[extropy-chat] Fly Me 'Round the Moon

Thu Aug 11 15:50:24 UTC 2005

And nose-plugs. This is literally a two week cruise of three men in a
bathtub. It would be enjoyable for one person. Three people in a Soyuz
for that long? Maybe for midgets or Spike's legless women.

I had seen the specs on this a few weeks ago. Personally, I'd say dump
the upper stage booster. Refit the Soyuz with larger solar panels (as
well as the logistics module) and a number of plasma thrusters. Instead
of the upper stage, send up a refitted Russian lunar lander (the one
sitting in the museum would be fine), and make it a real lunar mission
for one. The final kicker would be a tether, to attach to a Progress
tanker at the ISS, and use the Progress to tether the Soyuz into an
escape trajectory.

--- Olga Bourlin <fauxever at sprynet.com> wrote:

> Don't forget to take your Dramamine:
> 
> http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/APWires/headlines/D8BTF8QO0.html
> 
> Thursday, August 11, 2005 - Page updated at 1:27 AM
> Permission to reprint or copy this article or photo must be obtained
> from 
> The Seattle Times. Call 206-464-3113 or e-mail
> resale at seattletimes.com with 
> your request.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Company to sell trips around the moon
> 
> By LINDA A. JOHNSON
> Associated Press Writer
> 
> NEW YORK - The company that pioneered commercial space travel by
> sending 
> "tourists" up to the International Space Station is planning a new
> mission: 
> rocketing people around the far side of the moon.
> 
> The price of a round-trip ticket: $100 million.
> 
> The first mission by Space Adventures could happen in 2008 or 2009
> and is 
> planned as a stepping stone to an eventual lunar landing by private 
> citizens.
> 
> "For the first time in history, a private company is organizing a
> mission to 
> the moon," Space Adventures CEO Eric Anderson said at a Manhattan
> news 
> conference Wednesday, a day after space shuttle Discovery safely
> returned to 
> Earth. "This mission will inspire countries of the world, citizens
> ... our 
> youth."
> 
> Anderson said he already has prospective "private explorers" who are 
> interested in the trip and could afford the ticket.
> 
> The initial travelers would be the first to orbit the moon in more
> than 33 
> years, according to the Arlington, Va., company. Only 27 people have
> ever 
> made such a journey.
> 
> The trip, aboard a modified Russian spacecraft, will offer the chance
> to see 
> the Earth rise from lunar orbit and a view of the far side of the
> moon from 
> an altitude of 62 miles.
> 
> The far side of the moon has a special appeal, Anderson told The
> Associated 
> Press in an interview, because it takes most of the hits from
> asteroids, 
> meteorites and other objects from deep space. That results in many
> more 
> craters than on the side seen from Earth.
> 
> "It's much more interesting to look at than the near side," he said,
> adding 
> that the lunar orbits will be done when the far side is illuminated
> by the 
> sun.
> 
> Space Adventures plans to offer multiple trip itineraries aboard
> Russia's 
> Soyuz TMA spacecraft. One possibility is a 5 1/2-day lunar flight and
> up to 
> 21 days at the International Space Station; another is a nine-day
> mission 
> with three days of free flight in low-Earth orbit and the rest flying
> around 
> the moon. In both cases, the spacecraft would dock with a booster,
> carried 
> up by a separate launch vehicle, to propel it to the moon.
> 
> The Soyuz was originally designed for lunar missions, although none
> ever 
> occurred. Anderson called it the most reliable craft in the history
> of space 
> travel.
> 
> It has 10 cubic meters of crew space, about the size of a large SUV.
> The 
> cosmonaut and two passengers will sleep in reclining chairs, said
> Nikolai 
> Sevastyanov, president of rocket maker Rocket and Space Corporation
> Energia.
> 
> Space Adventures has a partnership with the rocket maker and the
> Federal 
> Space Agency of the Russian Federation, through which they have sent 
> American businessman Dennis Tito and South African Mark Shuttleworth
> on a 
> Soyuz for stays on the space station.
> 
> The next mission is slated to send a team up to the space station for
> 10 
> days starting Oct. 1. One of the crew members is Gregory Olsen, a New
> Jersey 
> scientist who has been training for the mission in Russia on and off
> since 
> 2004.
> 
> "Who wouldn't want to go to the moon?" said Olsen, 60, a surprise
> guest at 
> the news conference. "I'm really interested, but one flight at a
> time."
> 
> Modifications to the Soyuz will include altering its docking system
> and 
> installing an 18-inch window so passengers can take high-resolution
> photos 
> of the lunar surface.
> 
> ___
> 
> On the Net:
> 
> http://www.spaceadventures.com
> 
> 
> 
> Copyright © 2005 The Seattle Times Company
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> extropy-chat mailing list
> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org
> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo/extropy-chat
> 

Mike Lorrey
Vice-Chair, 2nd District, Libertarian Party of NH
Founder, Constitution Park Foundation:
http://constitutionpark.blogspot.com
Personal/political blog: http://intlib.blogspot.com

____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page 
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs 