Trip Into Moon Orbit May Cost Tourists $100 Million

"A project for a flight around the Moon really exists and we are currently studying it," said Alexei Krasnov, the head of the agency's department of piloted programs. "This flight may cost some $100 million for a tourist."

According to Krasnov, a modernized cargo spacecraft Soyuz with a Russian cosmonaut and one-two space tourists on board will be put into low earth orbit and docked with the International Space Station.

After that, an upper-stage rocket will be launched from the Baikonur space center to be docked with the Soyuz.

"The power of the upper stage will provide the flight around the Moon and return to Earth," Krasnov said, adding that the trip would last from eight to ten days.

He also said there was a number of criteria for space tourists, including education, medical factors, the ability to handle stressful situations and language skills, among others.

"Fluent spoken and written English is a compulsory demand for all ISS candidates," Krasnov said. "Russian and English studies are included in the training program."

He said Russia was cooperating in the space tourism industry with the United States, Japan, China, Brazil, Malaysia and South Korea.

Copyright 2005 by Space Daily, Distributed United Press International