The next visitor to the moon may not be human, and it may carry the flag of a corporate entity, not that of a country. Google has decided to start a space race of its own, and it only pertains to non-governmental agencies. This private space race is offering $20 million to the first team that can land a rover on the moon, roam at least 500 meters, and send back pictures and other data of its travels. Oh, and it must do all of this by the last day of the year 2012.

If no entity does it by the end of 2012, the prize drops to $15 million, and is removed entirely by the end of 2014. Clearly, Google wants some results in a hurry.

The spokesperson for Google has stated that much has been accomplished by the governments of the world, but the company that launched Froogle thinks it can get a better value from the private sector. It expects the Lunar X Prize to start a new era in space exploration.

Currently, thirteen teams are involved in the competition, but Google expects that number to double soon.

from CNN

“What I think this prize is really about is inspiring young minds and inspiring the global population to compete for a dream,” Montague said.

‘Garage bands’ of space exploration

There are 13 teams officially competing in the race, but the X Prize Foundation expects that number to grow to about 25. The multinational lineup includes Americans, Italians, Romanians and a “mystery team,” which can hide its identity until July 20, 2009, under the rules.  See photos of the teams and their rover concepts »

The competitors include university scientists, business people, engineers, robotics experts and even students.

Ramsey said all of the teams are considered serious contenders, but not all of them are expected to be able to complete the task.

“I liken our teams to the garage bands of the space exploration world,” she said. “These are the people who have a dream, who have a passion, who have the knowledge and ability and the drive, and they think they can do this. So we’re giving them the opportunity.”

The teams face a number of daunting tasks, including figuring out how and where to launch, designing a craft that can complete the journey and making sure it can execute a required “soft landing.”

“The craft has to alight on the moon a little like you’d expect an insect or a bird to land here on Earth, and it means that you can’t impact or crash into the surface at high speed,” said Red Whittaker, chairman and CEO of Astrobotic Technology, one of the teams competing for the prize.

Once they land, the rovers must be ready to cope with extreme conditions. Whittaker listed a vacuum environment, radiation, temperature extremes and soft terrain as some of the special challenges of the lunar landscape.

So all you ‘astronaut farmers’ out there should ‘get your ships together’ and begin the run for the cash – remembering al along that if successful, the Google cash will be but a drop in the bucket!

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