NYT: Private Company Plans $100 Million Tour Around the Moon

[DeepModem Mom]

Private Company Plans $100 Million Tour Around the Moon
By JOHN SCHWARTZ
Published: August 10, 2005


One day after NASA brought the shuttle Discovery back from low Earth orbit, a private company plans to announce a more audacious venture, a tourist trip around the Moon.

Space Adventures, a company based in Arlington, Va., has already sent two tourists into orbit. Today, it is to unveil an agreement with Russian space officials to send two passengers on a voyage lasting 10 to 21 days, depending partly on its itinerary and whether it includes the International Space Station.

A roundtrip ticket will cost $100 million.

The space-faring tourists will travel with a Russian pilot. They will steer clear of the greater technical challenge of landing on the Moon, instead circling it and returning to Earth.

Eric Anderson, the chief executive of Space Adventures, said he believed the trip could be accomplished as early as 2008. Mr. Anderson said he had already received expressions of interest from a few potential clients....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/10/science/space/10private.html

[onehandle]

1. Sign me up!

Lemme check my online checking account...

Hey! I'm only $99,995,347.38 short!

Lemme check under the sofa cushions...

[QuettaKid]

2. don't people set up websites for this sort of thing?

sort of like "LET'S SEND QUETTA KID TO THE MOON!!" I would go in a heartbeat. Little known fact. 2 men have been to the moon twice. Jim Lovell and John Young on Apollo's 8,13,10 and 16.....Young got to land with 16 whereas Lovell only got to circle it twice.....but still, WOW!!

[northzax]

3. they think they can do this for $200 million?

that seems a stretch to me.

[edbermac]

4. Screw that...for 100 mil I wanna WALK ON the moon...

[Bandit]

5. A hundred million should buy a pet Martian

That is what I would like.

[alkaline9]

6. with inflation and the cost of oil...

...that will prolly be $1,000,000,000 by 2008

[Daphne08]

7. I would go if

I had the $100 million.

Of course, if I had that much money, I might not want to take such a chance...

Yeah, I would. :D