Governor Tom Wolf Tours Astrobotic, Which Aims To Launch First-Ever Commercial Mission To Moon
PITTSBURGH (KDKA )-- Governor Tom Wolf was in Pittsburgh to see a company with plans to leave the planet later this year.
Astrobotic is a cutting-edge company in our own backyard that is pushing the frontiers of space. It's located on the North Side, but its destination is the Moon.
On Wednesday, Governor Wolf and reporters got a behind-the-scenes look at what aims to be the first commercial expedition to land on the moon. About 150 mechanical engineers, roboticists and computer scientists -- primarily from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh -- are designing and assembling a lunar lander to land on the moon surface later this year, making millions of calculations to make sure they pull it off.
"When we fly, it's going to be pretty dicey but very exciting," said Astrobotic CEO John Thornton.
The mission is primarily scientific, but Thornton says the company will be taking personal poems, artworks and mementos from the public. They will be stored on tiny SIM cards in a cylindrical "Moon Box" as its payload.
"It really changes the way we look at the moon," Thornton said. "Instead of something that is in the night sky that seems so far away, well there's a piece of my story on the moon."
The state has contributed about $700,000 in grants and tax credits for the construction of the building and the development of jobs, but it's primarily funded by $325 million in grants from NASA, which will help underwrite future missions.
"Pittsburgh used to be the city of steel," Wolf said. "It's now the city of advanced manufacturing of AI and now the moon shot."
Governor Wolf said Astrobotic and companies like it are the region's future. Thornton plans to put a lunar lander on the roof of the building in view of nearby Heinz Field for the national television football audience to see.
Astrobotic's partners will launch the lander into space from Florida later this year, and the lander's boosters rockets will do the rest.