A joint moon mission by NASA and the British National Space Center has gone past the planning stages and is now in construction. Called the Moon Lightweight Interior and Telecoms Experiment, Moonlite for short, the unmanned mission will fire rockets at the moon's surface from orbit to check seismic activity, density, and investigate the core.
Planned for a 2010 launch, the mission will be under the joint control of both space agencies. Data received will be jointly shared and analyzed.
As part of the construction will take place in Great Britain, it is assured that the machines will leak oil and have to stop daily for tea.
The American contribution will include running billions of dollars over budget, requiring corporate sponsorship, and probably missing the moon's surface on the first launch.
