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Elon Musk | Pascal Le Segretain\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The SpaceX moonshot is designed to be autonomous \u2014 unless something goes wrong, Musk said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they are entering this with their eyes open, knowing that there is some risk here,\u201d Musk told reporters in the telephone conference, a day after teasing via Twitter that an announcement of some sort was forthcoming.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re certainly not naive, and we\u2019ll do everything we can to minimize that risk, but it\u2019s not zero. But they\u2019re coming into this with their eyes open,\u201d said Musk, adding that the pair will receive \u201cextensive\u201d training before the flight.<\/p>\n
Musk said he does not have permission to release the passengers\u2019 names, and he was hesitant to even say if they were men, women or even pilots. He would admit only, \u201cIt\u2019s nobody from Hollywood.\u201d<\/p>\n
The paying passengers would make a long loop around the moon, skimming the lunar surface and then going well beyond, perhaps 300,000 or 400,000 miles distance altogether. It\u2019s about 240,000 miles to the moon alone, one way.
\nThe mission would not involve a lunar landing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis should be a really exciting mission that hopefully gets the world really excited about sending people into deep space again,\u201d Musk said.<\/p>\n
NASA will have first dibs on a similar mission if it so chooses, he said. The space agency learned of his plan at the same time as reporters.<\/p>\n
In a statement, NASA commended SpaceX \u201cfor reaching higher.\u201d In all, 24 astronauts flew to the moon and 12 walked on its surface from 1969 to 1972.<\/p>\n
The California-based SpaceX already has a long list of firsts, with its sights ultimately set on Mars. It became the first private company to launch a spacecraft into orbit and safely return it to Earth in 2010, and the first commercial enterprise to fly to the space station in 2012 on a supply mission.<\/p>\n
Just a week ago, SpaceX made its latest delivery from Kennedy Space Center\u2019s legendary Launch Complex 39A, where the Apollo astronauts flew to the moon and shuttle crews rocketed into orbit. That will be where the private moon mission will originate as well.<\/p>\n
The crew Dragon capsule \u2014 an upgraded version of the cargo Dragon \u2014 has yet to fly in space. Neither has a Falcon Heavy rocket, which is essentially a Falcon 9 rocket with two strap-on boosters, according to Musk. A Falcon Heavy test flight is planned this summer, while an empty crew capsule is set to launch to the space station late this year. He said there will be ample time to test both the spacecraft and the rocket before the moon mission.<\/p>\n
NASA last week announced it was studying the possibility of adding crew to the test flight of its megarocket, at the request of the Trump administration. Such a flight to the lunar neighborhood wouldn\u2019t happen before 2019 at best \u2014 if, indeed, that option is even implemented.<\/p>\n
Musk said anything that advances the space exploration cause is good, no matter who goes first.<\/p>\n
Retired NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, who will celebrate his homecoming this week from a one-year space mission, was quick to tweet: \u201cIt\u2019s been almost a year. Send me!\u201d<\/p>\n
Musk said he expects to have more moon mission customers as time goes by.<\/p>\n
At the same time, SpaceX is also working on a so-called Red Dragon, meant to fly to Mars around 2020 with experiments, but no people \u2014 and actually land.
\nHis ultimate goal is to establish a human settlement on Mars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SpaceX said Monday it will fly two people to the moon next year, a feat not attempted since NASA\u2019s Apollo heyday close to half a century ago. Tech billionaire Elon Musk \u2014 the company\u2019s founder and CEO \u2014 announced the surprising news barely a week after launching his first rocket from NASA\u2019s legendary moon pad. … Continue reading SpaceX says it will fly 2 people to moon next year<\/span>