One of the things I remember most about much of the science fiction I read as a youth in the 60s and as a young adult in the 70s was that a large part of the big space enterprises and explorations were accounted for by private enterprise, instead of governments. Today’s NY Times piece, Private Company Plans $100 Million Tour Around the Moon, by John Schwartz, naturally caught my eye. Here’s how it begins:

One day after NASA brought the shuttle Discovery back from low Earth orbit, a private company plans to announce a more audacious venture, a tourist trip around the Moon.

Space Adventures, a company based in Arlington, Va., has already sent two tourists into orbit. Today, it is to unveil an agreement with Russian space officials to send two passengers on a voyage lasting 10 to 21 days, depending partly on its itinerary and whether it includes the International Space Station.

A roundtrip ticket will cost $100 million.

The space-faring tourists will travel with a Russian pilot. They will steer clear of the greater technical challenge of landing on the Moon, instead circling it and returning to Earth.

Eric Anderson, the chief executive of Space Adventures, said he believed the trip could be accomplished as early as 2008. Mr. Anderson said he had already received expressions of interest from a few potential clients. (…)

As I like to say, “except for interplanetary and interstellar travel, everything else that was science fiction in the 50s, 60s & 70s is science fact today.” Looks like the “interplanetary” gig is gonna get crossed off that list sometime pretty soon . . . (db)

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