FLY ME TO THE MOONTHE Isle of Man may not rank alongside Cape Canaveral as a centre for space exploration – but Odyssey Moon wants to put the island on the star charts.
The company has hired Dr Alan Stern, a former associate a
dministrator and head of the science mission directorate at Nasa.
Odyssey Moon wants to win Google's $30 million (£15m) Lunar X Prize by becoming the first private company to land a robotic probe on the Moon.
Stern, who will work for Odyssey Moon on an exclusive part-time basis as its director of science missions, said: "I am a fan of public-private partnerships and building bridges to new markets.
"I believe we are on the verge of a whole new era of space exploration and that the private sector can provide reliable cost effective services that can increase the value and leverage government space budgets."
Odyssey Moon said it brings together international partners working in the aerospace, financial, science, education, legal and policy sectors.
Any bets on whether Costa or Starbucks will be the first to open a café on the Moon?
FACT OF THE DAY
80WITH Euro 2008 in full swing and the start of the 2008-9 season only weeks away, the number of football affinity building society (BS) accounts has risen to 80, according to
Moneyfacts.co.uk. Michelle Slade, an analyst at the website, said football affinity savings accounts work by donating money to the account-holder's club, usually around 1.25 per cent of the balance.
She said Dunfermline BS provides accounts for most of the Scottish teams.
KILLER QUOTEIT'S a brave man who would predict where we are in the cycle. I would say there is some comfort from the fact our margins are stabilising"
Andy Hornby, head of HBOS, on whether we are at least at the beginning of the end of the banking credit crunch, as the bank formally launched its £4 billion rights issue
GOOD DAYSotheby'sTHE firm will auction a series of new works by controversial artist Damien Hirst, including one piece that is set to fetch up to £12 million. Hirst said he chose to sell his latest work in the auction room rather than the gallery because "the world's changing".
BAD DAY
BookiesLADBROKES yesterday revealed it had lost £5 million on Euro 2008 following the tournament's group stages. With 18 out of 24 favourites winning, the bookies' coffers are looking decidedly empty. Spokesman Robin Hutchison said Euro 2008 had been a "bloodbath so far".
The full article contains 432 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
