CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The world’s first space tourist wants to go back – only this time, he´s signed up for a spin around the moon aboard Elon Musk´s Starship.
For Dennis Tito, 82, it´s a chance to relive the joy of his trip to the International Space Station, now that he’s retired with time on his hands. He isn’t interested in hopping on a 10-minute flight to the edge of space or repeating what he did 21 years ago. “Been there, done that.”
His weeklong moonshot – its date to be determined and years in the future – will bring him within 125 miles (200 kilometres) of the lunar far side. He’ll have company: his wife, Akiko, and 10 others willing to shell out big bucks for the ride.
Tito won´t say how much he´s paying; his Russian station flight cost $20 million.
The couple recognize there’s a lot of testing and development still ahead for Starship, a shiny, bullet-shaped behemoth that’s yet to even attempt to reach space.
“We have to keep healthy for as many years as it´s going to take for SpaceX to complete this vehicle,” Tito said in an interview this week with The Associated Press. “I might be sitting in a rocking chair, not doing any good exercise, if it wasn´t for this mission.”
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