Private Enterprise to the Moon

American feet may walk the lunar soil once again. From Wired magazine:

The Private Plan to Put a Telescope on the Moon
Two private companies are teaming up to attempt the first-ever mission to the moon�s south pole in order to place a telescope atop a lunar mountain.

This plan is being spearheaded by the International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA), a non-profit aiming to build a scientific and commercial base on the moon, with help from the startup Moon Express, which hopes to become a Space Age version of FedEx in the coming decade.

The companies want to put a 2-meter radio antenna along with a smaller optical telescope on a lunar peak, most likely the 5-km-high rim of a crater called Malapert. From this position, both telescopes could view the center of our Milky Way galaxy with unprecedented clarity because they wouldn�t be subjected to our atmosphere�s hazy interference. The moon would also block them from radio and other electromagnetic noise created by modern civilization. Astronomers have long proposed putting similar telescopes on the moon�s far side � which faces permanently away from our planet � because the pictures could exceed anything produced by the best terrestrial or even space-based instruments.

Very cool -- because of the lack of atmosphere and low temperatures, a two-meter telescope would be a major instrument.