Google sets its sights on the moon:
It has been many decades since we explored the Moon from the lunar surface, and it could be another 6 – 8 years before any government returns. Even then, it will be at a large expense, and probably with little public involvement. The Google Lunar X PRIZE seeks to create a global private race to the Moon that excites and involves people around the world and, accelerates space exploration for the benefit of all humanity. The use of space has dramatically enhanced the quality of life and may ultimately lead to solutions to some of the most pressing environmental problems that we face on earth – energy independence and climate change. The X PRIZE Foundation could think of no better sponsor and partner than Google. We share a common vision for opening frontiers and a belief that a small dedicated group of individuals can accomplish amazing feats at very low cost.
$20 million to the first private enterprise that can land a robotic rover on the lunar surface, send back images and data, and travel at least 500 meters–with more rewards if it can find artifacts from the early days of lunar exploration, when only the U.S. and Soviet governments could afford to send probes. The Apollo landings and the probes that preceded them were, to the X Prize managers, “Moon 1.0”–done by Cold War powers in an expensive rush, with no long-term plan to stay and mine the moon for whatever it had to offer. Now comes Moon 2.0.
So, in the absence of the Soviet Union, it seems there are three players in the new moon race: the United States, China, and Google.
