SpaceX Crew Dragon manned lunar mission in 2018-2019

[Dr Mordrid]

Things moved fast and hard yesterday, leaving the space community spinning.

Crew Dragon flies unmanned test flight to ISS in November 2017, a crewed ISS mission 6 months later, then it's a crewed mission around the Moon in late 2018/early 2019 and an unmanned Red Dragon landing on Mars in 2020.

@SciGuySpace (Ars Technica)
Holy s***. SpaceX says its going to send two people around the Moon in the 4th Q of 2018.
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Two people would fly an approximately week-long mission in a long loop around the Moon, to about 400,000 miles from Earth.
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If this happens in late 2018 or 2019, SpaceX would almost certainly one-up NASA's crewed Orion/SLS mission.

@jeff_foust 28 seconds ago
Elon Musk announces SpaceX will launch a Dragon spacecraft with 2 people on board on a Falcon Heavy for a circumlunar mission in late 2018.

@cbs_spacenews (Space News)
SpaceX/Update: Musk said the cost would be similar to what it would take for a private citizen to visit the space station
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Musk declined to identify the two individuals who would fly, beyond they know each other; they have paid a despite on the undisclosed price.

The Verge....

SpaceX plans to send two people around the Moon

"The company expects to fly an uncrewed Dragon 2 with Falcon 9 to ISS by the end of this year. There will be another mission six months later with a NASA crew. Six months after that, if all goes as planned, is when the two people would fly around the Moon.

If NASA decides they want to do the first lunar mission, NASA would have priority. For its part, SpaceX expects to do more than one Moon mission. Next year is going to be the big year for carrying people, says Musk. Other flight teams have already expressed interest in going on future trips."

[Dr Mordrid]

SpaceX statement....

We are excited to announce that SpaceX has been approached to fly two private citizens on a trip around the moon late next year. They have already paid a significant deposit to do a moon mission. Like the Apollo astronauts before them, these individuals will travel into space carrying the hopes and dreams of all humankind, driven by the universal human spirit of exploration. We expect to conduct health and fitness tests, as well as begin initial training later this year. Other flight teams have also expressed strong interest and we expect more to follow. Additional information will be released about the flight teams, contingent upon their approval and confirmation of the health and fitness test results.

Most importantly, we would like to thank NASA, without whom this would not be possible. NASAs Commercial Crew Program, which provided most of the funding for Dragon 2 development, is a key enabler for this mission. In addition, this will make use of the Falcon Heavy rocket, which was developed with internal SpaceX funding. Falcon Heavy is due to launch its first test flight this summer and, once successful, will be the most powerful vehicle to reach orbit after the Saturn V moon rocket. At 5 million pounds of liftoff thrust, Falcon Heavy is two-thirds the thrust of Saturn V and more than double the thrust of the next largest launch vehicle currently flying.

Later this year, as part of NASAs Commercial Crew Program, we will launch our Crew Dragon (Dragon Version 2) spacecraft to the International Space Station. This first demonstration mission will be in automatic mode, without people on board. A subsequent mission with crew is expected to fly in the second quarter of 2018. SpaceX is currently contracted to perform an average of four Dragon 2 missions to the ISS per year, three carrying cargo and one carrying crew. By also flying privately crewed missions, which NASA has encouraged, long-term costs to the government decline and more flight reliability history is gained, benefiting both government and private missions.

Once operational Crew Dragon missions are underway for NASA, SpaceX will launch the private mission on a journey to circumnavigate the moon and return to Earth. Lift-off will be from Kennedy Space Centers historic Pad 39A near Cape Canaveral the same launch pad used by the Apollo program for its lunar missions. This presents an opportunity for humans to return to deep space for the first time in 45 years and they will travel faster and further into the Solar System than any before them.

Designed from the beginning to carry humans, the Dragon spacecraft already has a long flight heritage. These missions will build upon that heritage, extending it to deep space mission operations, an important milestone as we work towards our ultimate goal of transporting humans to Mars.

NASA statement....

NASA Statement About SpaceX Private Moon Venture Announcement

The following is a statement on SpaceXs announcement Monday about a private space mission around the moon:

NASA commends its industry partners for reaching higher.

We will work closely with SpaceX to ensure it safely meets the contractual obligations to return the launch of astronauts to U.S. soil and continue to successfully deliver supplies to the International Space Station.

For more than a decade, NASA has invested in private industry to develop capabilities for the American people and seed commercial innovation to advance humanity's future in space.

NASA is changing the way it does business through its commercial partnerships to help build a strong American space economy and free the agency to focus on developing the next-generation rocket, spacecraft and systems to go beyond the moon and sustain deep space exploration.

-end-

[Dr Mordrid]

Crew Dragon (interior capacity: 7)






Falcon Heavy on KSC LC-39A (first flight this summer, cores shipping)


Falcon Heavy Interstage


Falcon Heavy side Booster+nose cone