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Peter1469
11-30-2017, 07:57 PM
Moon Express says first launch is 'definitely' happening in 2018 (https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/30/moon-express-says-first-launch-happening-in-2018.html)

They plan to mine the moon for resources to sell back on earth and use that money to fund a colony on the moon.


Moon Express, a company planning to mine material on the moon, is "definitely" going to launch its first mission next year, and could have human colonies there within five years, Chairman Naveen Jain told CNBC on Thursday.

In January, the company said that it was targeting a date in late 2017 to send its lander to the moon. But that has been pushed back until 2018.


"It's definitely going to be next year, we are in the final stretches of it. And as you can imagine it's rocket science," Jain told CNBC in a TV interview from the Slush technology conference in Helsinki, Finland.



"We are really looking good and we are still hoping to launch the lander next year. And when we launch and land on the moon, not only (do) we become the first company to do so, we actually symbolically become the fourth superpower. And imagine the entrepreneurs doing things that only the three superpowers have done before."


Superpowers such as the U.S. and Russia have previously landed on the moon.


Moon Express is the first private company to get U.S. government approval to go to the moon. Landing there would be a historic feat.


The company is competing for the Google Lunar XPRIZE which has a $20 million reward for the first private firm to put a spacecraft on the moon, travel 500 meters, and transmit high definition video and images back to earth. The deadline for doing this is March 2018.

Read the entire article at the link.

Crepitus
11-30-2017, 08:02 PM
What can you get on the moon that you can't get cheaper on the earth?

Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of space exploration and when I can immigrate to the moon I'm there but the business model doesn't seem viable.

Don
11-30-2017, 08:10 PM
God speed Moon Express!

Maybe they can partner with Spacex for reusable rockets when Spacex develops the heavy lift rocket they are working on. Or maybe Spacex will compete with them. Either way is good.

Peter1469
11-30-2017, 08:10 PM
What can you get on the moon that you can't get cheaper on the earth?

Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of space exploration and when I can immigrate to the moon I'm there but the business model doesn't seem viable.

helium 3 and other rare earth minerals.

Kacper
11-30-2017, 08:30 PM
What can you get on the moon that you can't get cheaper on the earth?

Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of space exploration and when I can immigrate to the moon I'm there but the business model doesn't seem viable.

Moon rocks to sell on Ebay.

Crepitus
11-30-2017, 09:04 PM
helium 3 and other rare earth minerals.

All of which are available here with far less shipping charges.

Crepitus
11-30-2017, 09:05 PM
Moon rocks to sell on Ebay.

Now that I'll believe.

Don
12-01-2017, 04:48 PM
https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/mining-the-moon-the-next-gold-rush/


The treasures these space-age prospectors seek are myriad. The lunar surface is brimming with not only precious metals (http://www.cnbc.com/2015/03/10/billionaire-teams-up-with-nasa-to-mine-the-moon.html) and rare isotopes, but also a litany of other natural resources.
Some of these are ridiculously valuable. Helium-3, for example, currently has a projected value of $40,000 per ounce (http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/moon-mars/a235/1283056/). To put that in perspective, gold is currently being traded at about $1,200 an ounce (http://www.apmex.com/spotprices/gold-price). This incredibly high valuation comes from the isotope’s relative scarcity here on earth, as well as its potential as a fuel source. Helium-3 could be used as an efficient, alternative fuel source in fusion reactors (https://www.technologyreview.com/s/408558/mining-the-moon/), and about 220 pounds of it could theoretically power Dallas for an entire year.



Whoever gets there first also wins that $30 million prize.

10 years later Discovery channel will have a show filmed there with Todd Hoffman's son in the latest season of Gold Rush. :laugh:

resister
12-01-2017, 04:53 PM
Lets hope they don't bring back some nasty bugs.

Dr. Who
12-01-2017, 08:15 PM
Lets hope they don't bring back some nasty bugs.

Rather unlikely. The moon has never had an atmosphere so it's unlikely that any anaerobic bacteria that might be present on the moon, didn't also exist on the earth at the time of its creation. It's just as likely that a meteorite from space could contain alien bacteria that has no defenses on the planet, however, bacteria are rather primitive and evolved to consume very specific things. On the moon it must be minerals because there is little else there.