# America is going back to the moon



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Aug 3, 2016)

A Florida-based company has won U.S. government permission to send a robotic lander to the moon next year.


The move is the first time the United States has cleared a private space mission to fly beyond Earth's orbit.

The Federal Aviation Administration's unprecedented go-ahead for the Moon Express mission also sets a legal and regulatory framework for a host of other commercial expeditions to the moon, asteroids and Mars.









As approved by the FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation, the privately held Moon Express, headquartered in Cape Canaveral, plans to fly a suitcase-sized lander to the moon for a two-week mission in 2017, said the company founder and chief executive Bob Richards.

The spacecraft will carry a number of science experiments and some commercial cargo on its one-way trip to the lunar surface, including cremated human remains, and will beam back pictures and video to Earth, the company said.

Before now, no government agency was recognized as having authority to oversee private missions beyond Earth's orbit, though a 1967 international treaty holds the United States responsible for any flights into space by its non-government entities.

So far, only government agencies have flown spacecraft beyond the orbit of the Earth.






During November and December 2014, Moon Express successfully conducted its lander test vehicle hot fires and initial flight tests. A thermal infrared image of Moon Express' MTV-1X test vehicle shown, undergoing a hotfire engine test at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.


Moon Express hopes to mine our satellite for materials like platinum-group metals, rare earth metals, helium-3 and moon rocks.

'Most of the elements that are rare on Earth are believed to have originated from space, and are largely on the surface of the Moon,' the company says. 

The company has contracted Rocket Lab, which was founded in New Zealand but is now headquartered in Los Angeles, to launch is robotic spacecraft. 

Rocket Lab will use its Electron rocket system to launch three missions ofMoon Express' MX-1 lunar lander spacecraft, starting in 2017.

Book early to avoid disapointment @.....    https://www.rocketlabusa.com/

LONG VIDEO











short video


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## dorsetknob (Aug 3, 2016)

Google are Still offering cash prizes for moon landings and returns i believe 

link http://lunar.xprize.org/

The $30M Google Lunar XPRIZE challenges engineers, entrepreneurs and innovators from around the world to develop low-cost methods of robotic space exploration


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## Ferrum Master (Aug 3, 2016)

Seeing the the elections - most of Americans think about moving out to the moon maybe...


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## dorsetknob (Aug 3, 2016)

One of the American Presidential Candidate's has Said
the Moon belongs to the USA because we got there 1st
" in Total ignorance of all Treaty's regarding Outer Space "


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## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Aug 3, 2016)

dorsetknob said:


> One of the American Presidential Candidate's has Said
> the Moon belongs to the USA because we got there 1st
> " in Total ignorance of all Treaty's regarding Outer Space "




Was in not claimed for the whole of mankind?

I can stick a flag in a sandcastle...it doesnt make the sand mine.


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## AsRock (Aug 3, 2016)

dorsetknob said:


> One of the American Presidential Candidate's has Said
> the Moon belongs to the USA because we got there 1st
> " in Total ignorance of all Treaty's regarding Outer Space "



Claim all they want, to own it they will have to be able to control it and they cannot do that so it matters not what they say.


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## xorbe (Aug 3, 2016)

I got excited, but sounds like we're not actually sending a PERSON.


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## remixedcat (Aug 3, 2016)

no we are sending supermodels and they will find nazis


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## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Aug 4, 2016)

xorbe said:


> I got excited, but sounds like we're not actually sending a PERSON.




In todays money the manned NASA missions to the moon cost about $ 200 billion. The Chinese will be the next to do it i reckon.


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## 64K (Aug 4, 2016)

It was a big disappointment to me after watching the Moon Landing live as a young child and then the plans for expanded manned space exploration evaporated over the decades for the most part.

In related news North Korea plans to put a flag on the moon within the next 10 years. 

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...-plant-flag-on-the-moon/ar-BBvePu4?li=BBnb7Kz


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## FireFox (Aug 4, 2016)

*America is going back to the moon.*
I thought they already lived there


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## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Jan 17, 2017)

Moon Express has now completed a £16.6 million ($20 million) financing round, bringing its total funding to £37 million ($45 million).
http://www.moonexpress.com/



The Federal Aviation Administration's unprecedented go-ahead for the Moon Express mission also sets a legal and regulatory framework for a host of other commercial expeditions to the moon, asteroids and Mars.


As approved by the FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation, the privately held Moon Express, headquartered in Cape Canaveral, plans to fly a suitcase-sized lander to the moon for a two-week mission this year, said the company founder and chief executive Bob Richards.

The spacecraft will carry a number of science experiments and some commercial cargo on its one-way trip to the lunar surface, including cremated human remains, and will beam back pictures and video to Earth, the company said.







The company is among those competing for the Google Lunar X Prize, a $30 million (£20.8 million) prize aimed to 'incentivise space entrepreneurs to create a new era of affordable access to the moon and beyond.'

In order to win this money, a private company must land safely on the surface of the moon, travel 1,640ft (500 metres) on its surface, and send two signals back to the Earth. 



Rocket Lab will use its Electron rocket system to launch three missions of Moon Express' MX-1 lunar lander spacecraft, starting this year.
https://www.rocketlabusa.com/


The launches will take place either from New Zealand, where Rocket Lab is building a South Island launch site, or from an American range.

Rocket Lab uses battery-powered rocket engines that are cheaper than traditional engines and are quickly created using 3D printers.

Moon Express hopes to mine our satellite for materials like platinum-group metals, rare earth metals, helium-3 and moon rocks.


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## WhiteNoise (Jan 18, 2017)

They need to land on the dark side of the moon so i can see all the aliens.


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## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Jan 18, 2017)

We need to go to where the water is.

LunaH-Map  ( Lunar Hydrogen Polar Mapper) will launch September 2018
http://lunahmap.asu.edu/








The rover which will then be sent is likely to be called "Resource Prospector"
https://www.nasa.gov/resource-prospector


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## jboydgolfer (Jan 18, 2017)

We're so broke we couldn't go to Taco Bell for dinner how the hell are we going to afford going to the moon? Wait let me guess.... borrow more money? Add to the debt even more?

 The only way I could agree with going back to the moon is if we armed it, meaning militarized it. I'm thinking some type of "death moon"?.... no not moon, " satellite"? ..... no still not right I have it, "death Star"! (TM)


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