It was a historic moment for mankind and science when the Apollo 11 mission brought the first humans to the moon and back. Now, Lunar Mission One aims to build upon that moment, turning to Kickstarter to raise $1 million to fund a trip to the southern pole of the moon.
As the most inspirational mission to the moon after the Apollo landings, Lunar Mission One aspires to not only generate support for the project but to actually let supporters have a spot in space by featuring a time capsule service. The 21st century time capsule will have two parts: the private and the public archive. The private archive is a virtual memory box that will house anything from supporters while the public archive will contain authoritative records of life on Earth.
More than just taking memories to space, Lunar Mission One is about gathering data to improve on what the world already knows about the moon, allowing further insight into its relationship with Earth as well as the effects of late heavy bombardment on the inner solar system.
David Iron, founder of Lunar Missions Ltd., came up with the idea for Lunar Mission One about seven years ago. Since then, he and his team have been pouring all their extra time into creating the science case, identifying baseline instruments, checking mission technology feasibility, and engaging hundreds of scientists and experts to bring the project to life. Now that all that can be done on a part-time basis has been accomplished, Lunar Mission One is taking the next step to actualization, devoting the next three years to get the project up and running.
"For me the exciting thing about Lunar Mission One is that everyone can play a part directly in the funding, they can know that they have given this money, and that money is going to go into the technology which is going to land on the Moon and do the science," said Cern's Professor Brian Cox.
Initiated by Lunar Missions Ltd., the Kickstarter project is scheduled to end Dec 18. As of Nov. 26, it already has more than 4,000 backers, with pledges totaling over $500,000 and 22 days left in the campaign. Minimum pledges are set for around $1.50. Pledging at least $95 will secure a spot in the private archive of the time capsule. The higher the pledge, the bigger the allocated spot in the private archive. Rewards are estimated to be delivered between March and May 2015.
