Moonage stay dream

If you're after an out-of-this-world holiday and can afford a gravity-defying price tag, then a seven-night stay on the Moon could be just the ticket.

- BY JACKIE ANNETT

Four astronauts return last week after medical evacuation from International Space Station Artemis rocket on its way to launch pad

A £750,000 deposit will secure a spot at the lunar hotel, the brainchild of 22-year-old entrepreneur Skyler Chan.

The prodigy, a graduate of the department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at University of California, Berkeley, became an air-force trained pilot aged 16.

With backers including Elon Musk's SpaceX, Skyler's US firm Galactic Resources Utilization Space will charge guests around £7.5million for their stay when the hotel is built – with an opening forecast for 2032.

The proposal is to create an inflatable space hotel on Earth and to land it on the surface of the Moon.

Moonwalking, rover driving and lunar golf will all be on the itinerary, according to aerospace engineer Skyler.

And the views will be stunning, says Ed Kellond-Turner, education manager at the National Space Centre in Leicester, adding: "The best thing holidaymakers would be able to do on the Moon is look at Earth.

"It's what nearly every single astronaut who has been to the Moon talks about - how seeing Earth from that far away changes their perspective on life.

"It would also be a great experience to go out on a moonwalk, although you can't really walk on the Moon because of the low gravity and bulky spacesuit.