Team aims to pierce moon with Evangelion’s Spear of Longinus

Hakuto, Japan’s first civilian team that aims to send an unmanned lunar expedition, announced that it is providing technical assistance to the “Project to Pierce the Moon With the Spear of Longinus” on Friday. The “Project to Pierce the Moon With the Spear of Longinus Committee” unveiled its plans as part of the 20th anniversary of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime. Hakuto is the only team from Japan competing for the Google Lunar XPRIZE.

The project aims to recreate (with real-world contraints) the scene in the anime where the Evangelion Unit-00 hurls the Spear of Longinus, which eventually lands on the lunar surface. The crowd-funding site Readyfor is hosting a campaign to raise 100 million yen (about US$1 million) in funds necessary to accomplish this goal. The campaign runs until April 5.

If the campaign meets its goal, a 240-millimeter (9.4-inch) spear will launch aboard a spacecraft from America between the end of 2015 and the end of 2016. Supporters will receive exclusiveillustrations, t-shirts, replicas of the spear, spears forged by swordsmiths, and other rewards.