Resource World Magazine

A P R I L / M A Y 2 0 1 7 www.resourceworld.com 53 based Rocket Lab which builds carbon fibre rocket ships for only US $4.9 mil- lion. "Our story begins once we separate from the rocket in Earth orbit and light our own engines that take us out to the Moon – about 384,400 kilometres. Our maiden launch is scheduled to fly on flight #7 of Rocket Lab's Electron rocket," said Richards. "At the moment, Rocket Lab is only flying out of New Zealand; however, our preference would be for launches to occur out of Cape Canaveral where our mission control is located." "The Moon Express maiden mission will be landing in a benign terrain in the equatorial region of the moon to minimize chances of hazards," said Richards. "This was the same strategy used by the first US robotic landers. Our second mission, planned for the more treacherous lunar South Pole, will utilize precision landing and hazard avoidance technology that we're developing now." "We now have all the resources in place to shoot for the Moon," said Richards in a statement announcing the fund- ing achievements. "Our goal is to expand Earth's social and economic sphere to the Moon, our largely unexplored eighth con- tinent, and enable a new era of low cost lunar exploration and development for students, scientists, space agencies and commercial interests." The end objective of Moon Express is to lead the way in lunar mineral exploration and mining. The company would like to be involved in the proposal to mine Helium-3 on the Moon, a non-radioactive source of energy found at shallow depths as well as prospecting for water. The company would also like to participate in develop- ing space colonies. Moon Express co-founder, Naveen Jain, Chairman, stated, "Space travel is our only path forward to ensure our survival and create a limitless future for our children. In the immediate future, we envision bring- ing precious resources, metals and Moon rocks back to Earth." Under a public-private partnership, Moon Express has access to NASA's engi- neering expertise and the company has licensed space launch complexes 17 and 18 at Cape Canaveral from the US Air Force that it is using for its spacecraft / lunar lander tests. Contemplating future developments, Richards said, "At this time, we do not know if we will be going public on a stock exchange. If we did, it would only be after a successful lunar mission." He remarked that we are at the dawn of a new era of commercialization of space, where competition and falling costs will give rise to new markets. Rob McEwen, Chairman and Chief Owner of McEwen Mining Inc., is a major investor in Moon Express. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty bans the stationing of weapons of mass destruc- tion in outer space, prohibits military activities on celestial bodies, and details legally binding rules governing the peace- ful exploration and use of outer space that will benefit humanity. It has 160 signa- tories and has been adopted by the UN General Assembly. "I believe the first trillionaires will result from investments into space resources," said Richards. n LEFT: A computer-generated image of the Moon Express MISSION 1 - MX-1 Micro- Lander on the moon. Images courtesy Moon Express. TOP: Dr. Bob Richards, CEO of Moon Express, displays the MISSION 1 - MX-1 Micro-Lander at a presentation. * Resource World does not sell your information to third parties 709-700 W Pender St., Vancouver BC V6C 1G8 Canada NAME ADDRESS CITY PROV. POSTAL CODE PHONE E-MAIL online at www.resourceworld.com or phone 1.877.484.3800 SAVE 50% up to Resource World (Print and Digital Edition) 1 Year ($19.95) Resource World (Digital Edition) 1 Year ($9.95) Resource World (Digital Edition) 2 Years ($14.95) Resource World (Print and Digital Edition) 2 Years ($24.95) International Resource World (Print) 1 Year ($89.00) Renew my subscription Canadian subscribers please add applicable sales tax

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