Moon Express and FAA Are Still Talking About A Moon Mission

U.S. Set to Approve Moon Mission by Commercial Space Venture, WS Journal (subscription)
“U.S. officials appear poised to make history by approving the first private space mission to go beyond Earth’s orbit, according to people familiar with the details.”
Moon Express Becomes First Private Company in History to Initiate a Commercial Lunar Mission Approval Process with the US Government, Moon Express (earlier post, April 2016)
“Today, Moon Express made history as the first private space company to request the U.S government to conduct a payload review of its spacecraft and plans leading to regulatory approval of a commercial mission to the Moon in 2017. Moon Express initiated the review process through a submission to the Federal Aviation Administration Office of Commercial Space Transportation (FAA AST), bringing the company another important step closer to the Moon.”
Keith’s note: There is no “news” in this Wall Street Journal article since Moon Express announced the ongoing interactions with FAA back in April – and they are still ongoing – and everyone knows that they are ongoing. So the news seems to be the use of the word “appear” except that was obvious several months ago as well.