Around the Moon for $100M!

Russia is working out a plan to send a tourist around the Moon and back
for $100M. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8700874/

If true, this is amazingly cool. By my count, only 27 people have ever
made the trip around the Moon in all of human history -- and none at all
in the last several decades. Given the fairly steady stream of people
willing to pay $20M for a week aboard ISS, surely there will be someone
eager to pay $100M to be the 28th person to visit lunar orbit!

If into firsts, the customer could easily be the first non-American, or
non-white, or female, to orbit the Moon. And the tourist and pilot
would obviously be the first to make the trip in the 21st century, which
(one hopes) will go down in history as our resumption of serious
progress in settling space.

Any other reactions to this news? How much skepticism do you think is
warranted?

Best,
- Joe

,------------------------------------------------------------------.
| Joseph J. Strout Check out the Mac Web Directory: |
| http://www.macwebdir.com |
`------------------------------------------------------------------'

In message
Joe Strout wrote:

Russia is working out a plan to send a tourist around the Moon and back
for $100M. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8700874/

If true, this is amazingly cool. By my count, only 27 people have ever
made the trip around the Moon in all of human history

Don't exagerate, it's only 24! :-)

Jim Lovell, John Young and Gene Cernan all got to go twice.

Anthony

Joe Strout wrote:

By my count, only 27 people have ever
made the trip around the Moon in all of human history --

24 people but 3 people (Lovell, Young, and Cernan) did it twice.

Jim Davis

Joe Strout wrote in
:

Russia is working out a plan to send a tourist around the Moon and
back for $100M. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8700874/

If true, this is amazingly cool. By my count, only 27 people have
ever made the trip around the Moon in all of human history -- and none
at all in the last several decades. Given the fairly steady stream of
people willing to pay $20M for a week aboard ISS, surely there will be
someone eager to pay $100M to be the 28th person to visit lunar orbit!

This is NOT lunar orbit, it's a free-return flyby only. Take your
souvenier Moon crater pictures quick.

If into firsts, the customer could easily be the first non-American,
or non-white, or female, to orbit the Moon. And the tourist and pilot
would obviously be the first to make the trip in the 21st century,
which (one hopes) will go down in history as our resumption of serious
progress in settling space.

Now, now, calm down...you're getting overheated.

Any other reactions to this news? How much skepticism do you think is
warranted?

I could see a modern Proton doing the job in a single launch, but I
want to see appropriate Soyuz/Zond? hardware before I could take this
seriously.

--Damon, who'd spend/invest that $100 million in other ways

Joe Strout wrote:


Any other reactions to this news? How much skepticism do you think is
warranted?

Best,
- Joe




It sounds like a reworked Podsadka concept:
http://www.astronautix.com/articles/theoblem.htm
I seriously doubt if Russia can develop this idea (which will take two
rocket launches- either a Soyuz and a Proton or a Soyuz and the as yet
unflown Onega) build the hardware, test it, launch it, and fly the
mission for under the $100 million price tag they are claiming for the
ticket price.
I'd stick this idea with the any-day-now return of the Energia and
Russian manned Mars missions- in the circular file storage bin.

Pat

In article 0,
Jim Davis wrote:

Joe Strout wrote:

By my count, only 27 people have ever
made the trip around the Moon in all of human history --

24 people but 3 people (Lovell, Young, and Cernan) did it twice.

Aha. Thanks for the correction.

Best,
- Joe

,------------------------------------------------------------------.
| Joseph J. Strout Check out the Mac Web Directory: |
| http://www.macwebdir.com |
`------------------------------------------------------------------'

Damon Hill wrote:

I could see a modern Proton doing the job in a single launch, but I
want to see appropriate Soyuz/Zond? hardware before I could take this
seriously.



Oh yeah- I'd trust a Zond after how well they worked. :-D

Pat

Joe Strout wrote:

Russia is working out a plan to send a tourist around the Moon and back
for $100M. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8700874/

Russia is working on all manner of plans. Few of them have a
snowballs chance of seeing completion.

Given the fairly steady stream of people willing to pay $20M for a week
aboard ISS

One tourist every year or so is only a steady stream by the
undemanding standards of the space fan community.

Any other reactions to this news? How much skepticism do you think is
warranted?

Extreme skepticism.

D.
--
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.

-Resolved: To be more temperate in my postings.
Oct 5th, 2004 JDL

Pat Flannery wrote in news:11efls5lc9kdu10
@corp.supernews.com:



Damon Hill wrote:

I could see a modern Proton doing the job in a single launch, but I
want to see appropriate Soyuz/Zond? hardware before I could take this
seriously.



Oh yeah- I'd trust a Zond after how well they worked. :-D

The baseline Soyuz is considerably improved, but very
significant things are different for the navigation and
reentry, among other things. This'll take at least one
unmanned test flight to verify, and where's your profit
then?

Nope, this not going to be quick and easy.

--Damon

Joe Strout wrote:
Russia is working out a plan to send a tourist around the Moon and back
for $100M. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8700874/

Another article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/space/article/0,14493,1536818,00.html

Note that a similar proposal was floated a while back. See
http://www.constellationservices.com/lunarexpresssmsystem.html

I think my objections in from the previous discussion still stand:
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/sci.space.station/browse_frm/thread/6fced656b5eeb0ed/b43eb6563046de0c?lnk=st&q=&rnum=3&hl=en#b43eb65630 46de0c
(google archive, watch url wrap. You can also search for posts by David
Anderman)

The idea doesn't seem completely insane, but I suspect the cost would
rise and schedule would slip if someone actually stepped up to buy
this. If it was only a one-off, getting the development and per flight
costs for $100 million sounds very optimistic to me. Finding multiple
tourists to pay for $100 million flights is probably a tall order. Now
if there was some other market for the dockable upper stage, that might
have some chance...

I would also be very hesitant to fly on it without an all up
demonstration flight of the modified systems.