1 QUID = 6.25 Quid

Travelex took a bold step into the future the other day and announced that they have developed currency for use in space. An interesting step, since we currently don’t have any commercial space flights, but with companies like Virgin working on developing commercial space flights (and I believe already selling tickets for them) and a Spaceport being built in New Mexico, this currency could meet a demand that hasn’t yet sprung into being.

The Quasi Universal Intergalactic Denomination (QUID) was developed to answer the problems of using our current currency in space According to Professor George Fraser from the University of Leicester:

“None of the existing payment systems we use on earth – like cash, credit or debit cards – could be used in space for a variety of different reasons. Anything with sharp edges, like coins, would be a risk to astronauts while the chips and magnetic strips used in our cards on Earth would be damaged beyond repair by cosmic radiation. What’s more, because of the distances involved, it is more than 230,000 miles from the Earth to the moon, chip and pin technology is also out of the question.”

So to solve this we have an all new currency. 1 QUID will be equal to £6.25 or $12.5. Travelex predicts that by 2050 there will be tourist trips to the moon and has already requested to open the first currency exchange location there. I guess which such advanced planning they will be the number one space travel currency converter.