For the first time, the American government has granted certain citizens permission to fly unmanned flights to the moon from the United States.
This honor was given to the private company "Moon Express", founded in 2010 and engaged in the development of spacecraft for transporting matter to the natural satellite of the Earth and back. Already next year, the company will use this right for the first time and deliver a very unusual cargo to Selena.
Bob Richards, founder and CEO of Moon Express, says that it wasn't easy to get this approval. It took lengthy negotiations with the US Department of State, the US Civil Aviation Administration, NASA, and many other federal agencies. However, now the company has achieved what it wants and plans to make a number of unique flights to the moon, while earning good money.
In 2017, Moon Express will send a robotic lander about the size of a diplomat to the celestial body closest to Earth. During the two-week mission, the device will take many photographs there and take samples of the lunar soil.
Populate the moon with human ghosts
Most interesting, however, is that the device will leave cremated human remains on the satellite. Elderly rich people and terminally ill people of unlimited means are already expressing a desire to be, so to speak, buried on the moon. Their ashes will be scattered by a robot on the surface of Selena, which can be considered the first extraterrestrial burial ground in the history of mankind.
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Undoubtedly, such a load will take part of the payload on the drone - according to preliminary calculations, the cost of transporting one kilogram of ashes to the moon will cost about three million dollars. At the same time, the delivery of the remains (ashes) of one person to customers is expected to cost more than eight million. According to Bob Richards, the number of Americans and foreigners who want to be buried on the moon is in the dozens of names.
If Moon Express sends at least a third of them outside our planet, then this will not only recoup all investments in the project, but will also allow the company to get a good profit. Another way of making money for a private company should be the delivery of stones and metals from the moon, which are highly valued not only in scientific research, but also in the manufacture of jewelry, as well as private collections.
Comedian Brookbert Warshaw, the American television comedian, ironically commented on Moon Express's plans, claiming the company wants to populate the moon with human ghosts.