日批在线视频_内射毛片内射国产夫妻_亚洲三级小视频_在线观看亚洲大片短视频_女性向h片资源在线观看_亚洲最大网

US EUROPE AFRICA ASIA 中文
World / US and Canada

Fly me to the moon for $8b

(Agencies/China Daily) Updated: 2012-12-08 08:37

A Colorado startup run by former NASA managers plans to conduct missions to the moon for about $1.5 billion per expedition, a fraction of what a similar government-run operation would cost, company officials said on Thursday.

"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 company, which is named Golden Spike.

The expeditions would use existing rockets and spacecraft now 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.

The first mission would require an investment of $7 billion to $8 billion, said Golden Spike President Alan Stern, NASA's former associate administrator for science. Once established, mission costs would drop to about $1.5 billion to fly two people to the moon for up to two days.

"This is a game-changer," Stern said in Washington. "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 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 on 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," Schmitt said.

Trudeau visits Sina Weibo
May gets little gasp as EU extends deadline for sufficient progress in Brexit talks
Ethiopian FM urges strengthened Ethiopia-China ties
Yemen's ex-president Saleh, relatives killed by Houthis
Most Popular
Hot Topics

...
主站蜘蛛池模板: 亚洲国产伦理 | 天天操天天玩 | 国产精品国产精品 | 亚洲精品久久久蜜桃 | 日本yapoo重口调教vk | 国产午夜一级 | 亚洲精品视频久久 | 免费不卡毛片 | 超碰在线观看免费版 | 99免费视频 | 国产精品久久久久久久av | 视频这里只有精品 | 成人综合网址 | 午夜性视频 | 日韩在线观看 | 99国产精品99久久久久久粉嫩 | 激情福利视频 | av日韩中文字幕 | 国产区第一页 | 免费黄色一级 | 国产成人亚洲欧洲在线 | 日韩中文字幕网 | www国产在线观看 | 欧美成人精品欧美一级 | 97在线免费观看视频 | 一区二区的视频 | 精品国产黄色 | 97在线视频观看 | 日本久久一级片 | 国产在线观看网站 | 天堂资源站 | 五月色丁香| 中文字幕亚洲欧美 | 亚洲天堂毛片 | 国产精品不卡在线 | 国内精品久久久久久久影视简单 | 无遮挡黄色| 999久久久久久久久6666 | 天天操天天草 | 日本中文在线视频 | 亚洲欧美视频在线 |