Lunar Mission One Aims For The Moon

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online

On Tuesday, a team of UK scientists and engineers announced the start of a crowd-funded campaign designed to fund an expedition to the Moon called Lunar Mission One.

Reliant upon funding from Kickstarter, Lunar Mission One plans to put a lander on the Moon that will leave behind a time capsule, drill deep into the lunar surface and asses the feasibility of a manned base on the Moon’s South Pole.

The mission’s time capsule would include digital details and DNA of those who had contributed to the Kickstarter campaign. Project leader David Iron told BBC News reporter Pallab Ghosh that crowdfunding was necessary because governmental purse strings have never been tighter when it comes to scientific endeavors.

“Anyone in the world will be able to get involved for as little as just a few pounds. Lunar Mission One will make a huge contribution to our understanding of the origins of our planet and the Moon,” he told Ghosh.

The financial goal of the Kickstarter campaign is £600,000, or just under $940,000 USD. For a small donation, the campaign will include a personalized short message from the donor with the mission time capsule. For a few more pounds, a donor can have a photo uploaded, and for £200 ($314) a supporter can upload a short video.

In addition to content from donors, the mission time capsule will also include a digital archive of human history. The organizers of Lunar Mission One say they will design the time capsule so that it could possibly last beyond the existence of our species.

“The project’s long-term legacy will be a new way of funding space exploration,” Iron told the BBC reporter. “Rather than just watching the mission, people can be directly involved, not just through funding but helping to make key decisions such as the selection of the landing site or what should be included in the public archive.”

The lunar mission will also have a scientific element and onboard instrument will allow the lander to drill into the Moon’s surface and collect and analyze that sample. The analysis is intended to determine if the Moon was actually once a part of Earth and created through a large impact that took place billions of years ago.

Observers noted that the mission could also have a commercial impact, revealing if the Moon contains valuable minerals for mining.

“It creates a fantastic opportunity for everybody to be involved in a mission to the moon, which will not only answer some of the most important scientific questions about the origins of our solar system, but inspire generations to reach for the stars and be part of the future of space exploration,” John Zarnecki, emeritus professor of space science at The Open University, told Guardian science editor Ian Sample.

Project leader Iron noted that Lunar Mission One would cost around £500 million and any extra funds would go toward a non-profit trust to fund other scientific projects.

“The project is plainly ambitious and challenging, but its special cultural and scientific features should generate wide interest and support. It deserves to succeed,” Lord Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal of the United Kingdom, told Sample.

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Source: http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1113283836/lunar-mission-one-kickstarter-112014/