Space Adventures Ltd. wants to send tourists to the far side of the Moon, provided they have $100 million for the fare. Drawing on a study by RSC Energia, the Arlington, Va.-based space tourism company would send a three-seat Soyuz capsule to an in-orbit docking with a Block DM upper stage. That stage would kick the Soyuz into a lunar swing-around trajectory, and the Soyuz would use its own propulsion system for a reentry burn at the end of the nine-day mission. A second option would throw in a visit to the International Space Station before docking with the Block DM and heading around the Moon, giving the tourist as much as three weeks in space. Space Adventures estimates there are 1,000 people with enough money for the trips, which it says could happen as early as 2008.
I believe that the Block DM stage is a LOX/Kerosene cryogenic upperstage. It was originally developed for the failed N1 Lunar Booster program, but the stage survives as a heavy upper stage for Proton Rockets. A Block DM has far more impulse than any staged solid upperstages that the US has. A nice picture of a Block D can be found at:
http://www.russianspaceweb.com/n1_d.html
It is a pretty well proven design, and I'm sure it could get the job done.
Darn, I seem to have misplaced my credit card. Can anyone spot me a $100 Mil? I promise I can pay it back next payday...!
