Space Prizes, Inc.

[alonzofyfe]

Space Prizes, Inc.<br /><br />Space, Prizes, Inc., does not actually exist. It is an idea that I had a few years back, that I thought I would throw out, just to see what happens to it.<br /><br />In the areana of private space missions, each company has had ideas on how it would make money. Some are specific to the mission -- such as selling the material gathered by a lunar sample return mission. Others have a broader use, such as carrying signatures or pages on disks, ashes from the deceased, or DNA out into space for safe keeping.<br /><br />The problem with all of these plans is that the customer has to invest in a specific mission. As one company after another has stepped forward and then faded away, this has proved exceptionally risky.<br /><br />The idea of Space Prizes, Inc., is to collect money for these types of products, and then offer the money collected as a prize to whomever first accomplishes the mission.<br /><br />Note: I believe that SPI would function best as a non-profit organization. Its purpose is not to make money, but to help promote the development of space.<br /><br />To understand how SPI would work, here is an example.<br /><br />Let us say that there is interest in promoting a private lunar sample return mission. Part of the revenue from the mission would likely come from commemorative displays using some of the material brought back from the moon.<br /><br />Space Prizes, Inc., will design these commemorative displays and make them available for sale. Interested parties will then "purchase" their displays through a contribution to Space Prizes, Inc. SPI will then put the payment into a bank account. A certain percentage of this money (that which is not needed to actually manufacture the displays) will be paid to the first team that can bring back enough lunar material to create the displays and send them off to the purchasers.<br /><br />Individuals or campanies can also purchase lunar material by bulk using this method. If a watch company, for example, w

 

[alonzofyfe]

Part II:<br /><br />Well, my first submission did not seem to generate any great amounts of hostility, so let me try adding a few details.<br /><br />Let me take one possible space prize and add some details to how it works.<br /><br />The Lunar Sample Return Prize. The purpose of this project is to collect money and put it into a bank account that will be available to the first company that delivers lunar material to the organization that hosts this prize.<br /><br />Now, let's set it up.<br /><br />I like to keep things very simple, and add complexity later on -- if the project warrants it. If the project fails, at least it fails with the least investment of time and energy.<br /><br />"Simple", in this case, means starting with a single product. SPI commissions the design of a collectable that will ultimately include, let us assume, 0.1 grams of lunar material.<br /><br />On this, we have to have some idea of the price of the mission. Recognizing that lunar samples will not be expected to pay for the whole mission -- contestants will also be expected to pick up revenue from other sources.<br /><br />So, perhaps SPI offers a cast modeled after the picture of Buzz Aldrin's footprint for Apollo 11, with genuine lunar material taking the place of a small stone that appears in that picture.<br /><br />I am going to assume (just for the sake of argument) that the casts will cost $50 each to create and ship to the customer. This price will change with time and quantity, but we only need an estimate to start.<br /><br />SPI then makes an offer: For a $275 contribution to SPI, the contributor will get one of these casts once they are made available.<br /><br />The money counts as a contribution to SPI. This makes it tax-deductible.<br /><br />SPI takes $25 off of the top to cover its own expenses. This is establishing the account, lawyer fees, advertising, and the like.<br /><br />The remaining $250 is placed in an account.<br /><br />SPI announces that, whoever delivers lunar material to the organi

 

[kdavis007]

How would you feel about a Mars Prize???

 

[alonzofyfe]

If Space Prizes, Inc., actually existed, or somebody wanted to use this idea with respect to Mars, then I can think of two prizes to offer.<br /><br />(1) Mars Sample Return<br /><br />• Interested individuals would donate $1,100 to the organization setting up the prize. Note: This is a donation to the organization. It is not a payment for a good or service. It is not a purchase. There is no hope of the person paying the money getting the money back. This is a donation to the organization.<br /><br />• The organization takes $50 for operational expenses, plus $50 in an account to cover expenses once the prize is awarded, and, finally, $1,000 in a bank account.<br /><br />• The organization promises the contents of this bank account to whomever can deliver to the organization 0.1 carat weight of Martian material for each $1,000 deposited into the account.<br /><br />This material will be delivered to the owner unmounted -- a raw sample of 0.1 gram of martian material. The recipient can then decide on any mounting they want available.<br /><br />Or, after the samples are delivered, the organization can offer to have the material mounted on a ring, necklace, or any of a small number of collector's items that the owner picks out, for a small additional fee.<br /><br /><br />(2) Private Manned Mission to Mars<br /><br />• Norsam Technologies (http://www.norsam.com/hdrosetta.htm), has a service where they can etch pages on a metal disk. They can fit up to 18,000 pages (8.5" x 11") on a 2" square disk. These etchings are readable through a sufficiently large microscope.<br /><br />• For each $10.00 contribution to the organization, the organization will give the contributor 1 column inch (assuming four 1.75-inch wide columns per page with appropriate spacing between columns) to write a personal message.<br /><br />• The organization will collect the material to etch onto these pages, and keep them in a secure location (e.g., as PDF files on a computer).<br /><br />• Any organization that seeks t

 

[dan_casale]

AlonzoFyfe:<br />I like it. Well thought out, and workable. The amount of the prize might be to small to be workable. Using the XPRIZE as a model, the $30 million prize generated about $100 million of effort (spaceshipone and whiteknight). I would think that the prize would need to be between $100,000 - $1 million per gram to be feasable.<br /><br />For Apollo missions: 1, 7, 8. 9, 10, which didn't reach the lunar surface, have parts crafted by the Franklin mint that assemble into a complete Saturn V rocket. 1 - first stage, 7 - second stage, 8 - third stage, 9 - command module, 10 - LEM, 11 - foot print base, 12 - Lunar rover, 13 - Astronauts, 14 thru 17 - mission equipment. Anyone who purchases the complete set will be offered a replica of the sample return hardware with a piece of real lunar soil, when the mission happens. <br /><br /><br />

 

[alonzofyfe]

Dan_Casale<br /><br />I cannot say how much money would be raised for a prize in this type of system.<br /><br />However, as I argued, this system has several advantages over many existing proposals. The main advantage is that no contribution is lost. Any dollar a person spends is a dollar that will go to promoting the mission that the prize is associated with.<br /><br />This leads to another advantage -- people get to contribute to the missions that interest them. There is a dispute, for example, as to whether we should focus on the moon or Mars. A set of prizes associated with each would allow individuals who are fans of each program contribute to promoting the missions that interest them. This could actually exploit the disagreements between different groups -- as Mars enthusiasts and Moon enthusiasts compete to promote their favorite option.<br /><br />Though I do not know how much money such a system would raise, I do think that it would raise far more money, far faster, than existing systems that tie contributions to specific missions that may or may not fly.<br /><br /><br />Your estimated prices for a lunar sample return mission seem about accurate. As you point out, we are talking about a prize, and the prize money need not cover the full cost of the mission. The people who perform the mission will have other revenue sources to draw upon. However, it does have to pay enough that it actually helps the mission rather than harms it. Towards that end, I think the prices you mention are in the ballpark.<br /><br />As for the details (e.g., the collectables), ultimately, if the project is expensive as the Franklin Mint option would be, I would trust professional marketers to do the work. Certainly, the Franklin Mint itself has its own methods for determining what type of collectables would sell. Though, I am certain that they would be open to suggestions.<br /><br />Note: I would make one switch: the Apollo 12 mission would contain instruments and the Apollo 15 would include t