Google puts up cash for moon race

Many of us have entertained a secret desire to explore other planets.  But the idea of going through all that training to become an astronaut is pretty daunting.  One company, Google to be exact, found a way around that problem.  Instead of trying to get to the moon themselves, they've just put up a ton of cash to encourage others to do the job for them.

A total of $30 million is at stake for any privately-funded company that can manage to land a robot on the moon and take a look around.  The main prize is $20 million and requires that the winning company not only land, but also that they explore at least 500 meters of the surface and that they relay some video back home to Earth to prove it.  The second company to pull off the same feat gets $5 million.  In addition, Google is offering up a few bonuses for those that can complete certain tasks, such as finding evidence of previous moon missions, traveling more than three miles across the surface or finding sources of water.  Currently, 25 companies are putting together programs to earn one or more of the offered prizes.

Though the actual cost of landing a robot on the moon will certainly exceed $30 million, the offer that Google makes is still a good motivator.  In addition to seeking out cheaper ways to accomplish the task set before them, companies will be very much interested in checking out the moon’s mining potential (as they've already stated).  The $30 million is just an added bonus to these much more profitable ventures.

They only have until 2015 to get it done, however, so the rush is on.  I for one am very interested to see how many companies finish what they start and, perhaps even more importantly, whether they make any astounding technological advances in the process.  Moon bases and mining robots, here we come.

Google Moon Logo courtesy of M.t.lifshits via Wikicommons