Talossa on the Moon

[Sir Alexandreu Davinescu]

Bam, Zoom.... Straight to the Moon!

There is a rumor that Napoleon, amidst conquering Europe and battling the assembled armies of the western world, once journeyed to the Normandy coast and looked sadly out to the western sea, weeping. One of his generals approached him cautiously, saying, "Emperor, why do you weep?"

Napoleon turned away from the waters and replied bitterly to his general, "I may tumble down the nations of Europe, but I look west and imagine dread Talossa... and I dare not tempt her wrath. Such is her might, she might pull the moon from the sky."

Today we have the opportunity to make this rumor (that surprisingly has only recently come to light) a true one, and bring the moon to reside with us in our demesne. Proud Talossa has the opportunity to sponsor a leading competitor in the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge: the Laramie Rose, built by prospective and future citizen Robert Steinke and named after his wife and Talossan citizen Mollie Roselle Steinke.

Our goal is $250 first, for a 6" by 3" sticker, and eventually $500 for a 12" by 6" sticker. This sticker, a bold Talossan flag and URL, will betoken the lander as being sponsored by the people and government on a mission to conquer the moon. Donate today, and prove the fears of Napoleon and the hopes of our people correct!

Visit the relevant page (www.kingdomoftalossa.net/index.cgi?lingo=&page=lunar) to find the Donate button, and donate today!

Also, we are now introducing the TALOSSAN LUNAR BOOSTERS program, wherein your generosity will be acknowledged and praised before the nation! Please be aware that these are not honours, and merit no initials or the like. They are just the pride of a grateful nation for her gracious children, and will be given out of respect for total donations at the end of the drive.

STÁN LEVEL DONORS are those who have given $10 or less. Since every little bit helps, this is still nothing to sneeze at.
ËRXHËNT LEVEL DONORS are those who have given $11 to $35, a very worthy donation to the bright-shining cause of Talossan space exploration.
OR LEVEL DONORS are those who have given $36 or more, truly exemplary donors. For individuals who give far above even this standard, they will be honored appropriately.

[Hooligan]

The Prime Minister applauds his Minister of Stuff, looks forward to the fruition of this project, and contributes $25.

Hooligan

[King John]

I'm in for $25. Woo-hoo! Cool beans!

— John R

[Breneir Itravilatx]

I pledge $35. Do we know where the intended landing site is?

[Capt. Sir Mick Preston]

Mare Imbrium ... no...

Mare Vaporum.... hmm... nooo


Mare Insularum ?


I know, I know!

We'll call it -


Máre Talossán

[Sir Alexandreu Davinescu]

Thank you to the King, who has donated so swiftly that his payment is already clearing. And thank you to the Seneschal and S:reu Tzaracomprada, who have pledged respectable amounts as well. S:reu Tzaracomprada, the lander is actually going to be demonstrating lunar technology, as opposed to flying to the moon itself. If we raise sufficient funds to be a "sponsor", we will actually receive a share of the prize funds in the inevitable triumph.

Think, Talossa: imagine the bright machinery of a triumphant lander, being awarded the X-prize in their categories, with the stark green-and-red emblazoned upon its side!

[Hooligan]

Bob can definitely tell us more about it, but the vehicle is participating in the Lunar Lander X Prize Challenge, so its current landing site is somewhere in Arizona (I think), close to the place where it takes off. The rules of the Challenge, which is held annually in October (I think) are that the vehicle must carry a specific payload, ascend to a specific height, hover there for a specific time, descend and land softly, and then repeat this a second time after refueling (and making repairs, using only any tools on board the vehicle). The X Prizes are meant to drive private industry into space. The first X Prize Challenge -- the creation of a private vehicle that travelled out of the atmosphere and into the expanse of space, and repeated the feat a second time -- was won a few years ago after many years of attempts by numerous companies. We Talossans are proud to stand behind Bob's Lunar Lander Challenge entry in its attempt to bring the prize home this coming October.

Hooligan

[Dréu Gavárþic'h]

mick said:

Mare Imbrium ... no...

Mare Vaporum.... hmm... nooo


Mare Insularum ?


I know, I know!

We'll call it -


Máre Talossán

This is great! If we receive a share of the prize money that would mean we could actually maybe "launch" (hehe) the coin project!

[Sir Alexandreu Davinescu]

We have hit $57.94 confirmed donations, already over a fifth of the way there on the first day of the drive! And we are now introducing the TALOSSAN LUNAR BOOSTERS program, wherein your generosity will be acknowledged and praised before the nation. Please be aware that these are not honours, and merit no initials or the like. They are just the pride of a grateful nation for her gracious children.

STÁN LEVEL DONORS are those who have given $10 or less. Since every little bit helps, this is still nothing to sneeze at.
ËRXHËNT LEVEL DONORS are those who have given $11 to $35, a very worthy donation to the bright-shining cause of Talossan space exploration.
OR LEVEL DONORS are those who have given $36 or more, truly exemplary donors. For individuals who give far above even this standard, they will be honored appropriately.

[Owen Edwards]

I'm in for 60USD.

[Dréu Gavárþic'h]

owenfsf said:

I'm in for 60USD.

That's no fair! It's only 30 of your pounds

Three cheers for Owen!

[Sir Alexandreu Davinescu]

$115.30 total now confirmed! Very nice, keep it coming people! We are just shy of halfway there! And those of you who have pledged, make sure you actually get around to making the donation! Those of you who are underage and don't have a credit card or paypal account, ask your parents to use theirs or just take it but don't actually do that and the Kingdom of Talossa takes no responsibility for any actions that result.

[Dréu Gavárþic'h]

agbdavis said:

$115.30 total now confirmed! Very nice, keep it coming people! We are just shy of halfway there! And those of you who have pledged, make sure you actually get around to making the donation! Those of you who are underage and don't have a credit card or paypal account, ask your parents to use theirs or just take it but don't actually do that and the Kingdom of Talossa takes no responsibility for any actions that result.

Damn... maybe I should read the whole post before I do things! Ouch!

[Sir Alexandreu Davinescu]

alexandreu said:

mick said:

Mare Imbrium ... no...

Mare Vaporum.... hmm... nooo


Mare Insularum ?


I know, I know!

We'll call it -


Máre Talossán

This is great! If we receive a share of the prize money that would mean we could actually maybe "launch" (hehe) the coin project!

We haven't advanced any in the past couple days, folks! Those of you who promised, make sure you actually do it! We have a long long way before we could get any prize money ($5,000), and if we even hope to get a sticker we need to pick up our game!

[Sir C. M. Siervicül]

I'll definitely be contributing something in the next couple of days.