Japanese beverage maker Otsuka is preparing to launch a can of its powdered sports drink to the moon, making it the first ad on the lunar surface. Companies that can’t afford to hire rovers to gently place products on the moon have another option: a less-precise maneuver called “trans-lunar injection” that simply launches an object from Earth’s orbit in the moon’s direction.
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According to CNBC, Pocari Sweat claims that their goal for the can is for a, “modern-day child to someday become an astronaut and eventually drink its contents”.
Though Pocari Sweat has etched its name as the first advertiser on Moon, it won’t be the last as companies including SpaceX and Astrobotic are expecting more such orders and some may even go to the moon alongside Pocari Sweat. SpaceX believes that the money for advertising on the moon is going to start pouring in. Astrobotic, which designed the rover, told GlobalPost that its major funding for rover missions will not be drawn from ads, but that it anticipates “numerous opportunities for marketing on the moon from corporate sponsorship, educational and inspirational marketing opportunities”. According to details from SpaceX, the company charges somewhere around $1.2 million per kilo of cargo delivered to the moon. To put it into space for future use, they have had to design it into a powder much like Kool Aid.
Recent discoveries have pointed to the existence of water on the Moon, however only half the challenge is finding it – the other half being to extract it from the lunar surface.
But the campaign isnt only about the beverage ad. Pocari Sweats space can will also play the role of a time capsule.
The “Lunar Dream” capsule will contain titanium plates engraved with messages submitted by people around the world, as well as a serving of powdered Pocari Sweat.
Mixing space and advertisement has been around for awhile. Pizza Hut came out with vacuum-sealed pizzas to deliver to the worldwide Space Station in 2001.
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Pocari Sweat is likely to have paid more for the service, and also bore the cost of having a special can designed to survive space.
