SpaceX to send two private citizens on a trip around the Moon next year. It will be the first time for any space agency to send tourists for space travel. The two tourists have already paid to travel to moon in SpaceX’s Dragon Spacecraft. The U.S. based Space agency will soon be conducting the health and fitness test of the two tourists and will start training them later this year.
No astronauts have traveled to moon since NASA’s 1960s and ’70s Apollo missions. “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,” said SpaceX in a statement.
SpaceX will be revealing further information after the approval and confirmation of the flight team’s health and fitness results.
As part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, SpaceX will be launching its Crew Dragon (Dragon Version 2) spacecraft for demonstration purpose to the International Space Station later this year. It will be on autopilot mode, without people on board.
Next year in Q2, the second flight will be launched carrying the crew. SpaceX currently use these Dragon capsule to send Cargo to ISS for NASA. “Once operational Crew Dragon missions are underway for NASA, SpaceX will launch the private mission on a journey to circumnavigate the moon and return to Earth.”
The flight will lift-off from same launchpad NASA used for its Apollo programs- Kennedy Space Center’s Pad 39A. SpaceX recently launched its Falcon 9 rocket carrying the ISS Cargo from the same launch pad which also marked the comeback of the historic pad.
“This presents an opportunity for humans to return to deep space for the first time in 45 years and they will travel faster and further into the Solar System than any before them,” stated SpaceX.
Elon Musk, co-founder of PayPal, had shared his vision to colonize Mars, the Red Planet, and last September he also revealed that he will start establishing a colony on Mars by sending 100 humans at a time starting 2024.
Not only SpaceX and NASA, other space agency such as Blue Origin (founded by Amazon chief Jeff Bezos) and Virgin Galactic (led by British billionaire, Richard Branson) have plans to send humans to space as part of space tourism.
You can also sign-up to travel Space at a price tag of $250,000. As per a report, 600 going-to-be astronauts have already signed up for the program including Hollywood actors like Leonardo DiCaprio and Ashton Kutcher.