Moon Express在上周迎來了一個具有獨特里程碑意義的時刻——該公司成為首家獲得美國政府批準(zhǔn)執(zhí)行月球探測任務(wù)的私人公司。公司有哪些外太空服務(wù)計劃？為希望把月球作為最終安息之所的人，將遺體運往太空。

公司聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人兼董事長內(nèi)維恩·簡對《紐約郵報》（New York Post）表示，將骨灰運往月球的費用為每公斤300萬美元，這意味著將一個普通人的遺骸運往月球，費用在500萬至800萬美元之間。雖然價格高昂，但這項服務(wù)卻有極高的需求。簡對《紐約郵報》表示：“我們已經(jīng)有一個很長的清單。”

Moon Express的星際野心，不止限于殯葬服務(wù)。公司將在明年啟動首次探月任務(wù)，屆時將向月球發(fā)送一臺機器人探測器。這臺探測器將在月球上行駛至少500米，并拍攝高清視頻傳送回地球，作為Moon Express競爭谷歌月球X大獎（Google Lunar X Prize）的一部分。該獎項的金額最高為2,000萬美元。

公司最終的計劃包括月球資源采礦，如稀土元素和其他可能有價值的礦物等，這些礦物可以在地球上加工使用。

Moon Express聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人兼CEO鮑勃·理查斯在聲明中表示：“我們現(xiàn)在可以以探險者的身份，自由地向地球的第八塊大陸月球揚帆起航，尋找新的知識與資源，擴大地球的經(jīng)濟范圍，為全人類謀福利。”理查斯還指出在月球上開采水資源的可能性，稱水是“太陽系的石油”（但目前仍無法確定月球上是否有水存在）。

近幾年，私人太空競賽日益激烈，其中尤以埃隆·穆斯克的SpaceX最為突出。該公司希望實現(xiàn)火箭回收再利用，進而大幅降低發(fā)射成本，在太空競賽中取得領(lǐng)先。（財富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：劉進龍/汪皓

Moon Express reached a unique milestone last week when it became the first private company to be cleared for a mission to the moon by the U.S. government. Among its plans for outer space services? Taking human remains into the final frontier for those who want to make the moon their final resting spot.

Company co-founder and chairman Naveen Jain told the New York Post that the cost of shuttling your ashes to the moon will run a cool $3 million per kilogram, which means taking a typical human’s remains would cost somewhere between $5 million and $8 million. And despite the price, demand is high. “We already have a long list,” Jain told the Post.

Moon Express’ astral ambitions go far beyond burial services. The company’s first lunar mission will launch next year and will dispatch a robotic probe to the moon. There, the probe will have to travel at least 500 meters and beam HD video back to Earth as part of Moon Express’ bid to win the Google Lunar X Prize -0.21% , which tops out at $20 million.

The firm’s eventual plans involve mining lunar resources like rare earth elements and other potentially valuable minerals which can then be processed for use on Earth.

“We are now free to set sail as explorers to earth’s eighth continent, the Moon, seeking new knowledge and resources to expand the Earth’s economic sphere for the benefit of all humanity,” said Moon Express co-founder and CEO Bob Richards in a statement. Richards also pointed to the possibility of mining water on the moon, calling it “the oil of the solar system” (although it’s still not quite clear if water definitely exists on the moon).

The private space race has been heating up in recent years with notable efforts like Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which is seeking to break ahead of the pack by reusing previously launched rockets and thus dramatically cutting launch costs.