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Human DNA 'will be found on moon' – Brian Cox
Crowdfund plan to stimulate Blighty's space programme
One mission is never enough
The project is being backed by universities and space and tech firms and promoted by scientific luminaries such as Jim Al-Khalili, professor of physics at the University of Surrey and rockstar boffin Brian Cox.
“For me, the exciting thing about Lunar Mission One is that everyone can play a part directly in the funding,” Cox said in a statement. “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.”
The trust is hoping that any additional funding it gets over what it needs for Lunar Mission One will go towards further missions. As well as the Kickstarter campaign, it’s planning to sell digital memory boxes to the public, and get public sector and commercial backing.
As for the first project, the team is planning a spacecraft that will act as the lunar lander and drilling platform and looks to be attempting a touchdown much like the Philae lander’s, with legs to absorb its momentum and stabilise it on the surface.
The spacecraft will be carrying a 2m drill which will dig out a 5cm diameter borehole for three to four months before reaching the target depth of at least 20m. Once it has its samples, the craft will then lower the time capsule into the hole and plug it up.
The probot will be able to analyse the geological composition of the samples as well as measuring local environmental conditions on and above the lunar surface. It will also be assessing the suitability of the site for a permanent human base and/or a radio telescope for the kind of low frequency astronomy that’s not possible from Earth because of our planet’s ionospheric interference.
If all goes well and there’s still some spare cash in the kitty, the next mission will retrieve some of the more important samples for a return trip to Earth.
The Kickstarter campaign had raised £55,000 of a £600,000 target at the time of writing. ®
* presumably with hair bulb and a smidgen of follicle attached ...
Biting the hand that feeds IT
