Got 5K, send a payload to the Moon

$5000 Moon Rocket

Send your own rocket to the Moon

There is a group of engineers that had entered into the Google XPrize competition who have started a project to allow anyone to send a small payload to the moon. The group known as Lunar Robotics  is raising private funds in order to build the first prototype rocket. They are raising funds through small investors…like you…as their main funding was lost.

They claim that they have come up with two things which make sending a payload to the moon affordable. The first is a launch by balloon. This basically lifts a rocket to about 100-150,000 feet before it is ignited. This idea is actually very sound as the atmosphere is very thick and much of the fuel of a launch is used to get to this altitude. A balloon launch will allow the rocket to be smaller and not waste fuel on the initial phase of launch. The second item which they claim makes this possible is the use of a solid rocket fuel. Basically they have a high performance version of hobbyists rocket fuel they are proposing to use.

While this might see a little pie in the sky it may actually have some merit. Elementary schools can now send an camera phone via balloon to the edge of space and do. These phones take live images and you can clearly see the dark of space and curve of the earth. Also the “model” rockets of today can weigh a ton or more and are only limited by the regulations placed on them.

While this is a highly … risky…proposal it is not totally out of the realm of possibility and it is fun to think about. If a back yard hobbyist can get a small payload to the moon for $5000 that would be incredible. Think about all of the RC plane and Rocket clubs that would form new Moon clubs. Moon competitions, landers….crazier things have happened.