Is Dennis Tito planning a manned mission to Mars in 2018?

Tito's Inspiration Mars Foundation will announce audacious plans on Wednesday for a mission to the red planetIn March 2001, Dennis Tito, a US millionnaire, was an unpopular man in some corners of Nasa. Tito, an engineer by training, had offered the Russians $20m for a ride into space. That prompted an outburst from Daniel Goldin, then Nasa administrator. "We don't have time to hand-hold tourists that don't have the proper training," he raged.A month later, Tito blasted off on a Russian Soyuz mission and spent nearly eight days in orbit on the International Space Station. He fell around the planet, looked out the windows, and did some experiments. But what matters for the history books is that he became the world's first private space tourist.Now Tito is back in the news. His new Inspiration Mars Foundation holds a press conference on Wednesday to launch audacious plans for a mission to Mars. The foundation's press release doesn't mention a crew, but reports in NewSpace Journal claim the mission will take two people, in a modified SpaceX Dragon capsule, launched by a Falcon Heavy rocket. What is striking about the plans is not so much the stated intention – though that in itself is ambitious – but the timescale. Tito wants to ride a slingshot mission around Mars in a window that opens in 2018. That's only five years away.The reaction from the space community has ranged from bemusement and disbelief to encouragement and awe. "Even if this was Nasa saying it was sending a cr...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Blogposts World news guardian.co.uk Mars Science Space Source Type: news