Gadgetory

a private company is headed to the moon the United States government just cleared moon Express a private company to travel to the moon this is the first time the US has allowed a private space mission to go beyond the orbit of the earth so what's the mission moon Express will send a lander to the moon for a two-week mission in 2017 the lander is about the size of a suitcase while on the moon moon expresses the lander will carry on science experiments and send video and pictures back to the earth the mission is one way the lander will not be returning to the earth however moon Express is co-founder naveen jane says that the company plans to bring back metals moon rocks and resources in future missions the company submitted its application to head to the moon back in April moon Express will take steps to comply with the Outer Space Treaty because that's a thing NASA will advise the mission but not regulated should moon Express successfully reach the moon by its target of 2017 it could win the google lunar xprize that prize is valued at 20 million dollars to win the prize moon Express would have to land a rover on the moon travel 500 metres and transmit HD video and images ninety percent of admission costs must be funded by private sources all of this sounds nuts but really exciting good luck to moon Express that's it for this tech news update I maya's actor and you can stay on top of the biggest stories at cnet com / update