Flying To The Moon

Space Adventures, which has been selling trips to ISS aboard Soyuz capsules for ten years, is close to flying the first private manned mission to the Moon. The flight would use a Soyuz, which was originally intended for lunar missions, although no Soyuz has yet left Earth orbit. SA's offering would not include a lunar landing, but the travelers would get views of the lunar surface as yet seen only by Apollo astronauts.

SA needs two people to buy tickets before it can schedule the flight. One person has already committed, and SA expects to have a second sometime this year. That done, the flight could take place within three to five years. Cost of a lunar trip? Somewhere in the nine figures-- maybe $150 million. All things considered, as they say on the radio, that price tag, coupled with factors like physical fitness, no doubt cuts the pool of potential buyers way down.