Locations
Fieldfisher's Space Projects team, led by partner John Worthy, is advising the unique and innovative Lunar Mission One, which has successfully completed its initial crowdfunding campaign.
The mission has taken a unique approach to fundraising by making use of crowdfunding platform Kickstarter. Its target of £600,000 was easily surpassed by the deadline of Wednesday 17th December; over 7,000 people from more than 60 countries pledged and raised a total of £672,447. All of the money raised so far will be used to finance the initial project management and programme planning phase. Technical advisers to the mission, RAL Space, will now commence with the building of a project team.
Since its launch Lunar Mission One has captured the public imagination, receiving worldwide media coverage and backing from figures including Stephen Hawking, Brian Cox, Stephen Fry, and Dan Snow. The mission plans to send a robot lander to the moon in 2024 which will drill at least 20 metres into the moon's surface and analyse lunar rock dating back up to 4.5bn years. This should provide significant insights into the origins and evolution of the Moon and Earth.
The project also intends to bury a time capsule containing an archival record of human history and a digital "memory box" in which members of the public can reserve space to store personal information, ranging from photographs to a strand of hair. In the longer term, Lunar Mission One also aims to initiate a global education programme teaching STEM subjects to children across the world.
John Worthy commented:
"We are absolutely delighted that initial public excitement about this project has been translated into this level of financial support. It means that the serious work of making the project a reality can now begin. Everyone here in Fieldfisher's highly experienced and expert Space Projects team is very excited about playing a key role in taking Lunar Mission One forward."