Lunar Mission One is a proposed international,
publicly funded, robotic mission to the Moon,
led by Lunar Missions Limited.
They have not yet obtained $1 billion funding
for research, development and launch of a
spacecraft, but their stated objective is
to launch in 2024.
== History ==
The mission, which is in its early conceptual
stages, aims to send a lunar lander to the
Moon in 2024.
The lander would drill below the surface of
the Lunar South Pole to a depth of up to 100m,
in the hope of accessing lunar rock up to
4.5 billion years old.
The lunar lander would contain scientific
instruments to explore the science and geology
behind the origins of the Moon and the Solar
System.After drilling, the module would place
a time capsule into the borehole.
This time capsule would contain a public archive,
with a record of Earth's biosphere and a history
of human civilisation, and a private archive
consisting of millions of digital memory boxes.
Consumers would be able to purchase digital
memory boxes, and fill them with digital data
such as photos or videos.
They would also be able to store their DNA
via a strand of hair.
Lunar Missions Limited has set the total cost
of the mission at £500 million and it is
aiming to raise these funds through global
sales of digital memory boxes.Funding for
the initial legal fees was raised on the international
crowd-funding platform, Kickstarter.
The fundraising was successfully completed
on 17 December 2014, with £672,447 ($1,017,000
approx.) being pledged, exceeding the minimum
target of £600,000 ($900,000 approx.).
== Management ==
Lunar Missions Limited is a company chaired
by Ian Taylor, former UK Minister for Science
and Technology.
Directors of the company include David Iron
and Angela Lamont.
The technical advisor for the first stage
of the project is RAL Space.Lunar Mission
One is overseen by the Lunar Missions Trust
which is also responsible for the education
program to be developed around Lunar Mission
One, primarily focusing on STEM subjects.
The Trust is chaired by Sir Graeme Davies
and trustees include Monica Grady and David
Iron.
== References ==
== External links ==
lunarmissionone.com
