( CNN ) -- Robert Richards ' love affair with the stars began when he was just a child . `` I 'm an orphan of Apollo ; I grew up with the Star Trek generation , '' he says . Bob Richards : Aiming for the Moon . Richards was just one of many children left wide-eyed and inspired by the moon landings . But for him , they were a false start . `` I had this enormous expectation that I would have an experience in space . It just did n't happen , '' Richards says . Man stepped on the moon , but only to prove a point . `` We faltered , '' he explains . `` We did n't continue our operations on the moon ; we did n't go to Mars . '' Now , Richards and his colleagues are bringing their childhood dreams to life , as part of the burgeoning NewSpace movement , which has sparked a renaissance in space exploration . The children of the moon landings have grown up : they now hold the positions of power to make their dreams come alive . `` They want to make the world of 'Star Trek , ' of '2001 , ' and now ... they 're in charge of NASA , they 're in charge of the private companies , and they 're making it happen , '' he explains . Richards says his path to the stars was `` inevitable . '' Inspired by science fiction authors like his friend , Arthur C. Clarke , visionaries like Carl Sagan and movies like `` 2001 : A Space Odyssey , '' he studied aerospace and industrial engineering at Ryerson University , then physics and astronomy at the University of Toronto , before moving to Cornell to study space science , where he became special assistant to Sagan . Now , Richards is the ringleader behind Odyssey Moon , a company formed on the Isle of Man to pursue commercial ventures on the moon . The team were the first to enter the Lunar X prize , a Google-sponsored competition with a $ 20million jackpot for the first privately funded team to land a robotic spacecraft on the moon and send images and data back to Earth . But the X Prize is not Richards ' only goal . He thinks that there are fortunes to be made in space -- and he plans to be the first lunar entrepreneur . `` We believe that beyond the prize , there 's actually ongoing commerce on the surface of the moon , '' he reveals . Innovation and collaboration , both important drivers in the Odyssey Moon team , are the key to humanity 's future , believes Richards . `` Space , by its nature , is an international endeavour , '' he says . `` Every space program will be successful based on the amount of international cooperation it 's able to achieve . '' With that in mind , in 1987 he founded the International Space University , which educates students from all over the world in space technology . `` We 're creating a universal planetary culture looking on space as an achievement and a goal for all humanity . '' For now , Richards ' sights are set on the moon . `` The Google X Prize has certainly captivated my enthusiasm and interest , and I would certainly like to win that , '' he says . But he also sees Earth 's satellite as a stepping stone to the stars . He confesses , `` If somebody was going to offer an X Prize for Mars , I 'd be going for that ... ''
As a boy , Richards was inspired by the moon landings and science fiction . But his childhood expectations failed to be realized as the space race cooled . He became an engineer at NASA in 1958 after graduating from high school. Richards is aiming for the moon -- and confesses Mars is tempting ...