A private firm plans to sell a flyby trip to the moon

Working with Russian space officials, a private firm plans to sell a flyby trip to the moon. Price per passenger: 100 million dollars (U.S.).

If the plan takes off, two space tourists and their pilot would spend 10 to 21 days crammed in a passenger car-size Soyuz space module.

The length of the trip depends on whether it includes a stop at the International Space Station.

Space Adventures, based in Arlington, Virginia, today announced their agreement with the Russian Aviation and Space Agency for a lunar look-see—the latest, most ambitious trip offered to private space tourists.

Organizers say the trip could launch in three to four years.

Citizen astronauts able and willing to cover the sky-high cost of the spaceflight would first have to undergo six to eight months of extensive training and mission preparation.

“This is an expedition, not a trip to the beach,” said Space Adventures chief executive Eric Anderson. “Sure they’re private citizens. But they’re also explorers, like the people who first climbed Mount Everest.” 

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