SpaceX is set to send two tourists on a moon rendezvous.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced on February 27th that the company plans to send two tourists on the trip of their lives - a space flight with a short moon rendezvous. The trip is supposed to happen in 2018 and the two tourists - whose identities weren’t revealed - will be figuratively handed the keys to the company’s Dragon crew capsule and be pushed into space by the massive Falcon Heavy series rocket. NASA, however, has expressed its concern for the moon rendezvous, not from a technical standpoint but rather a business standpoint. SpaceX has recently signed a 2.6 billion dollar contract with NASA to fly astronauts and supplies to and from the International Space Station using the same Dragon crew capsule, and those flights are also scheduled to occur in 2018. If anything, NASA, while happy to support Musk, is asking the eccentric billionaire to keep his company’s focus on the contractual agreement. This is taxpayer money after all, and SpaceX likes to set ambitious deadlines. Not to mention, a catastrophic event could set back the obligation and, like any space exploration entity SpaceX has had a few.
In this particular moon rendezvous, the Dragon crew capsule will fly itself. The first unguided Dragon crew capsule flight will take place this year, and if all goes well in 2018 the SpaceX plan is to take the tourists a maximum distance 400,000 miles from the earth. Now that’s what I call a getaway! What are your thoughts? Would you go to the moon despite the risks? Let us know!
