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$100 Mln Moon Trip: As Soon As 2008

$100 Mln Moon Trip: As Soon As 2008
BEIJING, Aug. 11(Xinhuanet) -- Wealthy people looking for new ways to spend their holidays now have another choice -- the space, after a private company said it plans to send tourists around the moon as soon as 2008.

Space Adventures, the company behind the plan, sent the first tourist into space in 2001. Financier Dennis Tito spent $20 million for a voyage to the International Space Station. "Space travel is possible for anyone," Tito said.

However, adventure to the moon may not be possible for anybody. One ticket will cost $100 million, and the trips are set to last between 10 to 21 days.

Eric Anderson, chief executive of Space Adventures, believes between 500 to 1,000 people could afford to buy a ticket for the moon trip.

The company will work with Russia's space agency, who also helped send Tito into orbit. Tourists will likely be taken into space using the Soyuz ship.

However there are potential problems with the trip that have nothing to do with technical feasibility. Room inside the Soyuz is reportedly equivalent to an SUV. That means passengers will be in very close quarters for the entire flight, with little room to stretch their legs.

A third space tourist, another multimillionaire Gregory Olsen, is scheduled to fly aboard a Russian spacecraft to the space station in October. "It's something I'd like to do," he told The New York Times. Enditem

(Agencies)

Wed Aug 10