h+: What's up with the Lunar Samples you have on sale? Do you think this sort of speculative offer might turn some people off?
Gerard K. O'Neill - Photo courtesy of Stewart Brand
RM: Not at all! Why should it? We want to make it clear that to send a rocket to the Moon is not as difficult as both the industry and the nontechnical public would have you believe. It’s Gerard O’Neill’s concept that once you’re in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), you really are halfway to anywhere in the Solar System. Actually, the most difficult part is getting to LEO and doing it cheaply. In terms of the lunar samples, this type of pre-sale gives the customer a sizable discount for the lunar samples we’ll bring back on the second lunar mission (the Google Lunar X PRIZE is the first, scheduled for Late 2012). These sales fund our lunar programs, both the GLXP and the subsequent mining missions. Interorbital’s ‘speculative’ offer has been embraced by members of the public who have expressed their high confidence in our ability to carry out the task by buying-in to the program -- particularly those who wish to give a gift that no one else on Earth will be able to give.
h+: Speaking of Gerard O'Neill, when can humans expect those space resources and space colonies we were sold on during the 1970s?
RM: We have a lunar mining program in the works (thus the lunar samples.) It’s inevitable… untapped riches... and it will be possible within the span of a few years.
We can’t predict the exact date for space colonies because there are too many variables. What I can say is this: no specific date, but it’s in the very near future. If you want more information on our own colony program -- called Trans Lunar Research, we have a website. (See Resources)
See AlsoResources:
Interorbital Systems
http://interorbital.com/
Google Lunar X Prize
http://www.googlelunarxprize.org/
Synergy Moon
http://www.synergymoon.org/
Gerard K. O'Neill
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard_K._O%27Neill
Trans Lunar Research
http://www.translunar.org/[/quote]