Paul Graham's Page

I am the Project Manager for the OpenLuna Foundation. The Open Luna Foundation aims to return mankind to the moon through private enterprise. Initial goals focus on a stepped program of robotic missions coupled with extensive public relations and outreach. Following these purely robotic missions, a short series of manned missions will construct a small, approximately 6 person settlement based on a location scouted by the robotic missions. This settlement will be open for anyone's use (private individuals to government agencies), provided they respect our ethical conduct and heritage policies. Most of the work on the missions is being done on the wiki found at openluna.org/wiki

The Open Luna Foundation takes a unique approach in that:

1. All aspects of the mission plan and hardware will be open source. This information will be publicly available and community support and involvement will be actively pursued and welcomed. Special efforts will be made to involve students, educational facilities, and amateur space enthusiasts.
2. A strong media presence will be a priority. The entertainment and educational potential of the mission will be exploited to allow the mission to reach the maximum number of people possible. This furthers the educational potential of the mission, provides publicity for sponsors (which will encourage support for future missions), and demonstrates to people that this is possible in the present and inspires the next generation to continue and exceed these mission goals.
3. Mission hardware will be light and geared toward continuity from one mission to future missions. This will save costs and simplify the mission and hardware development. Superfluous hardware will be removed from missions and each component will be made in the lightest fashion possible. This may create initial complications, but it will balance out over the span of the program. Risk levels will be assessed and considered to balance risk with the cost of safety to the ability of the mission to continue forward. Much like an Alpine expedition, moderate risks will be acceptable in favor of exploration.
4. Access to all scientific data and acceptance of outside research proposals will be encouraged.