I don't know if 30 million would even begin to cover the costs of R&D. I will be curious to see how many companies attempt it.

w00t!



Wish i was smarter... Score anotehr one for google

[edit on 13-9-2007 by blowfishdl]

Originally posted by Dr Love
Why do we need rovers on the moon if we've already "been" there?

Lets see....Google owner has more money than he could spend in 100 lifetimes and wants to fulfill nutty ideas.

Next!

Alright then, how 'bout offering to reimburse the cost of said mission if successful?

Peace

Originally posted by mad scientist
I don't know if 30 million would even begin to cover the costs of R&D. I will be curious to see how many companies attempt it.

Well considering that it is rumored that Paul Allen put in as much as 4 times the amount of the prize amount for the original XPrize, I think the prize money is definitely worth it, considering that such a company will be developing capabilities that no other company has without government funding and assistance. That in of itself is worth much more then the cash money. Imagine for a second that the average multiple is 4x for the winner, so that would make it a cost for a guaranteed winner of around 120 million. If they can keep it under or around that amount of money then it'll be worth it.

I guess it's a bit of a bonus, but what comes after is the real icing on the cake. I can see followup prizes for the first to setup a proof of concept commercial mining facility on the moon, as well as the first to successfully remotely smelt it into raw materials and eventually the first to actually manufacture stuff on the moon. I guess then after that prizes won't be necessary as it will already have a momentum all of its own. It'll be really funny if the private sector beats NASA to the moon!

[edit on 14-9-2007 by sardion2000]

[edit on 14-9-2007 by sardion2000]