NASA is praising SpaceX after the aerospace company announced a lunar orbit mission the likes of which hasn鈥檛 been seen for decades.
In a statement, NASA said it 鈥渃ommends its industry partners for reaching higher,鈥� and added the space agency will 鈥渨ork 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.鈥�
On Monday, SpaceX announced that two private citizens will join a crew of SpaceX astronauts on an upcoming mission to orbit the moon. The week-long flight is scheduled for some time in 2018. SpaceX will use one of its Falcon Heavy rockets to carry the capsule into space.
SpaceX said the two space tourists will remain anonymous for the time being. On Monday, the company would only say that they have already accepted a 鈥渟ignificant deposit鈥� from private citizens who came up with the idea of a moon trip in the first place.
SpaceX said it will release additional information on the mission astronauts, after they all pass health and fitness tests.
In an interview with 麻豆影视 Channel on Tuesday, former Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield called the SpaceX mission a bold, 鈥渨orld-leading鈥� venture.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 right on the edge of technological feasibility now, for how mature their spaceship is,鈥� Hadfield said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty exciting and it鈥檚 pretty symbolic and I鈥檓 looking forward to seeing how it really pans out.鈥�
The last time humans orbited the moon was in 1972, during the Apollo 17 mission. The crew also landed safely on the moon during that mission.
Dangers for non-astronauts?
Hadfield said there are inherent safety risks with such a mission, and the private citizens aboard will need to be prepared.
鈥淚t鈥檒l take a take a long time to be safe, they鈥檒l need to be physically very healthy, but the real work will come to the test pilots and the crew that are going to fly the ship,鈥� he said, since the launch rocket blasting into lunar orbit will not be able to 鈥渢urn around鈥� for home if something goes wrong.
鈥淭he only way to get back is to go all the way to the moon,鈥� Hadfield said. 鈥淎nd then sort of like a ball at the end of a rope or a tether, it鈥檚 the gravity of the moon that slings you around and sends you back to Earth.鈥�
Therefore, the crew is committed for five or six days, said Hadfield, 鈥渟o no matter what fails on the ship, it has to be able to keep everybody alive for a week, basically.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 way harder than when you鈥檙e just orbiting the world and you can come home at any time. So it adds a level of danger and therefore complexity to ship design.鈥�
But, Hadfield added, it鈥檚 has been done before. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not easy, but it鈥檚 possible and I think it鈥檚 a really good gauntlet of a technological challenge to throw down.鈥�
