Elon Musk's "SpaceX Travel Ad" Makes the Moon Look Terrifying

Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, is going to send two private citizens on a trip around the moon. It could mark the beginning of a new era of spaceflight for ordinary citizens, which would mean producing commercials for the potential new service. Musk excited fans by posting what he claimed was a future SpaceX travel ad, but it wasn’t quite what it seemed.

“Here is the latest SpaceX travel ad for the flight around the moon and into deep space,” Musk posted on his Twitter account Tuesday. “Maybe needs a few edits…”

Instead of a peek into the future of space travel, Musk posted a link to the trailer for Destination: Moonbase Alpha, a feature-length film based off the seventies British sci-fi TV series Space: 1999. With large-scale moon colonies and advanced technologies, it’s an exciting glimpse at what future SpaceX missions could look like, but Musk’s endeavor could probably do without the dangerous malfunctions and retro haircuts:

Musk announced last month that SpaceX would fly two private citizens around the moon and back on a Dragon 2 spacecraft in late 2018. The mission is expected to cost around the same as a private trip to the International Space Station, around $35 million.

Before then, SpaceX has a lot of preparation to complete, with travel ads probably quite low down on the list of priorities. In mid to late 2017, the company will start health and fitness trials for the two individuals alongside initial training. Then, an autonomous test launch of the Dragon 2 will take place to the space station, ensuring the craft is in working order. The flight will take place once SpaceX has conducted crewed Dragon missions to the ISS, so if there are any hiccups along the way there could be a delay in plans.

If successful, SpaceX might need to start considering plans for travel ads. One of the company’s major goals is to set up a colony on Mars, but to do so, it’s going to need some volunteers. The Interplanetary Transport System is a planned system designed to move people from Earth to Mars, with the goal of developing a self-sustaining city on the red planet. If Musk can’t convince people to take up the offer, the city is unlikely to sustain itself. Hopefully he’ll look for inspiration from places other than disaster movies, though.

Oh, the full movie’s available on YouTube: