Concept art of the Spacecraft (left) and a landing module (right) (via Golden Spike)
Would you do anything to travel to the surface of the moon? A new company, started by former NASA administrator Allan Stern, called Golden Spike (GSC) will send you there by 2020. All you have to do is accumulate $700-800 million for one two-way ticket.
Don’t turn down this offer just yet. This ticket comes with much more. Of course, GSC will provide and take care of all regulatory clearances and paperwork, crew medical exams, necessary training and oversee all the pre-testing, integration and mission operations. Along with that, all missions will be provided with launch vehicles (for two people), lunar transit vehicles, lunar landers, space suits, safety equipment, more necessary hardware and packages for lunar or orbital experiments.
If you want to visit the lunar surface, your ticket guarantees 36 hrs of stay time, two moonwalks (extra-vehicular activity). It also comes with a standard surface expedition tool kit, cameras, and the option of bringing add on packages, 50 kg of your own equipment for experiments or any other things you want to bring like plaques or a permanent marker so you can write “I was here!”
GSC will also offer trips where you can orbit the moon for $450 million per seat in a shuttle for two. This trip will last a week and did we mention that every trip, orbiting or touching down, will be automated, controlled and overseen by GSC back on Earth. So, it really will be a private trip. That does have a certain appeal, to be honest.
The first hurdle GSC must clear is the massive initial investment required to build the necessary infrastructure. It is estimated that their first trip, including this infrastructure, will cost around $7-8 billion. All this money will come from private investors; none from the government.
Concept flight plan (via Golden Spike)
The question on some people’s minds might be why anyone would make a company that takes on such daunting projects, which carry such huge price tags. Stern says it is all due to the recently booming commercial space industry. Companies like Space X and Armadillo are bringing the costs down for space travel hardware. Stern says, “the breakthrough thing here is we can fly manned lunar missions for the price of a robotic mission.” For comparison, the development and execution of each Apollo landing cost about $18 billion.
GSC will do business with governments as well as corporations and individuals for scientific experiments, resource mining (to follow the trend of depletion of Earth’s resources? hope not!), and the only type of prestige you can get from going to the moon. Stern believes the biggest market will be in selling expeditions to governments (except China or other US rivals) that are already paying this much for their missions.
The company has already signed contracts to develop lunar landers and space suits. Stern has been speaking to a potential tourist though he has not disclosed whom. Plus, GSC already has a panel of experienced and exceedingly well connected consultants. They include former director of NASA’s Johnson Spaceflight Center, Gerry Griffin, former chief of NASA’s space shuttle program, Wayne Hale, Star Trek set designer, Mike Okuda and Newt Gingrich who may run to be the first president of the moon in 2020.
To recuperate these initial costs, GSC will sell the naming and media rights to their ships, create a membership group, offer brand licensing, expedition advertising, merchandizing and sell items flown, return samples and expedition artifact. They also plan to sell entertainment products that market each trip.
GSC will have to do many test runs with robots before they can send humans on trips. The first trip will cost around $700 million and subsequent journeys will sell for $800 million to recuperate that initial investment faster. If this price is still too steep for you, Arlington, Virginia company, Space Adventures, is selling flights around the moon for only $150 million.
For those of you wondering, the company is called Golden Spike after the last spike that completed the transcontinental railroad. The Golden Spike of the 21st century is completing our gateway to the moon.
Cabe
