Fly Me to the Moon!

Google is hoping to inspire private space exploration by ponying up $30 million to fund the X Prize Foundation’s latest challenge, the Google Lunar X Prize, which tasks entrants with building and launching an unmanned lunar rover. Google will give $20 million to the first group to land a craft on the moon that can roam
500 meters and transmit a video back to Earth. It will kick in another $5 million if the team completes additional tasks such as photographing man-made objects or discovering water or ice. If your team is slow to launch, don’t worry. The second-place fi nisher will pocket $5 million, but you’d best get to work; the grand prize drops to $15 million after December 31, 2012 and the competition ends on December 31, 2014.

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