Yesterday, Musk stated that SpaceX would have a breaking announcement today at 4pm EST (1pm GMT). And he just revealed that SpaceX will be sending two private citizens around the Moon.
Ultimately, this is the first flight to the Moon with a crew in more than 45 years, and SpaceX went to lengths to point out the significance of this work:
“Like the Apollo astronauts before them, these individuals will travel into space carrying the hopes and dreams of all humankind, driven by the universal human spirit of exploration.”
We have no idea who they are, just that these space tourists include “nobody from Hollywood”.
The two individuals have “already paid a significant deposit” to do a Moon mission. Initial training, along with health and fitness tests, are set to occur later this year, Futurism reports.
SpaceX plans to launch the spacecraft to the ISS without people on board this year, and then a subsequent mission with crew will fly in the second quarter of 2018. From there, the company will head to the Moon, an important milestone as they work towards the ultimate goal—transporting humans to Mars.
