SpaceX plans to send two people around the Moon in late 2018

[av8tr1]

Nope this is a purely ground controlled flight. There are no plans at this time for a employee crew member to be in control of anything. That may change based on FAA response.

I agree with @NovemberEcho though I'm sure he was joking. Tom cruise is the top,of the list for celebrity.

I think Robert Bigelow is at least one of the pax though. He is the only guy I can think of that would be taken seriously and has the money to pull this off.

 

[NovemberEcho]

I agree with @NovemberEcho though I'm sure he was joking. Tom cruise is the top,of the list for celebrity.

Only half joking.

 

[Calamaris]

I hope the prices will fall in next 10, 20 years so I can also fulfill my space dream

 

[av8tr1]

Only half joking.

He's got the money and the motivation to do it. And we know he's a huge space nut and a pilot. And by space nut I mean just "nut". But I could see Scientology helping to fund his trip as a public relations opportunity.

 

[dustoff17]

I would guess that at least one of them would be considered PIC and subjected to the appropriate CFRs. Since they are paying, I can't imagine they'll be required to have a commercial just an instrument rating. In some respects (from my admittedly meager knowledge of astrodynamics), spaceflight is generally less "hands on" than atmospheric flight because of the stable, predictable nature of basic Newtonian physics as it relates to trajectories, orbital states etc

Oh Noooooo....!
Shhh....if they're paying, the FAA will make SpaceX get a 135 certificate (I can't imagine the headache THAT would be)!
Better to have them being paid as Commercial pilots.

 

[Finny]

Oh Noooooo....!
Shhh....if they're paying, the FAA will make SpaceX get a 135 certificate (I can't imagine the headache THAT would be)!
Better to have them being paid as Commercial pilots.

What are 135 alternate minimums for an IFR Moon cross country flight?!

 

[Dugie8]

What are 135 alternate minimums for an IFR Moon cross country flight?!

Uranus.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Boris Badenov]

I think Robert Bigelow is at least one of the pax though.

It would be weird if he were more than one of the pax.

 

[Adler]

 

[ArcherII]

All they'd do (the astronuts) is test the Enviromental Control System of the craft.
If it works, great. If it doesn't, good bye.

John Young was particularly worried about the ECS in Gemini III, while the flight was very much automatic right up to deorbit.

 

[NovemberEcho]

All they'd do (the astronuts) is test the Enviromental Control System of the craft.
If it works, great. If it doesn't, good bye.

John Young was particularly worried about the ECS in Gemini III, while the flight was very much automatic right up to deorbit.

They do a bit more than that. Ask the guys on Apollo 13

 

[MikeD]

They do a bit more than that. Ask the guys on Apollo 13

Or the crew of Capricorn One.

 

[ArcherII]

They do a bit more than that. Ask the guys on Apollo 13

I know, but in a highly automated environment, the first automated thing that can kill them is a lowsy oxygen supply and a faulty janitrol.
We can talk about the zillion remaining things later during LEO.

 

[av8tr1]

Nope this is a purely ground controlled flight. There are no plans at this time for a employee crew member to be in control of anything. That may change based on FAA response.

I agree with @NovemberEcho though I'm sure he was joking. Tom cruise is the top,of the list for celebrity.

I think Robert Bigelow is at least one of the pax though. He is the only guy I can think of that would be taken seriously and has the money to pull this off.

I am going to double down on my bet for Bigelow.
http://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/0...ed:+blogspot/advancednano+(nextbigfuture)&m=1

Any takers?

 

[Troy McClure]

I heard that the first two chumps are Sir Ricky Branson and Jeff Bezos.....can you say "buh-bye".....

 

[mshunter]

Y'all do know that SpaceX is heavily subsidized by NASA, yeah?

This is very much public-private partnership and very much less "private space industry."

If by subsidies you mean the contract to haul NASA's chit to the space station, then yes. That's where the majority of their "subsidies" come from. They were given some money to help develop that rocket to haul NASA's chit, but it was orders of magnitude less than what NASA could have done it for.

 

[NovemberEcho]

SpaceX has only gotten around $20 million in subsidies and most of that from Texas. Musks other ventures, SolarCity and Tesla, have received north of $3 billion.

 

[trafficinsight]

If by subsidies you mean the contract to haul NASA's chit to the space station, then yes. That's where the majority of their "subsidies" come from. They were given some money to help develop that rocket to haul NASA's chit, but it was orders of magnitude less than what NASA could have done it for.

And it's only blown up twice!

 

[mshunter]

And it's only blown up twice!

Yeah, because NASA has such a stellar record too.

 

[Autothrust Blue]

Yeah, because NASA has such a stellar record too.

I'd consider the record pre-Shuttle to be downright excellent.