Making Money on the Moon
Billionaire Naveen Jain, co-founder and chairman of Moon Express Inc., wants to put a mine on the moon. With the end of the Space Shuttle program (and thus the end of NASA's subsidized roll in space
transportation,) Jain sees new opportunities for private enterprise in space according to FoxNews.com:
"The end of the shuttle program wasn't the end of the moon mission, it was simply passing the baton from the public to the private sector," Jain told FoxNews.com.
He believes it will cost a pittance—under a hundred million dollars—to go back to the moon.
"There's a tremendous amount of waste in the government. Private companies can do things better," he said.
Jain's company would purchase private space transportation from companies filling the vacuum left by the death of the shuttle. The company would then mine the titanium, platinum, and helium 3 found in abundance on the moon, which Jain claimed would be relatively inexpensive compared to the "pittance" it would cost to get there.