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| INTERORBITAL SYSTEMS > LUNAR SAMPLE RETURN CLICK HERE FOR A FREE TICKET TO SPACE HOME |
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A lunar sample return mission is currently in development at Interorbital Systems (IOS), with missions expected to begin in 2010. The mission’s primary hardware component is the Robotic Interplanetary Prospector Excavator and Retriever, or the RIPPER. RIPPER is an autonomous system, designed to soft-land on the moon or any other body in the Solar System, select surface samples, and then excavate and retrieve them for return to Earth. These off-world samples will be the rarest minerals on Earth, and will be made available to research institutions and private collectors at a fair price. Only a small quantity of lunar material (12-lbs or 5.4-Kg) will be brought back to Earth by the RIPPER Spacecraft. The demand for this extremely rare material will be enormous, even at its estimated value of more than $4.5 million per pound ($10,000 per gram). Advance Sale of Moon Dust and Moon Rocks --- Only a 10% Deposit is Required! Buy Now and Save! IOS is currently offering advance sales of the lunar material at a 25% cost reduction, or $3.375 million per pound or $7,500 per gram. Buyers can secure lunar material at this reduced price by placing a 10% deposit on their desired quantity before the lunar mission begins. Final payment will be due on delivery. Advance buyers will receive a certificate of sale after the transaction. Once their lunar sample is safely returned to Earth and full payment is secured, the buyer will receive the following: 1) The Lunar Sample 2) An assay of the sample (if requested) 3) A moon map showing the location where the sample was retrieved 4) A close-up photo of the lunar surface showing the exact source point of the sample 5) A complete Lunar Sample Return Mission package, with photos and a DVD of the rocket, the launch, the RIPPER, and the Lunar Landing Site. An Opportunity To Own a Sample of the Rarest Material on Earth! Although the actual volume of a gram or more of material will depend on the density of the material at the Lunar landing site, the approximate volumes of the Lunar material are represented below.
Payment can be made Online with PayPal or payment can be made by check or money order to the address at the bottom of this page. Your payment will be processed through Astro Expeditions LLC (Interorbital Systems' marketing division). If you wish to reserve larger or smaller amounts of the Lunar material or if you have any questions, please contact IOS by phone or email (scroll down to bottom of page for contact information).
Why Buy Lunar Material? Lunar material is valuable on many levels. Since the samples will be maintained in a vacuum, they will be invaluable to researchers investigating lunar science (geology, helium-3, etc.). Non-scientists or collectors can display or mount their samples, or have their samples incorporated into unique jewelry. At current market rates, moon rocks are far more valuable than diamonds. Most of the lunar material on Earth was brought back from the Moon by the six manned Apollo missions (842 Lbs = 382 Kg), with 300 grams brought back by the Soviet unmanned lunar sample return missions. The majority of the Apollo samples are locked away in NASA facilities and are not for sale to the general public. Only a few grams of the Soviet samples have been sold to the public or given away to various nations and world leaders. The Soviets performed the last lunar sample return mission with Luna 24 in August of 1976. At present, most of the commercially available lunar material are rare lunar meteorites which can sell for more than $1,000 a gram. One carat (0.2 gram) of one of the Soviet moon rocks recently sold for $442,000 ($2,210,000 per gram). A few grams of dust retrieved from Apollo spacesuits sold for $42,000. It is clear that the pre-mission price of IOS lunar samples is a bargain. Since the IOS lunar sample return mission will be the first commercial mission of its kind in the history of space exploration, samples from this mission will also have additional value for collectors. The initial Lunar mission will also include a miniature lunar rover as a secondary payload to satisfy one of the requirements of the Google Lunar X Prize competition. The resale value of the samples could be many times higher than the pre-sale price offered here. What is the RIPPER? RIPPER is an acronym for the Robotic Interplanetary Prospector Excavator and Retriever. It is an automated two-stage spacecraft and Earth Reentry Capsule (ERC) designed to land on and return samples from the smaller extraterrestrial bodies in the Solar System. This includes the moons, the asteroids, and the comets. The system will initially be used for lunar missions. RIPPER weighs 1,400-Lbs. (635-Kgs). It will be launched by the IOS Neptune TSAAHTO rocket, currently under development at Interorbital Systems. The Neptune TSAAHTO rocket is a new vehicle and will apply Sea Star TSAAHTO technology. It will first place the RIPPER on a lunar-direct trajectory (lunar escape velocity without going into Earth orbit). After separation from the Neptune Orbiter Stage, RIPPER will have midcourse correction capability. Three-and-a-half days later, RIPPER will land on the Moon without going into lunar orbit (Lunar-Direct Landing). RIPPER will spend several hours on the surface of the Moon collecting and storing samples before the RIPPER Earth Return Stage (ERS) is started. The ERS will launch the Earth Reentry Capsule (ERC) on an Earth Direct Trajectory (EDT). The ERC will have minimum midcourse correction capability (cold-gas thrusters). After reaching the Earth, the ERS will reenter the atmosphere on a Ballistic Return Trajectory, heat-shield forward. After slowing down, drogue chutes will stabilize the ERC until it drops to an altitude of a few thousand feet. At this point the ERC’s main parachute will be opened. The ERC will touch down on land in an unspecified unpopulated area. RIPPER's first stage will remain on the Moon carrying out photographic activity, and transmitting the pictures to Earth.
If you wish to reserve larger or smaller amounts of the lunar material, or if you have any questions, please contact IOS by phone, email, or post, at the address below: Telephone: 661.965.0771 Interorbital
Systems, P.O. Box 662, Mojave, CA 93502-0662
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