Tourism on the Moon

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
space tourism startup companies are planning to offer tourism on or around the Moon, and estimate this to be possible sometime between 2023[1] and 2043.[2][3]

Possible attractions

Bill Anders orbiting the Moon on Apollo 8

Two natural attractions would be available by circumlunar flight or lunar orbit, without landing:

When and if landing is made possible, attractions such as these could also be part of the itinerary of a Moon tourist:[4]

  • Visit of helium-3 mines[5]
  • Visit of the South Pole habitat[6]
  • Visit of the Russian observatory[7]
  • Visit of the inflatable Moon base[8]

Note that these attractions are still conceptual projects that have yet to have been realized, as of November 2023.

Protection of lunar landmarks

Buzz Aldrin's boot print on the lunar surface at Tranquility Base

The site of the first human landing on an

Apollo 11 landing sites and the footprints of Aldrin and Armstrong, rely on the preservation of the surface of the Moon as is.[12] Ideally, technologies would be developed which would allow tourists to hover over these sites without compromising the integrity of the lunar surface.[12]

Interest in affording historical

For All Moonkind, Inc. and has pledged that its mission will honor heritage preservation and abide by all relevant guidelines.[14]

Types and cost

Sketch of circumlunar free return trajectory

Tourist flights to the Moon would be of three types: flyby in a circumlunar trajectory, lunar orbit, and lunar landing.

However, the only tourist flights to space that have been successfully executed so far have been suborbital and orbital flights.[15]

Suborbital flights are short and significantly less costly than orbital flights. Tourists on suborbital flights find themselves at an altitude of around 100 km, which is a little over the official beginning of space, where they get to experience zero gravity for approximately 5 minutes before beginning their descent back to Earth. Suborbital flights can last anywhere between 30 minutes and 3 hours and cost approximately $200,000 per passenger.[16]

Orbital flights, on the other hand, are longer, more expensive, and logistically harder to realize. They require flying hundreds of kilometres above the Earth's surface. Orbital flights typically last a day and cost around $10M per passenger.[17][16]

Both orbital and suborbital flights have only been executed in the context of space tourism, not moon tourism, but private companies have been making significant advancements in the realm of moon tourism. Notably, the entire development of SpaceShipOne, a sub-orbital spaceplane, including its test flight, cost $25 million, a figure notably less than NASA's daily expenses.[18]

Initiatives have been announced for the commencement of commercial sub-orbital spaceline services between 2007 and 2009. The initial passenger price estimate stood at approximately $200,000, with potential price reductions of over 90% if demand rises significantly. According to a 2004 OECD report,[19] NASA's projections suggest that sub-orbital tourism could generate annual revenues ranging from $700 million to as much as $4 billion, representing a substantial increase compared to the 2003 commercial satellite launch market, which ranged from 100% to 600% of those figures.[18]

Various studies have estimated the development costs of orbital passenger launch vehicles to be in the range of a few billion US dollars to around $15 billion.[20] [21][22]

Some of the space tourism start-up companies have declared their cost for each tourist for a tour to the Moon.

  • Circumlunar flyby: Space Adventures is charging $150 million per seat, a price that includes months of ground-based training, although this is only a fly-by mission, and will not land on the Moon.[23] Excalibur Almaz had the same price tag but never managed to send their capsule to space.[24]
  • Lunar landing: The Golden Spike Company charged $750 million per seat for future lunar landing tourism. The idea was for a module to be fired off into lunar orbit where it would await a crewed vehicle, linking up to it and allowing passengers to explore the lunar surface.[25][26][27]

Proposed missions

Space tourism companies which have announced they are pursuing lunar tourism include Space Adventures,[23] Excalibur Almaz,[23] Virgin Galactic,[2] SpaceX,[3] and Blue Origin.[28]

  • The company Space Adventures has announced a planned mission, titled DSE-Alpha, to take two tourists within 100 kilometers (54 nautical miles) of the lunar surface, using a Soyuz spacecraft piloted by a professional cosmonaut.[29] The trip would last around a week.[23]
  • In February 2017,
    BFR system instead.[32][33][34] In September 2018, Elon Musk revealed the passenger for the trip, Yusaku Maezawa during a livestream. Yusaku Maezawa described the plan for his trip in further detail, dubbed the #dearMoon project, intending to take 6–8 artists with him on the journey to inspire the artists to create new art.[35] In November 2023, the project announced that the mission has been postponed to an undecided date.[36]
  • Aerospace company Blue Origin has already successfully accomplished multiple suborbital launches[37] and plans on continuing to use their New Shephard rocket for tourism purposes.[38] As of November 2023, technical failures have prevented the rocket from continuing its services but the company assures the public that it will resume operations in 2024.[39]

Cancelled proposals

  • Excalibur Almaz proposed to take three tourists in a flyby around the Moon, using modified Almaz space station modules, in a low-energy trajectory flyby around the Moon. The trip would last around 6 months.[23] However, their equipment was never launched and is to be converted into an educational exhibit.[40]
  • The
    surface of the Moon. The company's website was quietly taken offline in September 2015.[41]

See also

References

  1. ^ Dear Moon. Accessed: 17 September 2018.
  2. ^ a b Gilbert, Dave (9 December 2013). "Could Virginity Galactic launch tourist trips to the Moon by 2043? – CNN.com". CNN. Archived from the original on 21 March 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  3. ^ a b "SpaceX to Send Privately Crewed Dragon Spacecraft Beyond the Moon Next Year" (Press release). SpaceX. 27 February 2017. Archived from the original on 1 March 2017.
  4. .
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  6. ^ Warner, C. M. (28 October 2020). "Lunar Living: NASA's Artemis Base Camp Concept". blogs.nasa.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  7. ^ "Russia wants to build an observatory on the Moon". Futurism. Archived from the original on 14 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  8. ESA. 1 September 2022. Archived
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  9. ^ a b c Chang, Kenneth (10 January 2012). "To Preserve History on the Moon, Visitors Are Asked to Tread Lightly". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 12 November 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
  10. ^ "MIssion statement". For all moonkind. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  11. ^ "Human heritage in outer space". For all moonkind. Archived from the original on 2 October 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
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  18. ^ . Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  19. ^ Peeters, Walter; Jolly, Claire (12 May 2004). Evaluation of Future Space Markets (PDF) (Report). OECD. p. 43. SG/AU/SPA(2004)5. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 December 2023. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  20. . Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  21. ^ Isozaki, Kohki; Yonemoto, Koichi; Kitayama, Osamu; Miyahara, Akira; Watanabe, Hiroyuki; Okaya, Shunichi; Ibusuki, Masayuki (1998). Status Report on Space Tour Vehicle "Kankoh-maru" of Japanese Rocket Society (Report). iaa-98-iaa.1.5.06. Archived from the original on 8 November 2023. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
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  24. ^ "Shooting for the Moon: time called on Isle of Man space race". The Independent. 2015-03-11. Retrieved 2017-09-11.
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  28. ^ Gendron, Will (8 August 2023). "Virgin Galactic's first space tourism flight took off this week. Here are the players taking civilians to space". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 9 August 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
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  35. ^ First Private Passenger on Lunar BFR Mission. SpaceX. 18 September 2018. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2018 – via YouTube.
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  38. ^ Roulette, Joey (15 March 2023). Maler, Sandra; Adler, Leslie (eds.). "Blue Origin expects New Shepard rocket's return to flight in late 2023". Reuters. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
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  41. from the original on 8 February 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2023.

External links