http://www.theverge.com/2016/8/2/12275980/moon-express-private-mission-spaceflight-us-government
Private spaceflight company Moon Express will soon announce it has been granted regulatory approval by the US government to send a lunar lander to the surface of the Moon, according to a source familiar with the matter. If so, that means the company will be the first private company to have received permission from the government to send a vehicle beyond Earth orbit and on to another world.
Moon Express is a private spaceflight company with long-term hopes of mining the lunar surface. But in the short term, the company is focused on simply getting to the Moon first. The venture is developing the MX-1 — a 20-pound lunar lander designed to "hop" across the Moon's surface. MX-1 is in the Google Lunar X Prize competition, an international contest to send the first privately funded spacecraft to the Moon. In order to win that competition, Moon Express has to get its lander to the surface of the Moon before December 31st, 2017.
[...] Currently, there's no regulatory framework in place that allows the US government to oversee private missions beyond Earth orbit.
And that's a problem, since the US has to adhere to obligations set by the Outer Space Treaty — an international agreement that guides how nations conduct missions in space. Specifically, the US has to adequately oversee private missions to other planetary bodies, as well as ensure that companies don't violate planetary protection.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 03 2016, @08:01PM
Yeeeaaaaaa Mother fuckers! The USA owns to moon! Take that you pompous eurofags! Take that you terrorist camel fuckers! Take that you job stealing illegals! Take that you cheap TV and tablet making commie fuckers in ching chong land! Take that you former commie ruskie .... uh ... somethin somethins... Yea, fuck you!
U-S-A. U-S-A. U-S-A. U-S-A. U-S-A. We own the fuckin moon!
And don't forget to vote Trump. Otherwise you're a freeloading, Outer Space Treaty huggin, hippy lovin, gorilla lovin, SJW feminist gun fearing pansy!
(Score: 2) by turgid on Wednesday August 03 2016, @08:34PM
Congratulations :-)
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].