Elon Musk to send Dragon spacecraft with tourists to the Moon on the SpaceX Falcon Heavy

Two private citizens approached SpaceX and paid them a “significant” amount of money for a spaceflight to the Moon and back. SpaceX has agreed, and plans to launch a Dragon spacecraft to orbit around the Moon and get back to Earth. The launch is tentatively scheduled for late 2018, and will use the SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch vehicle. The Dragon spacecraft has been developed for humans and cargo, and is currently being used for resupply missions to the International Space Station (ISS). Recently, a SpaceX Dragon carried Nasa’s Three Eyed Raven to it’s perch on the ISS.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/836328719165763584

The launch will take place from Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral, the same launchpad used by Nasa astronauts for the manned missions to the Moon under the Apollo program. For the first time in 45 years, humans will be venturing so far out into space. The Dragon spacecraft will circumnavigate the moon. It will be a historic mission, as it is the first time space tourists will be visiting the moon.

SpaceX is conducting preliminary health and fitness tests on the private citizens, and will begin training later in the year. Based on the results of the initial tests, SpaceX has indicated that it will release additional information about the flight teams.

Nasa has released the following statement on the SpaceX announcement, “NASA commends its industry partners for reaching higher. We will work closely with SpaceX to ensure it safely meets the contractual obligations to return the launch of astronauts to U.S. soil and continue to successfully deliver supplies to the International Space Station. For more than a decade, NASA has invested in private industry to develop capabilities for the American people and seed commercial innovation to advance humanity’s future in space. NASA is changing the way it does business through its commercial partnerships to help build a strong American space economy and free the agency to focus on developing the next-generation rocket, spacecraft and systems to go beyond the moon and sustain deep space exploration.”

Nasa’s Commercial Crew Program is providing most of the funding for the Dragon 2 spacecraft, and the development of the Falcon heavy has been funded by SpaceX. Long term plans for Musk include making human life interplanetary , and a Red Dragon mission is scheduled to go to Mars on a path-finding mission.