British unmanned Moon probe wins UK-NASA backing

By Tim Castle

LONDON (Reuters) - A plan for the first British-led mission to the Moon won the backing of an Anglo-American space committee on Friday.

The Joint Working Group on lunar exploration named the proposed unmanned MoonLITE launch as its primary mission for collaboration.

The 100 million pound launch would fire three or four darts carrying measuring instruments into the surface of the moon from an orbiting satellite.

Scientific data recorded by the darts would be transmitted up to the satellite and relayed back to Earth.

The working group brings together experts from America's NASA and Britain's space authority, the British National Space Centre (BNSC).

The recommendation was contained in the group's first report since its creation at a meeting in Washington last April.

The group aims to foster collaboration in space exploration between Britain and the United States.

"This joint report represents a milestone in our co-operation with NASA," said Professor Keith Mason, the chairman of the UK Space Board, the BNSC's governing body.