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U.S. Clears Way for First Commercial Lunar Flight
Wednesday, September 11, 2002
TransOrbital, Inc. has become the first private company in the
history of space flight to win approval from the U.S. government to
explore, photograph, and land on the moon. The company expects to
launch its Trailblazer Mission from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in
Kazakhstan within the next 9-12 months. Once launched, the Trailblazer
will provide stunning, high-definition (HDTV) video and maps of the
lunar surface (at 1 meter resolution), as well as new images of
earth-rises over lunar craters. The mission will culminate with the
delivery of a time capsule containing personal cargo from Earth (such
as messages and photographs), and a final "barnstorming" video as the
probe impacts the lunar service. The media collected during the mission
will provide TransOrbital with an array of content vital to future
scientific and exploratory endeavors, as well as educational and
entertainment uses.
