Private venture to revisit Apollo 11 site

Caterpillar Joins Sponsors Of First Expedition
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by Staff Writers
Pittsburgh PA (SPX) Aug 24, 2010
Astrobotic Technology, a Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) spin-off company has announced that Caterpillar will be a sponsor its first robotic expedition to the lunar surface.
The initial Astrobotic mission will revisit the Apollo 11 site in April 2013 with a five-foot tall, 160-lb. robot broadcasting 3D high-definition video. The mission will carry payloads to the Moon and convey the experience to the world via Internet video access.

Moon Daily

Nobody is making any promises, but if Caterpiller is successful, they will not only win the X-Prize, they will finally put the "Moon Hoax" industry out of business.

I sure hope it doesn't bump into the Eagle.
"Oops".
"What do you mean, oops?"

Originally posted by Phage
I sure hope it doesn't bump into the Eagle.
"Oops".
"What do you mean, oops?"

That's the first thing I thought of...Will NASA want this robot and future "tourists" to treat the Apollo 11 site as if it was in a museum? Should it be allowed to drive over and/or otherwise disturb soil that was walked upon by Armstrong and Aldrin?

Originally posted by DJW001
Nobody is making any promises, but if Caterpiller is successful, they will not only win the X-Prize, they will finally put the "Moon Hoax" industry out of business.

Nah! Someone will claim that Caterpillar is secretly owned by the Illuminati.

This is awesome..

I think other large corporations should join in on this race -- they are our masters, after all, and more powerful than governments anyways, so it's fitting that they should have their own space race.

At any rate, whomever gets a 3D HD camera to the moon first, and streams it live over the internet, is sure to get an amazing amount of publicity and positive corporate image. I totally support this, as apparently my government is too neutered and stupid to spend money on exploring space, so lunar visitation is entering a long line of things to be privatized.

As someone who really could go either way on the Moon Hoax debate, this is very exciting, especially because it will be happening in the next few years assuming everything stays on schedule.

As far as disturbing the footprints and such, if we were really on the moon, I'm sure NASA has coordinates of the first steps and such. I think the site, if it exists, should be treated as a museum. I doubt Caterpillar would be wanting to mess with history.

Originally posted by Soylent Green Is People

Originally posted by DJW001
Nobody is making any promises, but if Caterpiller is successful, they will not only win the X-Prize, they will finally put the "Moon Hoax" industry out of business.

Nah! Someone will claim that Caterpillar is secretly owned by the Illuminati.

Gargh, you beat me to it. Star for you for apparently being inside my head.

Great, so were are going to get some HD footage of the lunar module descent stage surrounded by:
- a US flag lying in the ground (the LM ascent engine toppled it when they left the surface)
- some waste bags
- a pile of astronaut equipment (Portable Life Support Systems, a camera ...)
- footprints

It probably won't be as glamorous as some people are hoping :p

Why couldn't they pick one of the later missions? they'd have a flag that is still standing, the lunar rover and some other stuff.

"Civilian" space is on the take off..

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Originally posted by MacAnkka
Why couldn't they pick one of the later missions? they'd have a flag that is still standing, the lunar rover and some other stuff.

Just a guess, but possibly for the same reason Tranquility was chosen in the first place; it's flat so missing your landing site by a mile or even 10 miles doesn't result in cratering into the side of a mountain (indeed apollo 11 overshot the intended landing site). Yes, precision landing is going to be necessary to get to the apollo landing site, but a failure to attain that precision wouldn't result in total failure and a loss of the X-prize.

By the time tourists come flocking to see the landing site, Space Groundskeeper Willie will have tidied it all up and set the flag back up straight. The rover will have been moved to the front gate to attract passers-by.