Elon Musk's company SpaceX has unveiled the first private passenger it plans to fly around the Moon.Japanese billionaire, entrepreneur and online fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa, 42, announced: "I choose to go to the Moon".
He is expected to lift-off on the Big Falcon Rocket (BFR), a launch system unveiled by Mr Musk in 2016. The mission will mark the first visit to the Moon by humans since Nasa's Apollo 17 landing in 1972. However, the timeline for this launch remains unclear, and it relies on a rocket that hasn't been built yet.
On Monday, Mr Musk unveiled new artist impressions of the BFR and the spaceship which will carry passengers around the Moon. It appeared to confirm some design changes to the spaceship, including three large fins near the back and a black heat-shield on the craft's underside. Eventually, the BFR should be able to lift a whopping 150 tonnes into low-Earth orbit - that is more than the US Saturn V rockets that lofted the Apollo spacecraft.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-45550755
A Big F****n Rocket, indeed...
ReplyDelete