moonshot

or moon shot

[ moon-shot ]

noun

1. the act or procedure of launching a rocket or spacecraft to the moon.
2. a very challenging and innovative project or undertaking:

   Technology companies are investing in moonshots that address the world’s greatest problems.

3. Baseball. a high-velocity home run in which the ball reaches an extraordinary height:

   What could be more exciting than a bases-clearing moonshot over the right field wall in the bottom of the eleventh inning?

adjective

1. relating to or noting a very challenging and innovative project or undertaking:

   His department takes moonshot ideas and brings them to reality.

moonshot

/ ˈmuːnˌʃɒt /

noun

1. the launching of a spacecraft, rocket, etc, to the moon

Word History and Origins

Origin of moonshot¹

An Americanism dating back to 1945–50 moonshot fordef 1; moon + shot ¹; the baseball sense, also capitalized as Moon shot, was named after Wallace Wade “Wally” Moon (1930–2018), U.S. baseball player, whose home run helped the Dodgers win the 1959 pennant

Example Sentences

The proposals included a “faculty research moonshot,” an award designed to encourage excellent research and attract top talent.

From New York Times

Organisers of the Earthshot Prize, which was first awarded in 2021, say they were inspired by former US president John F Kennedy's Moonshot project, which set scientists the challenge of getting astronauts to the moon and back safely.

From BBC

“It's like our moonshot. It's going to transform a lot of things,” says Yan Lavelle, a professor of vulcanology at the Ludvigs-Maximllian University in Munich, and who heads KMT’s science committee.

From BBC

“I do think that we probably need to recapture some of the spirit that we remember from the moonshot days” of the 1960s, he said.

From Los Angeles Times

New athletics facilities continue to sprout across campus as part of USC President Carol Folt’s “moonshot” plans for the university.

From Los Angeles Times