“Fly me to the Moon and let me play among the stars …”

When the words of this American classic were composed decades ago, they were simply romantic fantasy. But no longer!  Space Adventures of Arlington , Virginia , has announced plans for moon flights beginning in 2008. The company is no stranger to space flight, having already sent two ‘space tourists’ into an orbit around the Earth at a price of $20m each.   The projected moon flight will be in conjunction with Russia and will use the Russian Soyuz vehicle to carry two passengers for a 10 – 21 day trip. Cost: $100m.

Plans call for Soyuz to join with a booster system already in orbit or at the International Space Station. The journey will then continue on to the moon. There will not be an actual luna landing, but an orbital flight around the moon.

Space Adventures estimates there are 500 – 1000 persons who can afford the $100m ticket.

Other contenders for space tourism are Virgin Galactic which is planning a commercial spaceport in New Mexico and Planet Space which has designed an eight-man orbital spaceship called the Silver Dart.

Space Terrorists beware! Homeland Security has a ‘no-fly’ list to prevent any terrorist from getting into outer space.

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