Got $50 million? Nasa opens space station to tourists

WASHINGTON: Nasa said it will open the International Space Station (ISS) for commercial space travel from as early as 2020, allowing private astronauts and more extensive commercial research on the orbiting outpost. The goal is to grow a “very robust space economy” led by private companies as the agency works to push its longer-term goals to send humans back to the moon and further into space, Nasa officials said at a

news conference. The move shows that Nasa is willing to let the private sector become more involved in space, including the development of products useful on Earth, officials said.

“There’s a lot of excitement in the commercial sector for this,” said Jeff DeWit, Nasa’s chief financial officer. Nasa envisions up to two private astronaut missions per year. The missions, expected to cost about $50 million per astronaut, will be privately funded. Transport will be provided by SpaceX and Boeing, two US companies currently developing capsules capable of carrying humans. DeWit said the programme will not be a profit-making venture for Nasa but will defray some of the agency’s expenses, leaving money available for its goals to return to the moon by 2024 and send humans to Mars after that.

Nasa in March formally announced the plans to return to the moon within five years, citing President Donald Trump’s “bold vision for space exploration.” But Trump on Friday muddled the message with a confusing tweet saying the agency’s focus should be on Mars. “For all of the money we are spending, Nasa should NOT be talking about going to the Moon — We did that 50 years ago,” Trump tweeted. “They should be focused on the much bigger things we are doing, including Mars (of which the Moon is a part), Defence and Science!” Trump posted the tweet from Air Force One en route to Washington following his trip to Europe to mark the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. — DPA