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Company offers $1.5 billion Moon trips

By T.K. Randall
December 10, 2012 · Comment icon

12 comments

Image Credit: NASA

A new company headed by two ex-NASA officials hopes to provide flights before the decade is out.

Talk of a manned Moon mission has intensified lately with space agencies and private companies vying to become the first to land a human on the lunar surface since the last Apollo mission in 1972. The Golden Spike Company is the latest business to enter the fray, offering trips to the Moon for the grand total of $1.5 billion, a fraction of the cost usually associated with such a mission.

Apollo flight director Gerry Griffin and NASA's former science chief Alan Stern are the masterminds behind the endeavor. The aim will be to cut costs by "capitalizing on available rockets and emerging commercial-crew spacecraft."

Two former top NASA officials unveiled plans Thursday to sell manned flights to the moon by the end of the decade, in an announcement 40 years after the last human set foot there.

Source: Space-Travel.com | Comments (12)

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Recent comments on this story

#3 Posted by Simbi Laveau 10 years ago

Which is why they are aiming to sell to governments, not individuals. The Japan today article made it sound like a cosy get away for two . Lol

#4 Posted by DONTEATUS 10 years ago

They will need to get that price point down to about $500.00 bucks THen We shall talk about it !

#5 Posted by Waspie_Dwarf 10 years ago

I've just re-read the company's mission statement and I was wrong, they are selling to individuals as well. However I agree with Simbi Laveau in that there is a vanishingly small number of billions that are going to want to go to the moon. It is the government and corporate markets they will have to break if they are to actually get the endeavour off the ground (literally and metaphorically). One day there will be commercial flights to the moon, but I'll be amazed if this company survives long enough to be providing them.

#6 Posted by CuriousGreek 10 years ago

1.5 billion?? Not many people could afford this trip...

#7 Posted by sergeantflynn 10 years ago

Does that price include the morning paper ?

#8 Posted by TheMolePatrol 10 years ago

Wow such negative comments towards something that I would say is one of the top stories of 2012! The Mars One idea is bold, but largely impractical. This **** is doable, and people are scoffing at the logically reasonable price tag. How many of us are going to be able to afford Virgin Galactic's $200,000 price tag? In case you've missed how quickly technology (such as computers and cellphones) has advanced, its very NORMAL and PREDICTABLE for brand new products to be out-of-reach expensive initially. The cost comes down over time due to many reasons, but I don't see why spaceflight would be an... [More]

#9 Posted by sergeantflynn 10 years ago

#10 Posted by Waspie_Dwarf 10 years ago

Wow such negative comments towards something that I would say is one of the top stories of 2012! Not negative, realistic. How can a price which is so high that no one can afford it be logical? Space Adventures (the company which has successfully flown several tourists to the ISS) has been offering flights around the moon since 2005. At $150 million this is one tenth the price the Golden Spike Company proposes. Space Adventures need to sell 2 seats to make the flight worthwhile, but in 7 years they have only managed to sell one. The Golden Spike Company is, in my opinion, too far ahead of its t... [More]

#11 Posted by TheMolePatrol 10 years ago

It's a noteable story because we haven't had humans on the Moon for decades, and this company is involved with former NASA employees. And honestly what did you expect the price to be? Affordable?? Haha it's never been done by a private company, big surprise it's got a large price tag. You know what, so did computers when they FIRST were lining up to be sold to the public. I'm not saying $1.5b is affordable to individuals, but it's better than no price at all. And the hopes of this company are OBVIOUSLY banking on different world gov'ts, in case you didn't see the scene with different flags in ... [More]

#12 Posted by Waspie_Dwarf 10 years ago

I'm not saying $1.5b is affordable to individuals, but it's better than no price at all. And the hopes of this company are OBVIOUSLY banking on different world gov'ts, in case you didn't see the scene with different flags in their video. Wrong. If the price is not affordable no one will buy the product. If no one buys the product the company will go bust. That is capitalist economics at its most basic. As for governements, I think it highly unlikely that any will buy this product. Any government willing to spend billions on manned spaceflight is not going to want to buy it off the shelf. Space... [More]

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