Fly Me to the Moon - In a Soyuz Capsule - for $100 Million!

[brellis]

BBC Article on the first 'space nerd' on the ISS via Space Adventures Co.<br /><br /><font color="orange">"Every time someone flies it keeps proving that there is a market for this," said Eric Anderson, co-founder of Space Adventures.<br /><br />As well as trips to the ISS, Mr Anderson's company plans to develop suborbital vehicles for pleasure flights and be the first to complete a tourist trip to the dark side of the moon.<br /><br />"That's the $100 million dollar grand daddy of them all, where we use the Soyuz capsule to do a circumlunar pass," said Mr Anderson.<br /><br />It has not been announced whether anyone has signed up for the ambitious trip.</font><br /><br />Sign me up! Can anyone loan me $100 very large? <img src="/images/icons/cool.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><em><strong>I'm a recovering optimist - things could be better.</strong></em></font> </p> </div>

 

[Swampcat]

<font color="yellow">"...be the first to complete a tourist trip to the dark side of the moon."</font><br /><br /><img src="/images/icons/rolleyes.gif" /> Does he mean he wants to land a tourist on the side facing away from Earth or during the Lunar night? <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="3" color="#ff9900"><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>------------------------------------------------------------------- </em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions as not to discourage them too much. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government."</em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong>Thomas Jefferson</strong></font></p></font> </div>

 

[owenander]

neither.<br /><br />"where we use the Soyuz capsule to do a circumlunar pass"

 

[Swampcat]

<font color="yellow">"neither."</font><br /><br />And just where is the "dark side of the Moon?"<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="3" color="#ff9900"><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>------------------------------------------------------------------- </em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions as not to discourage them too much. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government."</em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong>Thomas Jefferson</strong></font></p></font> </div>

 

[Swampcat]

<font color="yellow">"My copy's in the CD player in the car..."</font><br /><br /><img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /><br /><br />Yeah, but I guess Pink Floyd can be excused for such a mistake...they're musician's afterall. The founder of the premier space tourist agency should know better. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="3" color="#ff9900"><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>------------------------------------------------------------------- </em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions as not to discourage them too much. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government."</em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong>Thomas Jefferson</strong></font></p></font> </div>

 

[brellis]

<font color="yellow">Yeah, but I guess Pink Floyd can be excused for such a mistake...they're musician's afterall. The founder of the premier space tourist agency should know better.</font><br /><br />Since they're actually flying <i>around</i> the moon, they should get to a pretty dark spot at some point. *shrug* <br /><br />So, no one's willing to float me $100Mil for the trip? Gates, are you monitoring this thread? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><em><strong>I'm a recovering optimist - things could be better.</strong></em></font> </p> </div>

 

[spacester]

Well of course there IS a dark side of the moon.<br /><br />It's just constantly moving, that's all. Just like the dark side of the Earth. And Venus, and Mars, etc. Nighttime, doncha know.<br /><br />The common error of course is that when some people say "dark side" they mean "far side".<br /><br />If you were going on this trip, would you rather go on a full moon, where the far side is the dark side, or on a new moon, where the far side is well-lit? At one of the quarters? A crescent? The experience would be markedly different, on the way there and back, as well as the actual pass. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[Boris_Badenov]

I've seen the side facing the Earth in a telescope many times. I'd like to see the "Dark Side Of The Moon" in sunshine. I'd go on a new moon. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#993300"><span class="body"><font size="2" color="#3366ff"><div align="center">. </div><div align="center">Never roll in the mud with a pig. You'll both get dirty & the pig likes it.</div></font></span></font> </div>

 

[brellis]

I'd like to go at new moon, so when I swing around the far side, I see a "Full Earth" to come home to! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><em><strong>I'm a recovering optimist - things could be better.</strong></em></font> </p> </div>

 

[spacester]

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. You're flying towards the sun on the way out, but Luna is illuminated by Earthshine, so you still get to see the familiar features of the near side get bigger and bigger. Then as you swing around the far side you see that massive cratering under full sunshine. Then the glorious Big Blue Marble as you emerge. A "Full Earth" climbing above the lunar horizon. Spectacular! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[gunsandrockets]

Funny how the sightseeing aspect of space tourism makes certain considerations so important! Nicely thought out.

 

[spacester]

Thanks. One of my main theses for years is that when assessing the resources of space, the *experience* of *being there* is often omitted when in fact should be at the top of the list. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[owenander]

swampcat-<br />"Does he mean he wants to land a tourist on the side facing away from Earth or during the Lunar night?"<br /><br />He doesn't want to land anywhere, if you look at my quote in my first reply it says go AROUND the moon.....<br />

 

[Swampcat]

<font color="yellow">"He doesn't want to land anywhere, if you look at my quote in my first reply it says go AROUND the moon..."</font><br /><br />Owen, thanks for pointing that out, but I understood what was written. I was commenting about the comment made by Eric Anderson of SA when he said, "tourist trip to the <font color="orange"><b>dark side</b></font>of the moon."<br /><br />As has been pointed out, many people erroneously call the far side of the Moon the dark side. I meant nothing else by my comment. Whether he had said landing or overflight does not change the fact that the Moon's dark side is a moving target and irrelevant to a circumlunar flyby. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="3" color="#ff9900"><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>------------------------------------------------------------------- </em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions as not to discourage them too much. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government."</em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong>Thomas Jefferson</strong></font></p></font> </div>

 

[chyten]

<b>I'd like to go at new moon, so when I swing around the far side, I see a "Full Earth" to come home to!</b><br /><br />My feelings are exact opposite. What I would want to see rising above lunar horizon is <i>Earth eclipsing the Sun</i>, which would appear as a bright red band around the black disk. In effect, I'd be seeing all the sunsets on Earth at once. <br /><br />Naturally, this can only happen during full moon, or very close to it.