US firm plans return to the moon, this time with robots

A privately owned company plans to use robotic spacecraft to launch a series of commercial missions to the moon, some 45 years after NASA s last lunar landing, officials said on Wednesday. Cape Canaveral, Florida-based Moon Express is developing a fleet of low-cost robotic spacecraft that can be assembled like Legos to handle increasingly complex missions, founder and Chief Executive Officer Bob Richards said in an interview. Ultimately the company plans to establish a lunar outpost in 2020 and set up commercial operations on the Moon, mining material and returning it to Earth to sell. The initial spacecraft, known as MX-1E,is a similar size and shape to the R2D2 droid from Star Wars, and is slated to fly before the end of the year aboard a Rocket Lab Electron booster, which launches from New Zealand. Google is offering a top prize of $20 million for the first privately funded team to land a spacecraft on the moon; have it fly, drive or hop at least 1,640 feet (500 meters) and relay pictures and video back to Earth.