The first space traveller in history wants to return, but he has booked a trip on Elon Musk’s Starship to orbit the moon this time.
Now that he is retired and has time on his hands, Dennis Tito, 82, has the opportunity to experience the excitement of his mission to the International Space Station.
He isn’t interested in hopping on a 10-minute flight to the edge of space or repeating what he did 21 years ago. “I’ve already done it.
He will be 200 kilometres from the lunar far side during his week-long moonshot, which will take place at a future date. His wife Akiko and ten other people who are willing to pay a significant sum of money for the ride will be with him.
Tito won’t disclose the amount he is paying; but, his flight to the Russian station cost NZ$35 million (US$20 million).
The couple is aware that Starship, a sleek, bullet-shaped monster that hasn’t even made an effort to enter space, still needs to undergo extensive testing and development.
This week, Tito told The Associated Press in an interview, “We have to keep fit for as many years as it’s going to take for SpaceX to construct this vehicle.” If it weren’t for this quest, I may be rocking back and forth in my chair without getting any exercise.
The second billionaire to book a Starship for a trip around the moon is Tito. Yusaku Maezawa, a Japanese fashion mogul, declared in 2018 that he was purchasing an entire aeroplane so he could bring eight or so additional people—preferably artists—with him. Despite being 20 years apart, the two men used Russian rockets to travel from Kazakhstan to the space station.
As the first person to pay for his own space travel in 2001, Tito started the space tourism industry, upsetting NASA in the process.
The US space agency did not want a tourist to be present while the space station was being constructed. But the Russian Space Agency needed the money, so with the aid of the US-based Space Adventures, it sent a number of well-off passengers to the station in the 2000s, including Maezawa just a year ago.
Wealthy clients are experiencing shorter space excursions thanks to Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket business. Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic expects to take paying passengers next year.
Starship has not yet taken off from the southernmost point of Texas, close to the Mexican border, on top of a Super Heavy booster. It is the largest and most potent rocket ever constructed, measuring 120 metres and producing 7.7 million kg of liftoff thrust. For the first lunar touchdown since Apollo, NASA has already contracted with a Starship to deliver its humans to the moon in 2025 or thereabouts.
Tito claimed that an option for a flight within five years is included in the couple’s contract with SpaceX, which was signed in August 2021 and made public on Wednesday. By that time, Tito would be 87, and he needed a way out in case his health declined.
But he added, “If I continued in good health, I’d wait 10 years.”
Tito’s wife, 57, claimed she didn’t require any persuasion. Both pilots and those who live in Los Angeles are aware of the risks.
They agree with Musk’s predictions for a space-faring future and think that a married pair travelling to the moon together will encourage others to follow suit.
Tito, who almost two years ago sold his investing firm Wilshire Associates, claimed he doesn’t feel bad about spending more on space travel than on other things on Earth.
We’re retired now, so it’s time to enjoy the fruits of our labour, he remarked.
Similar to how John Glenn’s space shuttle voyage in 1998 disproved age stereotypes, Tito anticipates that he will do the same. The oldest person in space is still the first American to orbit the planet.
He wasn’t even 77. He was only a young man, stated Tito. “I might end up being 10 years older than him. ”.
First space tourist in the world registers for a voyage around the moon
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