

Elon Musk has emphasised a few times that it is a risky endeavour.

Yusaku Maezawa wants Elon Musk to join him on the trip. Elon Musk isn't sure.

They are not revealing how much Yusaku paid, but he has put down a significant deposit.

[arista]

Elon Musk has emphasised a few times that it is a risky endeavour.

Yusaku Maezawa wants Elon Musk to join him on the trip. Elon Musk isn't sure.

They are not revealing how much Yusaku paid, but he has put down a significant deposit.


Yes he is the scared CEO

[Livia]

He's taking a bunch of artists with him. How pissed off do we think that's going to make the scientific community? No astrophysicists but a "fashion designer".

[James]

He's taking a bunch of artists with him. How pissed off do we think that's going to make the scientific community? No astrophysicists but a "fashion designer".

I'm assuming they are taking along a couple, at least, of well-trained astronauts to press the right buttons.

[Niamh.]

Bit risky for me tbh

[Livia]

I'm assuming they are taking along a couple, at least, of well-trained astronauts to press the right buttons.

God, I hope so. Can you imagine a bunch of artists in a crisis?

I meant as passengers. I mean, how much enjoyment would a bunch of astrophysicists get from attending Biennale in Venice? Not their field... very much like taking a bunch of artists into space.

[Niamh.]

God, I hope so. Can you imagine a bunch of artists in a crisis?

I meant as passengers. I mean, how much enjoyment would a bunch of astrophysicists get from attending Biennale in Venice? Not their field... very much like taking a bunch of artists into space.

hhmm yeah but artistically surely seeing something like space, the Earth from a place you never have before etc would be massively inspiring for an artist? as much as a scientist, perhaps even more?

[James]

The video they showed during the presentation.

x_TpmSram2g

[Livia]

hhmm yeah but artistically surely seeing something like space, the Earth from a place you never have before etc would be massively inspiring for an artist? as much as a scientist, perhaps even more?

I'm thinking an astrophysicist who has studied space his/her whole life would get more out of it than a dress designer or an architect, both of whom I hear the Japanese billionaire is paying for. But hey, he's paying...

[James]

Crew selected.

https://dearmoon.earth/

https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/1600975962505498626/zbHrqOvW?format=jpg&name=small

[James]

Dearmoon project has been cancelled.

Not really a surprise, as it is not clear when the SpaceX Starship will become viable for carrying people into space (if ever?).

https://dearmoon.earth/

[arista]

That is a shame

[Livia]

Probably for the best. I remember the Titanic Tourists...

[arista]

Dearmoon project has been cancelled.

Not really a surprise, as it is not clear when the SpaceX Starship will become viable for carrying people into space (if ever?).

https://dearmoon.earth/



Elon says it can go now

Starship is ready to fly

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1797499471632519491

[James]

Elon says it can go now

Starship is ready to fly

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1797499471632519491

Not with people though.

[Mitchell]

Not sure I’d trust anything Elon had developed to get me into space, I’d probably get harassed by ‘nudes in bio’ bots every few thousand feet