Google Goes to the Moon

If you can build an intelligent robot that can land safely on the moon and send back HD video by 2012, Google will give you $20 million. The search giant has partnered with the X Prize Foundation, which organizes contests around major technological breakthroughs, for its lunar challenge.

AP:

Google Inc. is bankrolling a $30-million contest that could significantly boost the commercial space industry and spur the first non-governmental flight to the moon.

Call it Moon 2.0. The bulk of the prize will go to the first private company that can land a robotic rover on the moon and beam back a gigabyte of images and video to Earth, the Internet search leader said Thursday.

Google partnered with the X Prize Foundation for the moon challenge, which is open to companies around the world. The Santa Monica-based nonprofit prize institute is best known for hosting the Ansari X Prize contest, which led to the first manned private spaceflight in 2004.

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