Google with $30M of prizes for rover moon landings

Google with $30M of prizes for rover moon landings

news.bbc.co.uk

Search giant Google is offering a $30m prize pot to private firms that land a robot rover on the Moon.

To claim the cash, any craft reaching the lunar surface must perform a series of tasks such as shoot video and roam for specific distances

Firms interested in trying for the prize have until the end of 2012 to mount their Moonshot.

(visit the link for the full news article)

This looks like a pretty cool competition, hopefully we'll see a lot of firms getting involved. And maybe one of them will catch video footage of the apparent mining facilities and other buildings that may inhabit the surface..

news.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

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]

reply to post by mad scientist


Exactly, it would cost way more just to get a rover there.

Why do we need rovers on the moon if we've already "been" there?

Peace

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]