100 years too early or too late?

On a more philosophical note, did you ever think that you were born in the wrong century? For me, the human race seems to be in somewhat of a transition period. Our generation was far too late for the great era of exploration when there were still undiscovered continents. Alternatively, our destiny to become a true space fearing race still seems an eon away. Armchair exploration has brought the universe to our desktop, but is it enough?


Image credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, J. Hester
and P. Scowen (Arizona State University)

Looking at how humans have progressed over the last millennium, there is a lot to be hopeful about. However, it has been almost 40 years since the first Apollo moon landing and we still have not scratched the surface. Launch costs are still high. Government agencies still dominate the space arena. Are we the generation that gets things moving and makes the change? I would like to think so. I have this great fridge magnet which I used to keep stuck to my cubicle wall (in the days when I still did the 9-5 cubicle thing, horrifying as it was).

It simply says this:

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
-- Mahatma Gandhi


Signed

Mr_Mental_Block, White Label Space Team

The Social Value of Lunar Exploration

We were recently asked about our project's meaning to society. This is a good question that should be asked of any space-related activities beyond the obvious ones that directly serve people on Earth (telecommunications and remote sensing).

Our goal of sending a robotic lander to the Moon's surface has many benefits to society. Firstly, the desire to explore new territories is a theme embedded in all societies since the dawn of humanity. In the beginning exploration was by use of our own legs and then later by the legs of animals. In the last 2 millennia we began to use machines to aid our exploration - ships, cars, aircraft. Only in the last half of the 20th century did we start to explore space, first with machines and the later with humans.

We believe that our exploration of space is only just beginning, and indeed our current generation is sitting on the frontier of that exploration. We can choose to continue the bold visions of space exploration seen during the space race while those vision are still in our consciousness and in the memories of our parents generation. Alternatively, society can choose to turn its back on space exploration and focus its energies on the problems here on Earth. By sending a robotic craft back to the surface of the Moon we are saying that humanity's urge to explore will not end at the atmosphere and space near Earth. We see the return to the Moon as a way to remind society the benefits of space exploration.

Exploration of the Moon done with today's technologies should be cheaper in the sense that it places less burden on society. We would like to prove that by using modern technologies for engineering design, and the internet we can undertake a lunar surface mission at a fraction of the cost of the traditional space missions that are funded by governments. We would like to show that we can develop new technologies to meet these challenges, and that the technologies we develop will have benefits back on Earth as well as in space.

Another important benefit to society of our lunar mission will be the expansion of humanity's consciousness This will take place in many ways, scientifically, sociologically and artistically. When we go to the Moon we will take all of humanity with us. We will show them the stark beauty of the lunar surface in high definition imagery and videos. Also, we will show that small groups of motivated individuals can achieve extraordinary things that everyday life doesn't permit. Our lunar lander mission will pave the way for sending low-cost scientific missions to study the Moon up close, which has profound implications to the formation of the Earth and all life on it.