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| En route to the Moon as we speak |
“NASA recognizes that many spacefaring nations and commercial entities are on the verge of landing spacecraft on the moon,” the agency explained in a statement, adding that it had “engaged in a cooperative dialogue with the X Prize Foundation and the Google Lunar X Prize teams to develop the recommendations, and that all parties “share a common interest in preserving humanity’s first steps on another celestial body and protecting ongoing science from the potentially damaging effects of nearby landers.”Wait...what? Last I heard, returning to the Moon was a crackpot idea Newt Gingrich floated during his failed presidntial campaign. Not that I'm against it...anything but; I just didn't realize it was serious and imminent enough for NASA to release this hefty, 93-page report expressing its concern that the coming Moon-rush not build casinos on historical sites.
Turns out, the X Prize people are on their way--and given the success commercial space ventures have had so far, I wouldn't doubt them. But for now, the ventures are distinctly robotic in nature.
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| Your potential new neighbor |
Guess I can hold off on those beach house designs...for now.
