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NASA Just Cut a 10-Cent Check to Kick-Start Moon Mining Tech

posted by martyb on Tuesday August 31 2021, @03:51AM   
from the last-of-the-big-spenders dept.

upstart writes:

NASA just cut a 10-cent check to kick-start moon mining tech:

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson presented Justin Cyrus, CEO of Colorado-based space startup Lunar Outpost, with the first payment ever issued to a company as part of a space resource contract announced Aug. 23 here at the 36th annual Space Symposium. The check, which was just 10 cents, or 10 percent of Lunar Outpost's $1 bid, and will go towards the company's efforts to collect lunar dust, or regolith, for the agency.

"We had contractual terms with them when they produce their first element. We would give them 10% of their contract award. I am happy to present a check for 10% of their bid. Justin, here's a check for 10 cents," Nelson said.

[...] "This sets a legal and procedural framework that will be utilized for generations and decades to come for companies like ours and many others to go out and collect resources from the lunar surface from other planetary bodies and make them basically useful for humanity," Cyrus said.

[...] Now, as part of this contract, the company will "collect a small amount of moon dust, verify the collection and transfer the ownership of that lunar regolith," Nelson said.

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Original Submission

• 10 percent of Lunar Outpost's $1 bid 10 percent of Lunar Outpost's $1 bid (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 31 2021, @05:26AM (2 children)

  by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 31 2021, @05:26AM (#1172690)

  and what billionare is funding this boondoggle?

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• Re:10 percent of Lunar Outpost's $1 bid Re:10 percent of Lunar Outpost's $1 bid (Score: 4, Insightful) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Tuesday August 31 2021, @07:28AM (1 child)

  by Rosco P. Coltrane (4757) on Tuesday August 31 2021, @07:28AM (#1172726)

  Whichever billionaire it is, you can be sure one way or the other it's the taxpayer who foots the bill - mostly because billionaires don't pay their taxes.

  Mind you, I'd rather they funded space exploration with their ill-gotten money than yachts and supercars, given the choice.

  Parent

  • Re:10 percent of Lunar Outpost's $1 bid (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 31 2021, @07:45PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 31 2021, @07:45PM (#1172935)

    Por que no los dos?

    https://nypost.com/2020/10/08/tesla-roadster-launched-into-space-by-spacex-passes-mars/ [nypost.com]

    Parent