GOOGLE LUNAR X PRIZE - The race to Land on Moon

[member_27862]

The Google Lunar XPRIZE, the largest international incentive based prize of all time, aims to do something we haven’t done as humanity since 1973, safely land on the surface of the Moon. More than half of the world’s population has never had the opportunity to view a live transmission from the lunar surface. The Google Lunar XPRIZE aims to create a new “Apollo” moment for this generation and to spur continuous lunar exploration with $40 Million in incentive based prizes. In order to win this money, a private company must land safely on the surface of the Moon, travel 500 meters above, below, or on the Lunar surface, and send back two “Mooncasts” to Earth. Teams may also compete for Bonus Prizes such as exploring lunar artifacts or surviving the lunar night, and can be awarded prize money earlier by completing terrestrial or in-space milestones. All of this must be completed by December 31, 2015. The race is on!

http://www.googlelunarxprize.org/

This competition is open to ONLY PRIVATE PLAYERS.......NOT governments and this is what makes it different!

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UPDATE on the competition

Adapted from - http://robohub.org/google-lunar-x-prize ... eam-indus/

The private space race is on! With the $40M at stake from the Google Lunar X Prize (GLXP) leading other private and pseudo-private investment, this is a real race. I, for one, love racing. By foot, by beast, or by vehicle, racing is such a pure contest — so thrilling to watch with its progress and reversals. And this is a race to the Moon! The finish line is on the Moon!! Everyone in the world whose heart is stirred by exploration and competition should be excited about this. We should be particularly excited about this at Robohub because this is the biggest ever private competition purse and it is for space robots!

Google_Lunar_X_Prize. The rules of the Lunar X Prize are that, to win the grand prize ($20M + bonuses), you must land on the moon before the end of 2015 and move at least 500 meters while sending back HD video. The second place team also gets a small prize and a shot at some of the bonuses. Additionally, there are some milestone prizes. In 2014, about $10M in prize money will go to teams that demonstrate a series of technical and team objectives here on Earth. I look forward to seeing those awards, because it will give us a better idea of who is ahead and whether launch dates tell the story.

To enjoy racing, you must be able to know who is ahead right now, but there is surprisingly little coverage of this event that gives a clear picture of which of the Lunar X Prize teams are on track to finish and who is leading. Since the key to this race is getting launched, my view is that whoever has a launch agreement this stage is a strong contender. So without further ado, here are my picks for the Google Lunar X Prize leader board:

GLXP-Leader-Board

Currently, according to the Google Lunar X Prize website, there are 20-odd teams that are still “Active.” Current leaders are Barcelona Moon Team and Astrobotic — they both claim booking on launch vehicles. Moon Express and Team Indus have made ambiguous statements about possibly having an identified launch vehicle. Other teams do not look to be far enough along to be seriously considering a launch before the end of 2015 — though I would be very happy to be wrong on this point.

[member_27862]

TEAM INDUS - The ONLY Indian Team in the Google Lunar X Prize Competition........

http://articles.economictimes.indiatime ... -isro-pslv
http://blog.teamindus.in/

[youtube]watch?v=xPdZmkl9XzQ&list=TLt97J1vs3kBVhQSz9mwujYPVSg1kClTA1[/youtube]

@ TI - Its like being the Aam Aadmi Party of the Space race..

[member_27862]

Team Indus has put their launch proposal to ANTRIX, the commercial arm of ISRO. The PSLV will be used to provide the Trans Lunar Injection (TLI) for the journey of the Lunar lander Bus codenamed HHK and then land the Moon rover which is codenamed ECA, on the lunar surface to meet the requirements of the prize.....

So the Chinese have recently landed with Change 3 on the moon.....the Team Indus mission can be an extension of an Indian mission to land on the lunar surface with the blessings of ISRO..........

[Neshant]

I really hope they succeed.

[member_27862]

Yes...but with a budget of about $ 30 million, the team is actually vamping for funds...I hope ISRO recognizes the spirit of the competition and helps Team Indus...

[Neshant]

I don't think ISRO is allowed to help. This competition is open only to the private sector, not the govt. The whole point of it is to spark innovation in the private sector for low cost space exploration & development.

Much of that 30 million would have to be paid to ISRO to launch their payload.

I really admire the b@lls on the guy who dares to dream such a big dream. Whether he makes it or not, he's got my respect.

[member_27862]

By help I mean that ISRO gives them a 'rebate' in the launch costs and accelerates their request by making available a launcher before the due date...BTW the PSLV cost is about 100 crore and the rest of the mission cost is about 50 crore.....

[SaiK]

i don't know about cost and rebates, but there are other things to consider.. insurance, gov approvals, etc.

[member_27862]

Also ISRO is focusing on the GSLV and all other missions are a nyet as of now.......maybe things will speed up after Jan fifth.....

[Neshant]

Chances of this going anywhere are low.

But if he manages to pull it off somehow, he definitely deserves to be the CEO of some company for daring to have such a vision and making it reality.

[vishvak]

Hopefully he could get some interesting tech too out of his vision and efforts, for later utility or commercial value as well.

[member_27862]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home ... 688173.cms

http://www.xprize.org/press-release/goo ... one-prizes

Team Indus is in the Top 3 teams in the Google Lunar X prize competition......Amazing!!!