Perhaps there is a better way than having the good taxpaying folks of America paying the $104B tab to explore the Moon and Mars. "Been there, done that," seems to be the prevailing attitude that leaves many shaking their heads. If we're going to spend $104B, at least let us drastically improve the vision and the means to accomplish it. For example, take the suggestion by University of Tennessee law professor, Glenn Harlan Reynolds. He proposes that the money would be better spent on the development of a "
space elevator." Check it out.
Anyhow, NASA recognizes the benefits of private enterprise given its latest push to drive incentive money in their direction. Yesterday NASA announced a $250,000 prize for the team that can win a lunar dirt-digging contest that will take place here on Earth. The competition will pit robots to see which can excavate the most lunar soil and deliver it to a collector. The challenge will be held in late 2006 or early 2007.
"Excavation of lunar regolith is an important and necessary step toward using the resources on the Moon to establish a successful base for life on its surface," said NASA's acting Associate Administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, Douglas Cooke.
"This is a challenge that places all companies, institutions and individuals on a level playing field, thereby widening the doors of opportunity for technology innovators," said CSEWI Director, the Honorable Andrea Seastrand. "While welcoming entities with existing NASA relationships, this challenge stimulates and reaches out to the nation's untapped intellectual capital."
Ah, but what's in it beyond a $250,000 prize. Who will hire the company that wins? Will it be a government contract or a corporate contract? That's where the real rubber meets the road.
Picture yourself as a savvy venture capitalist looking to invest your wealth on the next best opportunity. Across from the table is some hot-shot engineer explaining how his firm is going to mine six trillion dollars of platinum from an asteroid. He lays out the blueprints, uses fancy acronyms like NEO and LEO, and describes how there are at least 2,000 more asteroids that size, with about 50 more being discovered each year!
Cutting through the hype, you put your business acumen into high gear and ask, "So how long is this project going to take? Projected investment? And risk of failure?"
"Twenty years, start to finish," comes his reply without hesitation. "Eight billion dollar investment with a high probability of failure. But don’t forget, we’re going after a six trillion dollar opportunity."
The next question, however, will determine whether you sign the papers or show the young lad to the door. "Are you 100% certain that you’ll have a right to claim legal ownership over what you extract?"
The face of the engineer goes blank. He reaches down, pulls out a 100-page memorandum from his briefcase, and lays it in front of you. It’s from a law firm in which he paid thousands of dollars to answer that very question. Unfortunately, it doesn’t answer it very well. In fact, it tells the potential investor that there are two camps with two very different interpretations of the law.
To make matters worse, because there is no case law to interpret who’s right, the outcome is rather unpredictable and nebulous. At that point, you quickly shuffle the engineer towards the door. As he attempts one final sales pitch, you retort, "Sonny, I’m not going fishing unless I’m absolutely sure that I own 100% of what I catch!"
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