The Raelian Movement
for those who are not afraid of the future : http://www.rael.org
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Space firm to offer private missions to the moon
Golden Spike, a firm run by former Nasa managers, says it will be ready to fly first mission by 2020, at $1.5bn per expedition
Expeditions would use existing rockets and spacecraft under development to fly Nasa astronauts to the International Space Station. Photograph: Michael O'Connell/Royal Observatory Greenwich
A Colorado start-up run by former Nasa managers plans to conduct missions to the moon for about $1.5bn (£0.9bn) per expedition, a fraction of what a similar government-run operation would cost.
The expeditions would use existing rockets and spacecraft under development to fly Nasa astronauts to the International Space Station.
Depending on how many customers sign up, the company said it could be ready to fly its first mission by 2020. It did not elaborate on any existing or pending contracts with customers or suppliers.
"Our vision is to create a reliable and affordable US-based commercial human lunar transportation system," said former Apollo flight director Gerry Griffin, who serves as chairman of the firm, named Golden Spike.
The first mission would require an investment of $7-8bn, said the Golden Spike president, Alan Stern, Nasa's former associate administrator for science. Once established, mission costs would drop to about $1.5bn to fly two people to the moon for up to two days.
"This is a game-changer," Stern told reporters in Washington and on a conference call. "We can fly human lunar missions for the cost of a robotic mission."
Stern declined to specify how many missions the company would need to sell to turn a profit.
"If we only sell three or four expeditions, it's completely upside down. We need to sell a bunch. But we do not need to sell ridiculous numbers," he said.
A market study shows 15 to 25 nations can afford lunar exploration and may want to do so, he added.
Potential customers include civilian space agencies, corporations, research institutes and some extremely wealthy individuals.
"We can make it affordable for mid-sized countries like a Korea, an Indonesia, or a South Africa to be in the business of lunar exploration, which would cost them a great deal more to invent that capability," Stern said.
In addition to advance ticket sales, the company is counting on advertising and marketing campaigns to raise funds.
Golden Spike is not the first company proposing privately funded missions to the moon. Other firms include Moon Express, a mining outfit, and companies participating in a Google-sponsored competition to land a robotic probe on the satellite.
"If I could find investors to get started with, we would be going back to the moon within 10 or 15 years to harvest its energy resources and use them back here on Earth," former Apollo astronaut Harrison "Jack" Schmitt told Reuters in a separate interview.
"The return of investment has to be fairly high because of the perceived risk – in addition to the actual risk to that investment capital – but nevertheless I believe it's possible that it could be done," he said.
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WARNING FROM RAEL: For those who don't use their intelligence at its
full capacity, the label "selected by RAEL" on some articles does not
mean that I agree with their content or support it. "Selected by RAEL"
means that I believe it is important for the people of this planet to
know about what people think or do, even when what they think or do is
completely stupid and against our philosophy. When I selected articles
in the past about stupid Christian fundamentalists in America praying
for rain, I am sure no Rael-Science reader was stupid enough to believe
that I was supporting praying to change the weather. So, when I select
articles which are in favor of drugs, anti-Semitic, anti-Jewish, racist,
revisionist, or inciting hatred against any group or religion, or any
other stupid article, it does not mean that I support them. It just
means that it is important for all human beings to know about them.
Common sense, which is usually very good among our readers, is good
enough to understand that. When, like in the recent articles on drug
decriminalization, it is necessary to make it clearer, I add a comment,
which in this case was very clear: I support decriminalizing all drugs,
as it is stupid to throw depressed and sad people (as only depressed and
sad people use drugs) in prison and ruin their life with a criminal
record. That does not mean that there is any change to the Message which
says clearly that we must not use any drug except for medical purposes.
The same applies to the freedom of expression which must be absolute.
That does not mean again of course that I agree with anti-Jews,
anti-Semites, racists of any kind or anti-Raelians. But by knowing your
enemies or the enemies of your values, you are better equipped to fight
them. With love and respect of course, and with the wonderful sentence
of the French philosopher Voltaire in mind: "I disapprove of what you
say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
--
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"Ethics" is simply a last-gasp attempt by deist conservatives and
orthodox dogmatics to keep humanity in ignorance and obscurantism,
through the well tried fermentation of fear, the fear of science and
new technologies.
There is nothing glorious about what our ancestors call history,
it is simply a succession of mistakes, intolerances and violations.
On the contrary, let us embrace Science and the new technologies
unfettered, for it is these which will liberate mankind from the
myth of god, and free us from our age old fears, from disease,
death and the sweat of labour.
Rael
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