K
kelvin_zero
Guest
Who would donate $$$ for ISRU prizes?<br /><br />Im no Bill Gates, but I could be willing to donate say 1k/year myself. There are probably thousands of us that would send in $100.<br /><br />The real payback for this isnt from the research it would fund, but to encourage a moon fever with every university running a few graduate or undergraduate projects with simulated moondust or similar and the interest this would stimulate among everyone else in the department.<br /><br />Another valuable result would be the creation of a forum that clearly explains to the layperson what the current possible areas of research are, and the current status of each.<br /><br />This is what would personally draw me to donating:<br /><li> The money has to go entirely to the students, none (or some clearly stated and small fraction) to administration. Administration could be funded by advertising on the site etc. I dont want to fund another pretty website with Flash animations making exaggerated claims!<br /><li> I cant tell good science from bad, so it would have to be clearly endorsed by big names from NASA, reputable universities or similar.<br /><li> I'd want some choice on where the money went. For example there could be 10 distinct prizes each with their own pages, endorsed by different people providing arguments why this goal is so valuable and how it fits into the general scheme.<br /><li> The prizes I would personally donate to would have to feel very small scale while being an important gap towards (near) self-sufficient industry on the moon.<br /><li> Obviously I would like an indepth article on whoever wins the prize, and why.<br /><li> There has to be some sense of personal reward for my ego. My name is permanently listed somewhere, or perhaps my $100 donation earns me .001 shares in a company etc. Some sense of "Hey I was actually here" at this point in history which I think is an important one.<br /><br /><br />Are there any current candidate organisations for this that you can sugge</li></li></li></li></li></li>