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X Prize Foundation Announces Lunar Lander Competitors
Raver32 writes to tell us the X Prize Foundation has announced eight of the nine groups planning to compete in this year's Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge. "The ninth team requested to remain confidential, lending an air of controversy to the announcement. Space bloggers have surmised the ninth team is Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, but sources told SPACE.com that information was wrong. Their confidentiality period ends 60 days before the start of the competition at which time the X Prize Foundation will announce the team's name."
Well one of the major reasons Burt Rattan won the previous challenge was because Paul Allen bankrolled the whole thing to the point where the prize fund became irrelevant. Whether this was out out curiosity to see it does or as potential investment or both I dont know.
Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
What truth?
There is no dupe
And where are they going to launch these craft? Not in the USA.... Bob Bigelow had to take his launch to Russia.
WHat's silly about this kind of "post" is that you and I and every slashdotter out there can put forth our pearls of 'wisdom' without reading the article.
I agree some of those are a bit off in popular thought, but check this list out http://www.thespaceplace.com/nasa/spinoffs.html for a list of NASA Spin-offs and space benefits.
I really think that one of the best things from a space program is not any product, it's the realization of a vision. When a generation realizes that even something like the moon or planets is within our grasp, it's awe-inspiring and creates a positive in a world full of negatives. It gets people to believe in their dreams and aspire to be more than just another drone in society.
-=JML=-