Moon Express wants to send a rover to the Moon by 2017. The company hopes to win the Google x Lunar contest: 16 companies are currently competing for a $30 million prize for sending a privately funded vehicle to the moon. Moon Express is one of only two however to have already secured a launch contract and purchased a delivery rocket. It is currently constructing its vehicles for imminent departure. The permission for this project is currently tied up in a bundle of U.S. government regulations, at least until a permanent framework for this kind of venture is established.
But Moon Express does not simply want to have the glory of reaching the moon; it wants to be the first to lay claim to the territory and dig up profit. The company wants to begin mining the Moon for rare metals and elements buried in lunar rock.
Moon Express and its competitors wish to bring private enterprise to space -- capitalism for the stars. It is an expensive initiative with a high rate of risk, a risk compounded by considering the multiple problems that could arise from the tiniest mistakes in engineering. (The Hubble Space Telescope dilemma is still fresh in many minds as the classic example of an overlooked simple mistake costing millions of dollars and years to rectify.) However, if it proves feasible to land hardware on the Moon without any apparent damage, and if minerals can be readily extracted and transported by said hardware, then expect to see funding rise rapidly.
Logically, all this economic activity might correspond to a surge human activity. Outposts and colonies would have to be constructed for the workers overseeing the mining and transportation, which in turn would take years of planning and consume massive resources. If the plans of Moon Express come to fruition, lasting colonization of space is the natural step to safeguard the investment the company has placed in its ability to deliver these rare minerals. It is a big step into unknown territory. The worthiness of this undertaking is speculative. Many believe it is a waste of time and resources that could be better spent.
There's a reason Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, called space, "the final frontier." Like the sky and ocean before it, the black vastness of space is yet another challenge for humans to overcome. It captures our imagination in a way that most fiction cannot and stimulates our scientific creativity and curiosity beyond the apparently banal. It seems that if one views human progress as ever progressing, our involvement in space is the natural evolution of our civilization.
If such corporations lead the way, we should be cautious. Unregulated practices lead to exploitation, irreparably damaging environments. Our lessons on this planet have taught us that unchecked consumption of fossil fuels and other natural resources produces as many problems as it solves. A new economic age--one tailored to space activities rather than Earthly exploits--could bring benefits and detriments alike.
The current exorbitant expense of space travel renders many of these problems hypothetical, yet they will become very real if companies like Moon Express reach their goals. It's only a matter of time until take-off.