NASA requests proposals from private companies for lunar experiments

Ars Technica : On 1 November NASA released a request for information (RFI) for a “Small Lunar Surface Payload” program. The RFI asks companies to propose small payloads of scientific experiments that could be delivered to the Moon between 2017 and 2020. The experiments should address what the agency considers to be “strategic knowledge gaps,” such as the availability of water resources and the effect of the lunar environment on human life. NASA hopes to partner those small payloads with low-cost private rocket launches.