Investor announces plans to send a couple into space
NBC News: Millionaire space tourist Dennis Tito announced plans to send two astronauts on a 501-day flight that zooms past Mars and swings back to Earth.
Such a trip - tentatively set for 2018 - would set plenty of precedents on the final frontier, but the most intriguing precedent might have to do with the astronauts that are to be sent: one man and one woman, preferably a married couple beyond childbearing years.
Photo: An artist’s conception shows how the spacecraft for the Inspiration Mars Foundation’s “Mission for America” might be configured — with a crew capsule, an inflatable module similar to the ones built by Bigelow Aerospace, and an attached upper stage that could provide radiation shielding. The actual design has not yet been set. (Inspiration Mars)
