SpaceX will launch two space tourists on a flight around the moon in 2018
WASHINGTON, Feb 28 — RIA Novosti, Alexei Bogdanovsky. American space company SpaceX plans to launch two tourists on a flight around the moon in 2018, according to a press release from the company.
“We are pleased to announce that two private citizens held talks with SpaceX on the journey around the moon by the end of next year. They have made a considerable advance in order to fly to the moon”, — said in a release.
According to the company, there are others interested in such flights.
SpaceX thanked the us space Agency NASA for funding, which allowed us to create spacecraft Dragon 2 — that will be used in tandem with a heavy carrier rocket Falcon. This rocket gives two-thirds of the thrust of heavy rocket Saturn V, which was used by NASA to send astronauts to the moon.
Also, the spacecraft Crew Dragon will be launched to the International space station in automatic mode in the second quarter of 2018. In the future it is planned to implement up to 4 such flights in a year.
Off space travelers are scheduled from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
“This is an opportunity for people to return to deep space for the first time in 45 years, and they will travel through the Solar system faster and farther than anyone before them”, — stated in the message of the company.
The distance of Earth’s natural satellite — the moon — is on average 384 467 km. Until now the only program in which people were overcome gravity and leave low earth orbit, remains the American program “Apollo”. In 1969-1972, the American six astronauts successfully landed on the lunar surface and returned to Earth.