US Firm Moon Express Unveils Lunar Lander Plan

On Thursday, the American private company Moon Express unveiled its MX-1 lunar lander plan. The size of MX-1 is equivalent to a coffee table. The company's CEO and co-founder Bob Richards said that MX-1 is like a space iPhone that can accomplish different tasks through different apps, and its core mission is to explore resources needed by humans. MX-1 uses hydrogen peroxide and solar energy as power sources, while its afterburner chamber uses kerosene to meet the power needs for escaping Earth's gravity and deceleration when approaching the lunar surface. Since water molecules have been discovered on the moon, the company plans to search for ice on the lunar surface as a possible fuel for hydrogen peroxide rockets. The MX-1 is the first in a series of lunar rovers, with a planned moon landing in 2015.