Friday, September 14th, 2007...7:18 am
Google Gets Behind New Moon Landing
In news that will no doubt get NASA folk sweating a little, Google has announced they are offering a $20 million prize to the first private group to land an unmanned rover on the moon.
For a company that posted a first quarter profit of $3.66 billion, $20 million is a drop in the water, but it’s still nice to see that there is corporate interest in space exploration.
Nearly 40 years after the USA beat the Soviets to the moon Internet giant Google said Thursday it will give $20 million to the first private group to land a roving robot on the lunar surface — a prize likely to start a 21st-century space race.
The giant purse is being offered by the X-Prize Foundation, which awarded $10 million in 2005 to the first privately funded group to launch a human into space. (source)
With any luck we’ll see another person step foot on the moon in our lifetime.
Link: Google Lunar X-Prize
10 Comments
September 14th, 2007 at 8:37 am
Probably trying to get a commute system for their Lunar Office
September 14th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
HA! That’s brilliant *grin* I’m betting they were sat in the offices with a couple of potential clients, someone opened the first bottle of wine..
..3 hours later they’d been putting the world to rights and then the bet was laid that they could even out do NASA at a fraction of the cost..
Sounds like a fun night to me ;0)
September 14th, 2007 at 5:13 pm
It will work out to be an investment or some sort of write off…the numbers are no big deal.
I doubt that you can launch a private enterprise for that kind of money.
September 16th, 2007 at 3:31 am
What’s Google up to?
September 17th, 2007 at 7:42 am
It was all smoke and mirrors I tell ya!
September 17th, 2007 at 11:16 am
Here is a thought. If nanotechnology really kicks in, maybe someone can launch a miniature space program.
Then it could be done for less of an investment and make the prize worthtwhile.
September 18th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
What I’d really like to know is who’ll be the first fast food chain in space?
September 18th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
Mickey D’s is always first. It’s all about real estate and not the food.
November 18th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Between this and their investment in 23andMe, it’s staring to look like they’ve got everything from innerspace to outerspace covered!
November 25th, 2007 at 10:57 am
Does the Adsense program be valid to an “alien” publisher? lol
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