Excalibur Almaz announces lunar plans

[JBF]

Any news from the Space Tourism conference in London?

[daveklingler]

Excalibur Almaz is awesome! ©

Sniff.  That's good, but words mean little.  You must DEMONSTRATE your love for Excalibur Almaz.  Only then will they truly know.

[daveklingler]

Any news from the Space Tourism conference in London?

There was a quick link on Hobbyspace, but I haven't seen anything detailed.

[Downix]

Any news from the Space Tourism conference in London?

Xcor and EA announcement:

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=nrhoezcab&v=001cijNGvIyoo6Dk2jJCnBV1oUaSnyAd8dX3WjqvwehTuduCzu2S9smocV8BVCEeeJMcgBUb7W1OiOsTG_yWMWg1EV-QZb2SCbe1AmRLUn-4xIs2465HraNFxN5ABJPwGC9Hox0W1y5J5-F50Uub2SCyg%3D%3D

[QuantumG]

It's an interesting example of how orbital "space tourism" doesn't compete with suborbital (although not the opposite).

[daveklingler]

EA didn't seriously think they were going to be competitive for CCDev and they didn't see ISS deliveries as part of their business plan, but they took the opportunity to use the unfunded SAA to beat their assets into meeting NASA requirements.  That's what's known as a smart business decision

Why was that a smart business decision? I am not saying it wasn't a smart business decision, I am just asking what the benefits to EA were.

Think of CCDev as a one-time offer of free consulting.  IIRC their SAA brought them through a Systems Requirements Review.

Now, I'm sure that some of what they did is old hat, considering that SpaceHab launched 19 missions, and assuming that there are any common personnel.  I would very much expect that there are some personnel in common between the two companies.

[Danderman]

Think of CCDev as a one-time offer of free consulting.  IIRC their SAA brought them through a Systems Requirements Review.

Completing an SRR is great, but its a long ways from bending metal on the long desired modifications to the capsule.

BTW, Excalibur Almaz is awesome! ©

[Danderman]

James Oberg Interview: How Feasible Is The £100m Ticket To The Moon?

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/06/22/james-oberg-how-feasible-moon-excalibur-almaz_n_1618318.html

Recently HuffPost - and most of the world's media - reported that Excalibur Almaz (EA), a company based on the Isle of Man, will attempt to send tourists to the Moon for £100m a ticket.

And even though EA said they were not attempting to land, but rather using recycled Russian space stations to visit, orbit and return from the satellite, we admit we were sceptical.

But how feasible is the plan really? And can the Russian tech do what EA say it can?

To find out we asked James Oberg, who after a distinguished career is now recognised as one of the world's leading enthusiasts and promoters of space exploration.

[QuantumG]

[A_M_Swallow]

They need a kick stage to take the spacecraft from LEO to lunar orbit in under a week and a second to bring it back.  Six months travel time is too long.

[QuantumG]

They need a kick stage to take the spacecraft from LEO to lunar orbit in under a week and a second to bring it back.  Six months travel time is too long.

Their plans are to send capsules to lunar orbit (or Lagrangian orbit) space stations. The majority of the mission duration will be in the space station, not the capsule.

[Chris Bergin]

We really need to do something on this company. I'll work on that.

[qprmeteor]

BBC piece on Excalibur Almaz: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18853105