Race to the Moon Heats Up for Private Firms

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/22/science/space/22moon.html ^

[RonBush]

Now that the last space shuttle has landed back on Earth, a new generation of space entrepreneurs would like to whip up excitement about the prospect of returning to the Moon. Spurred by a $30 million purse put up by Google, 29 teams have signed up for a competition to become the first private venture to land on the Moon. Most of them are unlikely to overcome the financial and technical challenges to meet the contest deadline of December 2015, but several teams think they have a good shot to win — and to take an early lead in a race to take commercial advantage of our celestial neighbor.

[RonBush]

I am excited by the prospect of unleashing to power of private enterprise in space. I think this is very good news and I am now more optimistic about our future in space.

This is the first article I have posted here so please excuse me if I made any mistakes, and send me a private email about any mistakes.

It only let me post the first 100 words, so I suggest you click the link to read the whole article.

[RonBush]

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[RonBush]

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[RonBush]

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[CharlyFord]

I'm almost speechless! A $30 million purse?!

You do realize that $30 million would not pay NASA's water bill.

All of NASA's hardware was built by private industry, lowest bidder!

Every launch vehicle and satellite the U.S. has put in space was built by private industry, lowest bidder!

I'm sorry! I can't deal with the magnitude of this ignorance.

[RonBush]

You do realize that $30 million would not pay NASA's water bill. All of NASA's hardware was built by private industry, lowest bidder! Every launch vehicle and satellite the U.S. has put in space was built by private industry, lowest bidder! I'm sorry! I can't deal with the magnitude of this ignorance.

It is pretty amazing, but I'm not clear on why you call it ignorance. Read the whole article and it might make more sense to you. Or go into more detail about what you see as the ignorance and I'll have a better idea of what you are saying.

[Justa]

I think what the poster is saying is that 30 million is a minuscule sum for what it will cost to go to the moon. It’s about 3 orders of magnitude too low, or about 30 billion short. So it’s a ridiculous prize.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks RonBush.

[PIF]

Yawn.
More robots - fast talkers looking for a buck.

Next manned mission to the moon will not be any of those corporations mentioned in the article. Look for the Chinese to be the next to send a manned mission to the moon.

Naturally, once the Chinese take the moon, they will militarize it, treaty be dammed. On to the La Grange points for the final coup of total control of the Earth's surface.

Meanwhile back in the former USA, private firms will be competing for package and pizza delivery and routes to various Chinese lunar settlements.

The rest of the former USA will be passionately debating the finer points of social justice, Muslim outreach, and general navel contemplating studies...

and so on...

[CharlyFord]

I'm not clear on why you call it ignorance

You got that right!

It was private industry, financed by the wealth of a nation, that successfully built the equipment to land man on the Moon in the 1960/70s. The motivation was to be first nation in history to reach this significant goal.

Now, you snake oil salesmen are trying to convince people that this same private industry, without the massive national wealth or national motivation will accomplish a similar task.

RIP United States! We got ignorant lying children in charge of the government now.

[Absolutely Nobama]

Interesting. While I believe that the private sector can do anything the government can do a gazillion times better, I still believe that NASA is a perfectly legitimate function of government, since space exploration is also a part of national security.