The Google Lunar XPRIZE, and Offerings for the Moon

Moon Dance

Have you heard of the Google Lunar XPRIZE? XPRIZE is a foundation that creates incentivized prize competitions "to bring about radical breakthroughs for the benefits of humanity, thereby inspiring the formation of new industries and the revitalization of markets." Google created its Lunar XPRIZE to stimulate a grassroots generation of low-cost space exploration and entrepreneurship. Thirty privately-funded teams from all over the world have entered the race, which requires extreme feats of engineering. To win, the teams must create a spacecraft that can escape the Earth's gravity, travel 400,000 miles on a precise trajectory toward the Moon, slow down at just the right moment to enter its orbit, and successfully touch down on the Moon's surface. Then the robotic craft must travel 500 meters, and initiate a "mooncast" to deliver new images back to Earth. The winner gets 30 million dollars.

Planetariums across the country recently began showing Back to the Moon for Good, a film about the Google Lunar XPRIZE that chronicles our interface with the Moon, and proposes future scenarios of space enterprise. Tim Allen narrates this film, which features an epic musical score and over-the-top graphics that echo a prize so big they put it in CAPS. The film evokes a mix of inspiration and exasperation. On the one hand, it fosters awe of space as a frontier and of our technological capabilities. On the other, it propels a shortsighted and hyper-masculine approach to exploration.

While Back to the Moon for Good does not necessarily speak for the 30 teams that have applied for the prize, the film itself advocates a new colonialism. Colonialism differs from co-existence in that it depends on a set of unequal relationships. The film starts by listing the resources available on the Moon--water, aluminum, iron, gold, platinum--and explains how they "can help us out." Another scene shows the investigative missile L-Cross crashing headlong into a deep crater to see if the Moon has water. (It does.) The film says we can use this water to breathe, grow food, and make fuel. The film then presents the debris we have left on the Moon as "relics" for the delight of future astronauts. As sophisticated as our wreckage might be, it is essentially garbage. Not only does the film skew the way we perceive our impact on the Moon, but it suggests that we have no plans to clean it up.

Respectful space exploration is not a new idea. Senior research scientist Margaret Race of the SETI Institute has made it her mission to protect the planets. She especially likes to work with people to "develop materials about complex, controversial issues in space exploration and environmental protection." Work like this is crucial because no one has jurisdiction over the Moon or the planets, so we must cooperate globally to create policies that ensure respect.

The Moon enables our very existence, so a simple acknowledgement of reciprocity seems only natural. Our ancestors have honored the Moon for millennia. Attention to symbolism does not undermine scientific advancement, but rather allows us to participate with greater respect and awareness. Historically, anthropocentrism has yielded destruction and depletion on massive scales. We already know the outcome of this narrative. I do not mean to detract from the glory of outward expansion or scientific discovery. Respect and discovery go hand-in-hand, as do sustainability and entrepreneurship.

Think of it this way: When we go to someone's house, we show up with a gift. So far, our modern exchanges with the Moon have been to stake a claim on it, leave our trash on its surface, drill into its crust, and bomb it with a two-ton kinetic weapon. Talk about heavy-handed. Where is our finesse? When we broaden our sense of life to include all elements of a whole system, we understand that our actions on the Moon initiate a cascade of measures in the system's attempt to self-regulate. How much do we want to tinker with the Earth's satellite?

Without a doubt, we demonstrate respect for the Moon by devoting years of effort and expertise to exploring it. But this is not enough. We have the opportunity to give back. Giving is the highest form of innovation. What better way to express the playful generosity of our genius than to literally bring an offering to the Moon? It is the gesture itself that changes the story.

I would like to invite the participants of the Google Lunar XPRIZE to create a new narrative by answering some or all of the following questions, which will positively alter your course for the Moon. Replies can be sent to offeringsforthemoon@gmail.com, and will be published upon receipt. This is a great way to generate enthusiasm and funding for your team.

1. How would you like to show respect for the Moon in a way that gives, rather than takes?

2. If you could bring an offering to the Moon from your culture, what would you choose, and how would you deliver it?

3. How can you build respect for the Moon into your design?

4. a) How do you propose, theoretically or actually, to retrieve your craft after it has fulfilled its purpose? b) How can we reduce our impact on current and future space expeditions?

5. How can you show respect for the Moon another way, here on Earth or out in space?

I propose that XPRIZE modify its mission to benefit not only humanity, but life as a whole. The final images of Back to the Moon for Good give the film's title an ominous ring. We see a lunar surface littered with buildings, cars, satellites, and settlements, expressions of our drive to "gather resources to help us live and work, or explore further." The Google Lunar XPRIZE entices us with a new frontier, and offers us a choice in how we explore it. An offering for the Moon may seem like one small step, but it is a giant leap for humankind.