It鈥檚 been 36 years since NASA鈥檚 last Apollo lander left the moon鈥檚 surface. But while the agency鈥檚 plans to return humans to the moon remain confused, a pack of private teams are racing to send robots to kick up lunar dust and claim the $20-million announced nearly two years ago.
So far 19 teams have registered for the contest. To win, they must land a rover on the moon that will then drive 500 metres before turning to photograph its landing site 鈥� all before the end of 2012. The team that does it first will pick up $20 million. Second place will earn $5 million and a further $5 million in bonuses will be awarded for finding relics from past US or Soviet moon missions.
See a gallery showing some of the latest robotic moon rover prototypes
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Private affair
Like the Ansari X Prize for sending a human into space, the lunar contest is meant to stimulate commercial space exploration.
鈥淲hat we鈥檙e doing is a proof of concept: that this can be done, and for less than the government would pay for the same kind of mission,鈥� says Fred Bourgeois, head of , a Lunar X Prize competitor based in California.
The Google Lunar X Prize teams span more than 12 countries on three continents. They鈥檙e led by students, engineers, CEOs and entrepreneurs. Each has different strategies for flying to the moon, driving around once they get there and paying for it all.
Team Frednet has taken an open-source approach, meaning anyone can that is used for all the team鈥檚 business.
鈥淭he power of people collaborating is so much bigger than [that of] a small company hiring people to do the job,鈥� Bourgeois says. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 get the same calibre of people that you can by finding people who are really interested in it.鈥� (See an image of Team Frednet鈥檚 鈥渉amster ball鈥� rover prototype).
Other teams, like and the Romanian team , are trying whip up patriotism to give them a boost, although the contest鈥檚 rules ban governmental support.
Marketing the moon
Some teams are making technology that will have a use and a market beyond the contest. , based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has its sights set on the Apollo 11 landing site. 鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to create a robot that makes sense over the longer term so we can be part of the lunar frontier and help open it up,鈥� says David Gump, president of the team鈥檚 parent company, Astrobotic Technology.
Team Astrobotic plans to send its rover to see how the descent stage of the Apollo 11 lunar module looks after 40 years on the moon and so gain insights into how to design future lunar equipment. Astrobotic is also the only team so far to publicly set a launch date: 8 May 2011. (See an image of their rover prototype).
Most teams are relying on, or hoping for, private investment. But not , which is offering to take donors鈥� DNA to the moon for $10,000.
has a similar idea. It was founded a year before the X Prize competition and its leader Bob Richards says it aims to be 鈥渁 FedEx to the moon鈥�. He hopes people will pay to deliver things to the dusty lunar surface and expects consignments of plants and even . (See Odyssey Moon鈥檚 prototype hopper).
Geeky business
鈥淔or us it鈥檚 all about building a business case,鈥� Richards told New 杏吧原创. 鈥淲e鈥檙e pleased and proud to be the first registered team in the competition, but what鈥檚 driving us are the customers.鈥�
Bourgeois also thinks there鈥檚 money to be made from reaching the moon鈥檚 surface and plans to have people sponsor images sent back from Team Frednet鈥檚 lander. 鈥淲ouldn鈥檛 you like to have your name come back as 鈥楾his minute of moon video sponsored by鈥︹��?鈥� he asks. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just the geek value, you know?鈥�
See a gallery of images showing some of the latest prototypes from competing teams
