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Private Company Plans To Bring Moon Rocks Back To Earth In Three Years (arstechnica.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the to-boldly-go-where-no-private-company-has-gone-before dept.

mi writes: Moon Express, founded in 2010 to win the Google Lunar XPRIZE, says it is self-funded to begin bringing kilograms of lunar rocks back to Earth within about three years. "We absolutely intend to make these samples available globally for scientific research, and make them available to collectors as well," said Bob Richards, one of the company's founders, in an interview with Ars. From the report: "The privately held company released plans for a single, modular spacecraft that can be combined to form successively larger and more capable vehicles. Ultimately the company plans to establish a lunar outpost in 2020 and set up commercial operations on the Moon."

66 comments

  1. News... by gavron · · Score: 2

    Futurama already did it.

    E

    1. Re:News... by AHuxley · · Score: 3, Informative

      List of lunar probes
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... a few attempts to get robotic sample return to earth from the moon.
      The results got published.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    2. Re:News... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Futurama already did it.

      ... with blackjack and hookers.

  2. Rocks? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bring one of the Apollo11 Hasselblads back instead. That should fetch some coin.
    “We absolutely intend to make these samples available globally for scientific research, and make them available to collectors as well,”

    If you have a legitimate Research need, Moon Rocks aren't exactly difficult to get hold of. We got a chunk, weighing about a gram, to go into a Low Background Counting Facility for a couple of weeks, to look for anything unusual. We didn't find anything, not even any slightly greasy Solar Atoms, not even any slightly unusual... Elements. Yes, we had to send it back to NASA.

    1. Re:Rocks? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Isn't Moon rock basically the same as Earth basalt anyway? This is one of the things supporting the collision theory.

    2. Re:Rocks? by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      Yes, but like a woman's breast, you'll never hold a real moon rock in your hand.

      And now to click anonymous so I won't get hatred.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    3. Re:Rocks? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bring one of the Apollo11 Hasselblads back instead. That should fetch some coin.

      Damn, misread that as "Apollo 11 Hasselhoffs."

      I wonder how many Hasselhoffs are wandering around on the moon currently, singing incessantly and making a nuisance of themselves?

    4. Re: Rocks? by KGIII · · Score: 1

      My school had one. I held it. Later, they'd come take it back. They, instead, gave us a tree - though I'd graduated by then.

      I confess, I've done a lot of drugs, but I'm pretty sure I remember this properly. Pretty sure.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    5. Re: Rocks? by PoopJuggler · · Score: 1

      Your school had a woman's breast?

    6. Re: Rocks? by KGIII · · Score: 1

      Close enough. ;-)

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
  3. If you want moon rocks... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Convince the Chinese that crushed moon rock will give them an erection.

    We'll have a moon base next year

    1. Re:If you want moon rocks... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're making an offensive joke. Tell them the moon really IS made of green cheese, and that green cheese is lactose-free.

    2. Re:If you want moon rocks... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      No, don't give them any ideas. If this happens they'll play joke. They'll put moon dust in our coke.

    3. Re:If you want moon rocks... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      your face is an offensive joke.

    4. Re:If you want moon rocks... by RobinH · · Score: 1

      Or, just tell the Vietnamese that moon dust cures cancer.

      --
      "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." - Mark Twain
    5. Re:If you want moon rocks... by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Mine the other side, where nobody can see.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  4. glad to hear that. by siamesevodka · · Score: 1

    The moon rocks should go well with my fidget spinner collection!

    1. Re:glad to hear that. by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      You missed the obvious "Pet Rock" evolution. "Pet Moon Rock"

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    2. Re:glad to hear that. by The+Grim+Reefer · · Score: 1

      You missed the obvious "Pet Rock" evolution. "Pet Moon Rock"

      Oh that's just cruel. Everyone knows that pet moon rocks don't do well in earths gravity. I'm sure Katie Perry and Justin Beiber, along with the rest of PETA, will be happy to stone you to death so that you can be taught the error of your ways.

  5. Great, another ecological disaster by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Crashing the Moon into the Earth one small rock at a time, expending endless combustion gasses into the atmospheres of Earth and the Moon, and starting a bidding war for lunar artifacts until the bottom falls out of the market.

    How long before we reach Peak Moon?

    1. Re:Great, another ecological disaster by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      The important thing is to land the rocks properly, so that the earth gains angular momentum about its axis.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    2. Re: Great, another ecological disaster by PoopJuggler · · Score: 1

      How long before the moon is just another wasteland of garbage, strip malls and pollution? Humans are shit.

  6. Don't get it all from the same place by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 2

    or we might get a permanent crescent moon

    --
    Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
  7. obligatory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    good news, everyone!

  8. Yeah? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I rocked your mothers gash last night

    1. Re:Yeah? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I rocked your mothers gash last night

      Thanks! She's much happier now since she got laid for the first time since dad died. Mom was feeling frustrated and unappreciated until you helped her out.

    2. Re:Yeah? by Joce640k · · Score: 2

      I rocked your mothers gash last night

      Go mom!

      Still pulling in people like you despite all her skin diseases, lack of teeth and only one good eye.

      Only two beers, too! Mom has a two-beer limit, if you're not pulling down her filthy drawers after two beers she move on to somebody else.

      Rather you than me though.

      --
      No sig today...
    3. Re:Yeah? by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      Mom's been dead for 40 years. You're one sick puppy.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
  9. Lunar dust by Z80a · · Score: 2

    Getting some lunar dust back as well would be nice, as nasa needs this thing to research their landers etc.. and the artificial thing is not as good.

  10. This is fascinating by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    This is fascinating to me, not so much for what we might learn about the Moon's composition as for the economic implications of marketing "rare" Moon rocks.

    Of course they're not intrinsically rare. There's enough Moon for everybody to have too much Moon. What's rare, currently, is the ability to get it there.

    This leads me to some questions. If we can effectively model the supply and demand for this material, and the pricing, we might be able to use the model to determine the best way for this company (or a cartel of companies) to constrain the supply of Moon rocks for the purpose of extracting maximum value from fools who want the prestige of owning Moon rocks.

    It's a crass way to fund science and exploration, but maybe it could buy us some real funding. Eventually it could move down-market, with millions of certified Moon rocks being sold at places like the gift shop in the Air and Space museum, with little cert cards explaining how $1 of your purchase funds NASA or something.

    1. Re:This is fascinating by jenningsthecat · · Score: 2

      This leads me to some questions. If we can effectively model the supply and demand for this material, and the pricing, we might be able to use the model to determine the best way for this company (or a cartel of companies) to constrain the supply of Moon rocks for the purpose of extracting maximum value from fools who want the prestige of owning Moon rocks.

      Hush, you fool! Do you really want DeBeers in the moon rock business?

      It's a crass way to fund science and exploration, but maybe it could buy us some real funding.

      With corporations now in the space biz, the 'real funding' won't be for science and exploration, it will be for shareholders' lavish retirements. These days, science is funded primarily to map out the next wave of whatever exploitation seems most likely to be lucrative.

      --
      'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
    2. Re:This is fascinating by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      For the same reason, I favor auctioning off naming rights to minor planetary and lunar features as a way of funding research.

    3. Re:This is fascinating by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is fascinating to me, not so much for what we might learn about the Moon's composition as for the economic implications of marketing "rare" Moon rocks.

      Of course they're not intrinsically rare. There's enough Moon for everybody to have too much Moon. What's rare, currently, is the ability to get it there.

      This leads me to some questions. If we can effectively model the supply and demand for this material, and the pricing, we might be able to use the model to determine the best way for this company (or a cartel of companies) to constrain the supply of Moon rocks for the purpose of extracting maximum value from fools who want the prestige of owning Moon rocks.

      It's a crass way to fund science and exploration, but maybe it could buy us some real funding. Eventually it could move down-market, with millions of certified Moon rocks being sold at places like the gift shop in the Air and Space museum, with little cert cards explaining how $1 of your purchase funds NASA or something.

      I imagine the core research has already been done as that's basically how diamonds (and to a lesser degree otehr gemstones) are marketed.

      It's probably a bit harder to implement however as artificial diamonds are generally detectable on account of being purer than the "real" ones which changes their electrical resistance meaning a simple probe can detect them. As I understand it Moon rocks are not chemically distinct from similar rocs from Earth making it harder to device a test the peddlers can do to prove your rock is "genuine".

    4. Re:This is fascinating by mattack2 · · Score: 1

      Hush, you fool! Do you really want DeBeers in the moon rock business?

      DeBeers isn't effectively modeling the supply and demand. They're lying about the supply and making it SEEM more rare than it really is, thus duping some folks. (Which is good advertising, but not true supply/demand equalization.)

    5. Re:This is fascinating by crunchygranola · · Score: 1

      Currently moon rocks sell for about the price of gem diamonds on the open market, around $1000-$2000 a gram.

      Yes, there are moon rocks available for sale right now - lunar meteorites. So there is already a price ceiling on any rocks imported from the moon.

      --
      Second class citizen of the New Gilded Age
  11. I hope there are no Sandkings up there by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A great episode of the Outer Limits - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5JdOnIUYhQ

    1. Re:I hope there are no Sandkings up there by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sandkings are Martian. Save your Sandkings conspiracies for a story about Mars.

  12. Re:creimer cock rocks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How do you know his dick is "meaty"?

  13. Let's crush them, into some sort of goo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    [let's] do what we must
    because we can
    For the good of all of us.

    ...Except the ones who are dead.

  14. Hmm, I see their game. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The ultimate pet rock.

  15. I read this before. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I think a read a book about this already. Written by Robert Heinlein, if I recall correctly. It didn't turn out so well sending all the moon rocks to Earth. Be careful!

  16. Re:creimer cock rocks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I got Amazon Dot. Where are my cock eggs?

  17. Build a mass driver by jfdavis668 · · Score: 1

    Build a mass driver on the Moon. Use it to fling rocks back to the Earth. Just watch out that you are not under them when they arrive.

    1. Re:Build a mass driver by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Build a mass driver on the Moon. Use it to fling rocks back to the Earth. Just watch out that you are not under them when they arrive.

      No problem, just aim for Australia.

    2. Re:Build a mass driver by jfdavis668 · · Score: 1

      Skylab missed everyone there, so that should work.

    3. Re:Build a mass driver by Antique+Geekmeister · · Score: 3, Informative

      I'm afraid I gave away my copy of "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" to a young person who needed to learn a great deal more about the politics of Robert Heinlein and where many engineers of my generation learned much of our politics. The "Loonies", the inhabitants of Luna, had been engaging in just such an attack on Earth in a war of revolution. There was an amazing comment that there was no point in dropping rocks on Cheyenne Mountain anymore, since it was no longer _there_.

      The revolutionaries were also broadcasting to Terra the exact coordinates of each rock, carefully avoiding population centers and historic monuments, and giving any remaining inhabitants time to do exactly that: to get out from under them. I took the story to heart as a model for premeditated violence.

    4. Re:Build a mass driver by crunchygranola · · Score: 2

      Heinlein's fiction is as bad a physics text as it is a sociology or economics text. This is not to disparage Heinlein, simply to point out that plot points in fiction are just plot points. All science fiction, and all fiction generally, shares this trait.

      The lunar bombardment scenario has a couple of problems. The energy gain from firing something from the moon is only about 22-fold (11.2 km/sec / 2.38 km/sec)^2), so that to do any extensive damage on Earth a still enormous amount of electrical energy needs to be put through the mass accelerator.

      Another is that the projectile is not really all that cheap. Although the mass is mostly rock, viewing it as just a "cheap rock" is wrong. Rocks in this size range cannot bring a lot of kinetic energy to the ground on Earth. Entry stresses ( deceleration force and dynamic pressure) cause them to shatter and explode in the atmosphere. This can only work if a high-tensile strength shell that can withstand extreme heating is used to hold the rocks (say a steel or titanium shell). And of course this high strength shell also needs a mechanically strong aluminum coil mounted on it for the mass driver to act on. This makes each projectile a significantly costly industrial item that must be manufactured for each shot and would limit the launch rate.

      And then there is the problem that that 10 G mass driver could not be hidden at all. The very first shot would show exactly where its end point is (what with radar and all), it would not get too many shots off before the warhead from Earth took it out. A huge investment of resources with little result.

      That's the problem with using fiction as a text to "learn" from - the author is free to ignore anything that does not make it a "good story".

      --
      Second class citizen of the New Gilded Age
    5. Re:Build a mass driver by crunchygranola · · Score: 1

      Oops - miscalculation: the energy gain is at best only a factor of 11, once you account for canceling the lunar orbital velocity of 1 km/sec. This assumes you are OK with the mass taking 2 weeks to fall to Earth (half the orbital period of the moon). If you want it to fall faster still more energy must be invested in it, reducing the gain even more.

      --
      Second class citizen of the New Gilded Age
    6. Re:Build a mass driver by Antique+Geekmeister · · Score: 1

      I agree that the politics and engineering in Heinlein's stories are not robust. They're fiction: they don't have to be robust, but they do need to involve challenges and obstacles for the characters, to explore the engineering, emotional, and political puzzles. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress explored at least half a dozen awkward themes, including political revolution, the role of indentured servitude and political exile in colonial politics, the differences between warfare by bombing and warfare with troops on the ground, international trade, economic fraud used to fund political purposes, the moral issues of educating an evolving AI, alternative family lifestyles under stringent population pressures, frontier justice and libertarian courts, the ability of technically astute people to work around their limited resources both for the Loonies and for their prisoners, and profound power of people who control the information systems to use it for personal or political ends.

      With so many powerful themes explored simultaneously, I'm willing to worry less about the astrophysical details.

  18. Yay by easyTree · · Score: 1

    Alien bacterial infection FTW!

    --
    Requiem for the American Dream
  19. Re: Jackin off with the American flag around my pe by easyTree · · Score: 1

    ProTip footnote: use of Aluminium foil hats is not recommended because Alzheimer's.

    --
    Requiem for the American Dream
  20. Moon Spiders! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just don't bring back any of the Moon Spiders!

  21. I, for one, say: GOOD! by slashdice · · Score: 1

    the US Government believes all moon rocks are their property and aggressively pursue everyone who has one. SWAT teams and FBI sting operations -- for people who were *given* a tiny piece of moon rock by NASA 40 years ago.

    --
    Copyright (c) 1990 - 2014 Dice. All rights reserved. Use of this comment is subject to certain Terms and Conditions.
    1. Re:I, for one, say: GOOD! by careysub · · Score: 1

      the US Government believes all moon rocks are their property and aggressively pursue everyone who has one. SWAT teams and FBI sting operations -- for people who were *given* a tiny piece of moon rock by NASA 40 years ago.

      The U.S. believes the Apollo mission rocks are government property because they are. The U.S. government paid to bring them here, and have clear legal title to them. They have never been offered for sale.

      If you want to buy a moon rock though there is not problem. Lunar meteorites are available for sale (I have a small piece of one), you can order one today if you like. A micro-mount specimen isn't even very expensive.

      --
      Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
  22. I've seen this movie before... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    Turn over the moon rock and find a "Made in China" sticker on back.

    1. Re:I've seen this movie before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What a coincidence! Just like the cock eggs!

      https://slashdot.org/comments....

    2. Re:I've seen this movie before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I got Amazon Dot. Where are my cock eggs?

  23. Hell, I have plans to bring them on Tuesday. by shess · · Score: 1

    I don't have any funding, or a launch vehicle, or a landing vehicle, or a return vehicle, but I have plans.

  24. These frauds again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They fired all their engineers when they moved to Florida from California. *Who* is building this wonderful piece of technology? Seriously: they haven't launched anything, but in 3 years they'll be bringing samples back from the moon, and a year after that have a base?

  25. Mass exchange by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't think that slowly moving mass away from the moon to earth is a good idea in the long run. It'll take a century or two but eventually we'll end up messing up its orbit.

    1. Re: Mass exchange by PoopJuggler · · Score: 1

      Hairless apes don't care about messing up nature as long as they get a shiny useless trinket in exchange.