Lunar Mission One

There are some people who balk at the idea of spending millions to fire rockets into space but the misery-guts can't argue about the latest idea to pay a visit to the moon as it will be funded by donations from the public.
The plans are to land a robotic probe, Lunar Mission One, on the Moon in 10 years' time to survey the Moon's south pole to see if a human base can be set up in the future funded by £500m of donations by the public who in return will be able to have photos, text and their DNA included in a time capsule which will be buried under the lunar surface.
David Iron, who is leading the project, said he was setting up the initiative because governments were increasingly finding it difficult to fund space missions.
'Anyone in the world will be able to get involved for as little as just a few pounds. Lunar Mission One
will make a huge contribution to our understanding of the origins of our planet and the Moon' he explained.
For the next four years, funds will be received through contributions from the public, who will be able to buy digital storage space on the lander for their own personal text messages for £3, pictures for £10 and a videos will cost £200. The price of sending a hair sample will be around £50.
The lander will also contain a public digital archive of human history and science which will be compiled as a legacy which will survive even if our species becomes extinct.
The hook for many, including me, is that rather than just watching another mission, we are directly involved not just through funding but having a little piece of ourselves on another part of the Solar System.
This is a great idea and could be the future of space exploration and we won't have to listen to the moaners who would prefer the money be spent on improving rubbish collection or some such triviality rather than exploring possible alternative places for our species to live after we have trashed this planet so badly.