Automatic for the Internets: How Much Does It Cost to Go to the Moon?

How Much Does It Cost to Go to the Moon?

Posted in Labels: Personal Technology, Science, Space | at 12:51 AM

Brian, Ruston, and I were asking ourselves "how much would it cost to go to the moon?" Well, I decided to do some research and here's what I found.

Space Tourism has long since been an idea dreamed up by science fiction authors, but in 2001 fiction became reality when multimillionaire Dennis Tito became the first Space Tourist by traveling to the International Space Station (ISS) for a week. Tito was flown to the ISS by an American Agency called Space Adventures on a Russian space craft called the Soyuz. Since Tito, there have been six other people who have paid to travel to the ISS and back. All seven space tourists have flown on the Soyuz and paid $20-35 million. As of 2009, the Russian Space Agency is the only program offering paid flights to space.

In August 2005, Chris Isidore of CNN wrote an article stating that Space Adventures would be offering flights to orbit (not land on) the moon for $100 million. At the time, Space Adventures had identified nearly 1,000 billionaires who were willing to pay the price, but, as of today, no such flights have be executed.

In November 2009, Gene J. Koprowski wrote an article for FOX News stating there are various private sector firms, including a well known company: Virgin Galactic (of Virgin Group Ltd.), who are setting up technologies to offer space tourism at more affordable rates. These flights will take the passengers into orbit to the point of weightlessness for a limited time before returning to earth. At the beginning, the flights are rumored to cost $200,000 with the expectation of price reductions as the flights become more popular and more evolved.

As of today, no one has traveled to the moon as a tourist and there are no future plans - that we know of - to offer such services. For now, a trip to the moon remains science fiction.