IT'S prize money without the prize. The Google Lunar XPrize, a competition designed to encourage private space flight to the moon, has awarded a total of $5.25 million in to five competing teams. The money is intended to help them get off the ground, after the XPrize Foundation repeatedly pushed back the deadline from the original date of 2012.
Astrobotic, based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania received $1.75 million for developing technology for imaging, mobility and landing. Four other teams picked up prizes in one or two of these categories.
The actual XPrize of $20 million is for the first team to successfully land on the moon, travel 500 metres and beam images back to Earth – supposedly before the end of 2016. "Clearly it's very hard to do, but they've not stopped working," says Bernard Foing of the International Lunar Exploration Working Group.
This article appeared in print under the headline "Moon milestones"
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