SpaceX Will Fly Two People Around The Moon In 2018

Elon Musk's space travel company, SpaceX, announced this week that it will fly two citizens around the moon next year, marking the first time anyone's gone to deep space in more than 45 years. In a news release, SpaceX said two "private citizens" approached the company and paid a "significant despot" for the space flight.

"Like the Apollo astronauts before them, these individuals will travel into space carrying the hopes and dreams of all humankind, driven by the universal human spirit of exploration," SpaceX said. "We expect to conduct health and fitness tests, as well as begin initial training later this year.

The company added that others have come forward to express a "strong interest" in a trip around the moon and more are expected to follow.

SpaceX went on to thank NASA, which paid for most of the funding for the company's Dragon 2 rocket, calling the government group a "key enabler for this mission." SpaceX works with NASA to deliver cargo and astronauts to the International Space Station.

The rocket headed beyond the moon will blast off from the Kennedy Space Center's famous 39A Pad, which is the same one that NASA used for its lunar missions in the '60s.

"This presents an opportunity for humans to return to deep space for the first time in 45 years, and they will travel faster and further into the solar system than any before them," SpaceX said.

You can read more about this news on SpaceX's website.

Ultima creator Richard Garriott traveled to the International Space Station in 2008, spending 10 days in space conducting field research experiments.

In other cool news about space, NASA recently announced the discovery of a solar system containing seven Earth-like planets.