Great Moments in Space Entrepreneurship: "Shadow Advertising" on the Moon

Other blogs have noticed the dubious, Dr. Evil-ish proposal to carve advertisements into the surface dust of the moon. During the moon's partial phases, the advertisements would be visible from Earth:

If you're interested, the logo of your choice could go lunar for as little as the minimum $46,000 bid. (Hurry! Bidding started two days ago.)

Dig a little deeper into the website for "Moon Publicity, LLC," and you'll see that they've put some thought into the longer-term implications of scraping the Nike Swish into the Sea of Tranquility. Specifically, it will save us all from the coming mass extinction:

Space travel is more than just footprints and flags; it is vital to our survival. Just as we back up hard drives in case they crash, we need to back up mankind on other worlds.

Who will do it? Governments? Forty years ago man walked on the Moon. Where have we walked since? It is time that we find a way. Creating images on the Moon provides a commercial incentive for turbo charging space travel technology. Shadows are only the beginning. These advancements will eventually place robots on other worlds building space stations and planting crops.

The full Moon will always be the same. Shadow Shaping only works during partial phases of the Moon using shadows that blend with its natural beauty. If shadows form a logo during a quarter moon, it will be a small price to pay for saving mankind.

It's almost enough to bring a tear to the eye, isn't it? Carve away, gentle heroes. Carve away.

In Reason, Ron Bailey recently wrote about going back to the moon, and how it won't be permanent until it's profitable.