Been watching this for a little while, but we are (sort of) getting close to knowing who is in the race. To the moon.
Time is running out for the 16 teams entered into the Google Lunar XPRIZE, which requires entrants to land a small spacecraft on the surface of The Moon by the end of 2017. But now, eight years after the prize was announced, the competitors are beginning to show tangible signs of progress.
The objective is pretty straight forward (to describe, getting it done is the funner part).
To win the prize a team must land a privately funded rover on the Moon, have that vehicle travel 500 meters, and then transmit high definition video and images back to Earth. The first team to accomplish this wins $20 million
So we have a little time yet, but it is good to see reports of progress.
We are at the age where blokes like you and you can get a satellite into low earth orbit for the cost of a second hand motorbike, so getting a team to put a rover on the moon is a very cool challenge, and very doable.
Watch this space.
