I recall an anecdote I read somewhere about a technician talking to one of the Apollo moon walkers and trying to hand him a small bag of gold dust and telling him to mix it in with the moon rock samples they were going to secure. The statement was made that it would guarantee that we would be going back to the moon in short order and that a large traffic would also ensue.Moon Express has amassed $45 million so far toward the construction of a lunar lander about the size of a modern washing machine. The MX-1E will launch out of New Zealand on the back of Rocket Lab’s new Electron rocket, an as-yet untested craft that promises to “change how we access space” through its “revolutionary design.”
If Moon Express can accomplish all of this before anyone else, they’ll still need to travel 500 meters across the surface of the moon, as well as transmit high-definition images back to Earth. That will secure them the coveted Google Lunar Xprize, earning them another $30 million for their ongoing efforts.
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