Seems like lunar tourism won't be bound to the confines of science fiction for much longer. In a teleconference with reporters, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk announced that his company will send two paying customers on a trip around the moon and back to Earth by the end of 2018.
According to Musk, the two unidentified space tourists, who know each other and paid a "significant deposit," approached SpaceX to schedule the adventure of a lifetime. If all goes well, they will be the first humans to travel that deep into space in more than 40 years, reports The New York Times. "They are entering this with their eyes open, knowing there is some risk," Musk said.
The journey, which would take about a week, would begin at Florida's Kennedy Space Center. SpaceX will use the same pad that launched the Apollo missions to send the travelers into space on its Dragon 2 vehicle, attached to a Falcon Heavy rocket. No moon walks on this trip, though. The "long loop around the moon" will take the craft on a 300,000- to 400,000-mile tour close to the moon's surface without actually landing and will then head back to Earth using the force of gravity. Dragon 2 is fully automated, so no professional astronauts will need to be aboard, though both passengers will reportedly undergo extensive training prior to liftoff. Other versions of Dragon have successfully transported unmanned supply missions to the International Space Station, though neither the Dragon 2 nor the Falcon Heavy have flown their maiden voyage at this point.
Musk didn't specify exactly how much this out-of-this-world experience would cost the individuals, though he noted that they would pay "a little bit more than the cost of a crewed mission to the space station would be." According to The New York Times, the Falcon Heavy alone cost about $90 million to construct.
This isn't exactly the first time tourists have ventured well beyond the planet. Russia reportedly sent seven private citizens to the International Space Station for a price tag upwards of tens of millions of dollars, and NASA paid $80 million to get an astronaut in on the trip too, according to CNN.
Following Musk's announcement, NASA said in a statement: "NASA commends its industry partners for reaching higher. We will work closely with SpaceX to ensure it safely meets the contractual obligations to return the launch of astronauts to U.S. soil and continue to successfully deliver supplies to the International Space Station."
The space-obsessed duo might want to brush up with a screening of Hidden Figures before they blast off. Or maybe just Gravity.