Recent mover and shaker Moon Express wants to send a robotic spacecraft to the moon in 2015. CEO Bob Richards says that theMX-1 will use scientific instruments and sensors to study resources that are limited on Earth but “available in infinite quantities in space.”
https://gizmodo.com/a-private-venture-wants-to-build-a-telescope-on-the-moo-835592682
NPR reports that the coffee table-sized spacecraft, which was announced on Thursday at Autodesk University in Las Vegas, will use solar-power and hydrogen peroxide-based fuel to lower costs. Moon Express is currently trying for a $30 million Lunar X Prize from Google. The company has shown its interest in resources and mining before in its first partnership to build a telescope with the International Lunar Observatory Association to launch the ILO-X telescope to explore the Moon’s south pole by 2015. [NPR via The Verge]
