Although the $1 billion scheme is a fantasy (it's an old canard in the space
business called "trolling for billionaires"), there is a good chance that a
much smaller program ($65 million) will pass the 103rd Congress. This is the
Back to the Moon bill, put together by the people who passed the Launch
Services Purchase Act. The bill would incent private companies to develop
lunar orbiters, with vendors selected on the basis of competitive bidding.
There is an aggregate cap on the bids of $65 million.
 
Having a single rich individual paying billions for lunar missions is probably
worse than having the government bankroll a $65 million program, as the Delta
Clipper program has shown (DC-X was funded by SDIO at $59 million). We have a
clear chance of making a lunar mission happen in this decade - as opposed to
simply wishing for our dreams to come true. Please support the Back to the
Moon bill.
 
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address.