Moon Express

[Woods Devil]

Moon Express is an American privately held early stage company formed by a group of Silicon Valley and space entrepreneurs, with the goal of winning the Google Lunar X Prize, and ultimately mining the Moon for natural resources of economic value.

In the Forbidden Technology thread Talon mentioned helium 3 fusion reactor technology and how the Chinese Academy of Sciences who is now in charge of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program has already stated on many occasions that one of the main goals of the program would be the mining of helium-3.

It sounds like these people have some of the same ideas as the Chinese including the mining of materials that are more abundant and easier to find on the surface of the moon including platinum and nickle. Since the moon isn't molten these materials from asteroids remain on the surface and without an atmosphere they didn't burn up before impact.

http://moonexpress.com/

[Woods Devil]

"U.S. officials appear poised to make history by approving the first private space mission to go beyond Earth’s orbit, according to people familiar with the details."

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2016/06/06/feds-reportedly-set-to-approve-first-private-space-mission.html?intcmp=hplnws

[Woods Devil]

http://www.space.com/23846-moon-expr...er-images.html

[dudeman]

[Woods Devil]

I remember that show.







I think I'm starting to get old







At least my memory hasn't gone yet like Steve.

[dudeman]

I was 10 when it came out.

[Woods Devil]

Lots of exciting research going on in the area of space mining. I'm in favor of taking economic advantage of space rather than using the space program as a vast money pit that produces only minor benefits to most.



Plan to Turn Asteroids Into Spaceships Could Spur Off-Earth Mining

http://www.space.com/33079-turning-asteroids-into-spaceships-made-in-space.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=socialfbspc&cmpid=social_spc_514630

"A few decades from now, asteroids may be flying themselves to mining outposts in space, nobly sacrificing their abundant resources to help open the final frontier to humanity."

[Unclefred]

Are they into opium, like the Chinese?

[Talon]

http://www.theverge.com/2015/10/28/9628952/roscosmos-crewed-lunar-mission-colony-2029-esa

Russia and ESA aren't the only ones hoping to put people on Earth's satellite. The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program launched the Chang'e program in 2007, which involves sending a series of probes to lunar orbit and then to the surface. China's most recent probe — Chang'e 3 — successfully soft landed on the Moon in 2013, and the country plans to do a sample return in 2017. China hopes the Chang'e probes will pave the way for sending humans to the Moon sometime in the mid-2020s. Russia has also expressed interest in collaborating with China for its lunar colony idea.

Meanwhile, NASA still has its sights set on Mars. The US space agency plans to send humans to the Red Planet sometime in the 2030s. NASA administrator Charles Bolden, speaking today about the mission details, emphatically told his audience the US should focus on Mars. Currently, NASA doesn't have any plans to return people to the surface of the Moon.