Moon Rock Merchandising

Clark Lindsey

Lunar materials can be used, if marketed correctly, to fund a good portion of the Artemis Project. The value of lunar materials in a marketing campaign selling various products, such as small slabs of moon rock, could be estimated as high as $50M/kg. Clearly, importing a mere 100 kg, even with a more conservative estimate of $10M or less per kg, could amount to a substantial sum.

Important brainstorming has been conducted to study the possible applications of lunar materials in merchandising.

Moon dust:

1. Lunar additives in glazes for coffee mugs and other ceramics. A little bit of lunar material can coat an entire mug cheaply
2. Accents for crafts and artworks: "Fine terrestrial glassware (bridal registry quality or prestige barware) with etching like patterns made with lunar fines. Decorative mirrors, clock faces..."
3. Paints mixed with moon dust for use in space art paintings, for example
4. Additives to commercial collectables, e.g., a few micrograms added to Franklin Mint Star Trek plates and chess pieces, Star Wars toy figures, etc.
5. Very thin compressed disks (5-50 micron thick, 1 cm square) encapsulated in plastic and displayed on plaques and other displays for the low price range ($20-200).
6. Highlights for jewelry, watch faces, etc.
7. Ingredients (assuming FTC, FDA, etc. approval) in makeup, facial creams, tonics, etc.

Moon rock:

1. Very thin fragments ( < mm range) encapsulated in glass and displayed on plaques and other displays and sold in the medium price range ($200-$2,000).
2. Pebble size stones, possibly suspended in glass, sold for the high price range ($2,000-$20,000).
3. Stones sold for the very high price range (>$200,000), e.g., to museums, etc.
4. Jewelry and souvenirs made with pieces ranging from small fragments to polished stones.

Some Questions:

1. How big a market really exists for raw moon materials? Will enough people pay enough money for small amounts of moon materials to make a substantial contribution to the Artemis Project costs?
2. Do you go for the high-end market and concentrate on selling a few large pieces? Or go for a mass-market approach with extremely small amounts per package, at the risk of devaluing the wonder and excitement of owning a part of the moon?
3. Most agree that there will be a big market initially, but will the interest be sustained? Will the supply quickly outpace demand?
4. How to prevent counterfeiting? Are (expensive?) chemical certifications required? For stones and fragments, are "fingerprint" pictures and serial numbers on file sufficient?
5. Will potential investors be impressed by the near-certainty of at least one product area contributing to the initial cash flow?