Five Google Lunar XPrize Teams Confirm They're Set For the Moon (cnet.com)

The Google Lunar XPrize (GLXP) teams are still soldiering on and, with the deadline now less than 12 months away, the XPrize Foundation has confirmed that five of those teams have signed launch contracts that that will allow them to launch to the moon by the end of the year. From a report on CNET: The GLXP is a $30 million purse of prizes open to independent teams from around the globe, with the overall goal of fostering the development of commercial space exploration. $20 million goes to the first team to successfully land a vehicle on the moon and then successfully cover a distance of 500 meters of lunar surface while streaming high-definition video back to the Earth. $5 million goes to the second team to do the same, while millions of dollars in other prizes are also up for grabs -- including bonuses for extra distance and visiting historic sites. The deadline? It currently stands at midnight, December 31 of 2017. Any team whose lander hasn't left the launchpad by then is automatically out of the running.

Comments

Re:Suprised

[Jodka]

I didn't think 30mil was enough money to entice the expenditures of space exploration...

Well that is a fascinating aspect of these X prize competitions, that the total amount of money and effort invested by the competitors and the quality of the best work produced is far greater than what could be purchased with the award money.

There must be some interesting lessons in the sociology and economics of that effect and perhaps some useful insights for managers there too.

That kind of thing has been going on at least since Stephenson's Rocket won the Rainhill Trials in 1829.

While I'm not exactly one of his biggest fans...

[Rei]

Neil deGrasse Tyson had an apropos tweet today:

In 1927 Lindbergh flew from NY to Paris. 45 yrs later, in 1972 we last walked on the Moon. 45 yrs later, in 2017 we we we