Google Lunar X Prize

Most of us will have heard of the X Prize A US$10 million prize given to the first privately funded manned craft into space.

(There is no audio)

And when it was finally done......

How can you beat that?

Well.....

The X PRIZE Foundation and Google announced on the 13th of September the Google Lunar X Prize, a robotic race to the Moon to win a US $30 million prize purse. Private companies from around the world will compete to land a privately funded robotic rover on the Moon that is capable of completing several mission objectives, including roaming the lunar surface for at least 500 meters and sending video, images and data back to the Earth. Here is their promo it speaks for itself, I think.

Personal note: I can't believe that there has not been any (wo-)man on the moon in my lifetime, that means no one has been back in over 30 years. I wonder if the moon is going to be a bit like my new homeland Australia, left without being colonised for over a hundred years after the first Europeans laid eyes on it. The aboriginals made the right choice in making Australia their home over 40,000 years ago. Everyone recognizes Australia to be full of natural wonders and riches, now. What will we say in 40,000 years from now about the people that life on the moon? Or will we, ever....?