Company Wants to Mine the Moon’s Resources and Leave Trash Behind

December 12th, 2011

Via: Los Angeles Times:

Most people don’t take it literally when they’re told to shoot for the moon — but thinking small isn’t Naveen Jain’s way. The 52-year-old Internet entrepreneur is a co-founder of Moon Express Inc., one of several companies in the Google Lunar X Prize competition, in which privately funded teams will try to put robots on the moon by 2016.

Jain’s plans don’t end at reaching the moon’s surface. MoonEx, as his company is also known, plans to make billions mining the moon for precious resources. It also hopes to let customers send messages and materials to the moon.

We are asking people, “What does the moon mean to you — and would you pay to send something there?”

It’s the best time capsule you could ever find, because nothing gets destroyed there — even the astronauts’ footprints are still there. So would you pay $20 to send a picture of your family? Would you send the DNA of your pet? Would you send your grandfather’s ashes?

Research Credit: noncompliant

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