Google: Put a rover on the moon, win $30 million

I'm on it.

*runs out to the garage, grabs some wood and nails, and starts hammering*

Prrkitty wrote:http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/09/13/google.moon.prize.ap/index.html

Ok which one of you young'uns is gonna win/earn this? I thought we already had pictures of the moon...

It's not so much that they want pictures of the moon, rather it's about private people or entities putting a spacecraft on the moon and then getting data back from it. Something like this means that eventually private companies could open the way for the exploration of space independent of NASA or other government agencies. Something like that has both it's pros and it's cons.

Could it also mean getting maybe closer to our habitation of the moon as well?

Hope so. I have a few people that I wouldn't mind sending there.

I wonder how much prize money would be left over after the cost of building the damn thing is factored in?

Didn't the rocket that was sent to space cost only $1 million? If it costs only that, then that's $29 million in profits. Not too bad.

Riverman wrote:I wonder how much prize money would be left over after the cost of building the damn thing is factored in?

If it goes anything like the X Prize (for a private agency to put a vehicle in space) the companies will even spend more than the prize to be the ones to win the prize. I'd like to see these private companies show NASA how to build thing cheaper and better.