First 'space tourist' wants to send couple to Mars
American multimillionaire Dennis Tito, who in 2001 paid a reported $20 million to ride aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS), unveiled plans Wednesday for the first manned mission to Mars and back with a January 2018 launch date, an "extremely ambitious goal," experts said.
"The goal is to send two people, but to allow everyone else along for the ride," said Tito at a news conference Wednesday at the National Press Club in Washington. "It is a challenging, yet attainable goal," he said.
The mission dubbed "Inspiration Mars" has been described as "bold" and "risky" by both supporters and critics alike.
The so-called "fast, free-return" mission would begin on Jan. 5, 2018 when two crew members - a husband and wife astronaut duo - board a shuttle, approximately the size of a Winnebago, as private citizens to embark on a 501-day roundtrip flyby, passing within 100 miles (160 kilometers) of the Martian surface,RIA Novosti published.
No attempted landing or orbit is scheduled, just a barebones, "Lewis and Clark" expedition style trip Tito said, comparing the minimalistic approach to the engine of a classic car. The crew will use the gravitational influence of Mars to "slingshot" the space vehicle onto a return course back to Earth.
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