# First private company to get permission to land on the Moon. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 3, 2016, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-private-company-to-get-permission-to-land-on-the-moon/761698 "2016-08-03T21:58:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-private-company-to-get-permission-to-land-on-the-moon/761698/1 "2016-08-03T21:58:58Z")
Moon Express has been given permission to go for Google’s Lunar XPrize, which is a competition to land a robot on the moon by 2017. Story [here](http://money.cnn.com/2016/08/03/technology/private-moon-express-shot/index.html) from CNN. > [@](#): > > Moon Express is the first private outfit to get the OK from the U.S. government to go where few have gone before: the moon. > > The upstart space exploration company is competing for Google’s Lunar XPrize, worth as much as $25 million. The first privately-financed group to get to the moon before the end of 2017 win. The only moon shots until now have been by national space programs of the United States, the former Soviet Union and China. > > The approval for the flight, announced Wednesday, came from a collection of agencies, including the FAA, the State Department, NASA and the White House. > > To claim the prize, Moon Express will have to land a probe on the moon, have it travel 500 meters over the moon’s surface, and transmit HD video back to earth. I think this is pretty cool and hope they do it. Wow…they have cut the price from over a billion dollars to get to the moon to less than $20 million, assuming they pull this off. That’s really game changing. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-private-company-to-get-permission-to-land-on-the-moon/761698/2 "2016-08-03T22:01:52Z")
The operative words there are “from the US government”. Leaving unaddressed the question of why the US government thinks it has the power to authorize a lunar landing. And what penalty the US government would impose on an unauthorized landing. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-private-company-to-get-permission-to-land-on-the-moon/761698/3 "2016-08-03T22:03:43Z")
Yeah, I think that the OP is misleading. One doesn’t need the US government’s permission to land on the moon. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-private-company-to-get-permission-to-land-on-the-moon/761698/4 "2016-08-03T22:08:02Z")
Sorry, the titles was supposed to be ‘permission from FAA’. The key point here is that this is a viable shot at the X-Prize and looks like it might happen close to the end of this year, assuming it goes well. And they DO need permission from the FAA to fly out of the US for this…which is why they were asking for it. I presume the Israeli team had to get some sort of permission from Israel or where ever they were flying out of as well. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-private-company-to-get-permission-to-land-on-the-moon/761698/5 "2016-08-03T22:09:33Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > Yeah, I think that the OP is misleading. One doesn’t need the US government’s permission to land on the moon. No…they need permission to fly into orbit. Once that is accomplished I don’t think they need direct permission to land on the moon. Again, sorry for the misleading title…it wasn’t my intent. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-private-company-to-get-permission-to-land-on-the-moon/761698/6 "2016-08-05T03:47:03Z")
Well it helps legitimize moon express, probably helping secure funding. It also gives the us government legitimacy as an authority figure over lunar exploration. Oftentimes the only thing that gives an organization the rights to do what they do is people believing you have the power. Just look at the UN. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-private-company-to-get-permission-to-land-on-the-moon/761698/7 "2016-08-05T07:37:52Z")
One consideration: The US signed a Treaty/Agreement to NOT infect the moon with earthly pathogens. This “permission” may, in fact be, a certification that whatever else the group does or doesn’t do, it will not contaminate the moon with germs. ---
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-private-company-to-get-permission-to-land-on-the-moon/761698/8 "2016-08-05T12:46:20Z")
LOL, that had me scratching my head, too… But I can see plenty of reasons the government would want to know if someone planned on launching a space rocket. In addition to the aforementioned treaties on contamination, they would have to file a flight plan and make sure they didn’t hit any objects in orbit. They’d also have to make sure the launch vehicle is safe enough to not explode and kill anyone, or turn into a ballistic missile and crash somewhere. I can see lots of red tape from a safety perspective. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-private-company-to-get-permission-to-land-on-the-moon/761698/9 "2016-08-05T15:17:32Z")
Moon Express? Will they be sending a robot, a one eyed alien and a pizza delivery boy? ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-private-company-to-get-permission-to-land-on-the-moon/761698/10 "2016-08-05T21:53:31Z")
I have a bookmark folder for “Space Stuff”. Number of “Nobody has heard of them” private/commercial space companies: 13. Just saw an article from 2012 about all these hot shot companies were going to have Space Tourism going by 2014 or, at the latest, 2015. Half of the companies no longer exist. The folks who were going to make a quick fortune by using ex-Soviet Moon Shot engines (yes, really: engines in storage since the 1960’s) is now 1/2 of a new company. For a giggle: search “Commercial Space Companies” - yeah, I figure there IS such a Wiki page - but do your own search and see how your list compares to the Wiki. Ever since Musk (PayPal) became a darling of the space set (SpaceX), it seems every Silicon Valley billionaire simply _Must_ have a space company. Armadillo was a strange thing… ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-private-company-to-get-permission-to-land-on-the-moon/761698/11 "2016-08-05T22:48:00Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Moon Express? Will they be sending a robot, a one eyed alien and a pizza delivery boy? Nitpick: Leela is a mutant, not an alien. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-private-company-to-get-permission-to-land-on-the-moon/761698/12 "2016-08-05T23:49:24Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > Half of the companies no longer exist. High risk, high reward. SpaceX is obviously alive and well, and Blue Origin doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. Bigelow has stuff on the ISS now. Armadillo is no more, but the assets were bought out by some ex-employees and they’re sorta still around. And anyway, it served the purpose of giving Carmack a hobby that really didn’t cost much more than his previous supercar hobby. And yes, Orbital Sciences (the users of the remanufactured NK-33 engines intended for use in the USSR moon shot) merged with Alliant Techsystems to form Orbital ATK, but if anything that’s just a sign that they’ve gone “old space”. I work for a computer hardware company. 20 years ago, there were around 40 companies in our subindustry. Now there are two. It was more interesting when there were 40, but not sustainable. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-private-company-to-get-permission-to-land-on-the-moon/761698/13 "2016-08-06T18:51:11Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > I work for a computer hardware company. 20 years ago, there were around 40 companies in our subindustry. Now there are two. Would you elaborate? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-private-company-to-get-permission-to-land-on-the-moon/761698/14 "2016-08-09T21:02:11Z")
It just way media as turn going into space as next big thing. :eek::eek: There not day that does not go by that the top headlines are humans to moon and humans to mars. Moon base and Mars base and space tourism to moon and Mars. Some private company talking about this or that of moon or mars!! But people don’t understand going to moon or mars would cost billions of dollars and Mars base would cost hundreds of billions of dollars. Unless there some **major** technology breakthrough to lower space cost I don’t see space opening up to the people other than space probes that are lot cheaper. People on the moon or mars would be prohibitively expensive even for billionaires. I just don’t see chemical rockets working. Well despite people that want to go into space it is prohibitively expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-private-company-to-get-permission-to-land-on-the-moon/761698/15 "2016-08-09T21:08:38Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Would you elaborate? Thanks. As usual, [there is a Wiki page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_graphics_chips_and_card_companies). ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-private-company-to-get-permission-to-land-on-the-moon/761698/16 "2016-08-09T23:38:44Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > As usual, [there is a Wiki page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_graphics_chips_and_card_companies). Thanks again. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-private-company-to-get-permission-to-land-on-the-moon/761698/17 "2016-08-18T16:10:55Z")
Thought I’d bump the thread with [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTEIL19FLYI) SciShow Space video on YouTube that talks about the mission and what it means. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-private-company-to-get-permission-to-land-on-the-moon/761698/18 "2016-08-18T16:33:52Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Nitpick: Leela is a mutant, not an alien. He was obviously referring to the moon mission’s ship physician, Dr. John Zoidberg.