Slashdot Mirror
Moon Express Signs Launch Contract For Possible First Private Lunar Landing
MarkWhittington writes: According to a story in Space.com, Moon Express, one of the leading contestants in the Google Lunar X Prize competition, has made a giant leap toward its goal of being the first private group to land on the moon. The company has signed a contract with Rocket Lab, a new launch company based in New Zealand, for five launches of its upcoming Electron rocket. The first two launches will take place in 2017 and will be attempts to land the MX-1 lander on the lunar surface in time to win the prize by the current deadline by the end of that year.
It's the lack of spin there that actually helps. The rocket basically "falls" into space in such a region, and it isn't as affected by the rotation of the earth and its gravitational forces. The ideal place to launch rockets from would be the rotational poles, since there's effectively no rotation there. The only problem is that these locations are inhospitable and difficult to reach, even with modern technology. New Zealand proves to offer a good balance because it's closer to the south pole than it is to the inefficient zone between the poles and the equator.