Google Lunar X Prize competition teams aiming for the Moon

Google Lunar X Prize competition teams aiming for the Moon

The final list of competitors for the robotic Moon explorer prize has been announced. The Google Lunar X first prize total of $20 million will be awarded to the team that is first to transmit high-definition video back from the Moon as its robot travels across at least 500 meters of the Moon’s surface.

The competition was first announced in September 2007 by the X Prize Foundation and sponsor Google. Now the final list of competitors has been announced and includes 29 teams from around the world, ranging from non-profit and university groups to large and well-funded business teams.

The winning team will need to complete its mission before December 31, 2015 to win the $20 million first prize ($15 million if the winning team is a government agency). Other prizes will be awarded for feats such as surviving the freezing lunar night or traveling five kilometers, for finding water, touching down near an Apollo landing site, and for “stimulating diversity” in space exploration.

Plans to transport the robotic vehicles to the Moon include US government-backed space agencies, private US agencies such as SpaceX, a company set up by Elon Musk, the founder of PayPal, and agencies in Russia, China, and elsewhere.

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-02-google-lunar-prize-competition-teams.html

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