Thursday 28 February 2013

First Space Tourist Sets Sights On A Mars Mission


Space tourist Dennis Tito celebrates after his landing near the Kazakh town of Arkalyk on May 6, 2001.
Space tourist Dennis Tito celebrates after his landing near the Kazakh town of Arkalyk on May 6, 2001.

The world's first space tourist is financing a project that aims to launch an American man and woman on a mission to fly by Mars in 2018.
Back in 2001, businessman Dennis Tito shelled out about $20 million to ride a Russian spaceship up to the International Space Station. Now he's unveiled a new nonprofit group called the Inspiration Mars Foundation.
It's working to take advantage of a launch opportunity coming up in January of 2018. That's when the planets will be aligned in a way that would let people fly to Mars, loop around the planet, and return home in just 501 days — a pretty short trip.
At their closest approach, the two space travelers would be within 100 miles of the red planet. "I mean, that's essentially being there," says Tito, who held a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., to announce his plans.

No comments:

Post a Comment