For $100m, space tourists will be able to journey to the far side of the moon with Space Adventures, the Virginia-based company that pioneered space tourism, as soon as 2008, Space Adventures officials said on Wednesday.
Two seats aboard a Soyuz spacecraft piloted by a Russian cosmonaut will sell to the public for $100m (€81m, £56m) each, Eric Anderson, chief executive of Space Adventures, said. Lunar trips lasting eight to 21 days will run an elliptical orbit around the moon and come within 100km of its surface.
No one has yet signed up, but the company says it has identified more than 1,000 people with the financial means to make the trip.
“This is the same mission that many governments say requires billions of dollars,” Mr Anderson said. “It's a very reasonable price.”
