Space telescope raises $1 million in funding from Kickstarter

The Guardian : Crowdfunding is a growing option for scientists who are looking to finance a project. Planetary Resources, from Bellevue, Washington, turned to Kickstarter to help fund a space-based telescope that they will make accessible to donors. The campaign hit its $1 million goal with more than a week to go. Incentives included pictures of donor-chosen images, taken from the telescope and displayed on a smartphone with Earth in the background, and high definition pictures taken by the telescope of any celestial object of the donor’s choice. Over 12 800 people donated to the campaign, and other backers of the company include Google’s Larry Page and Eric Schmidt and billionaire Ross Perot Jr. The company’s final goal is to prospect and mine asteroids; the telescope, which they’ve dubbed Arkyd, will be their first tool for identifying potential asteroid targets.