Friday, June 20, 2008

Race to the moon, Google style

Since the Anasari X Prize went over well, I'm thrilled to see Google jump into the mix and offer $20 million to whomever can get a rover to the moon, have it move around, and send back some info by the end of 2012. Even better:
"One of the main requirements is to have as little government involvement in the project as possible."
Someone pinch me.

There are 13 teams currently going after the prize, but they expect the number to grow to 25. Would you rather have 25 companies trying to get there or one government?

Great news. In the coming years, expect outrageous statistics about how much more cheaply, efficiently, and just downright better the private sector can put a vehicle on the moon compared to the public sector.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm rooting for Team Italia to get a Ferrari-based rover on the moon.

Will Luther said...

My guess is that all of those new stats would NOT lead to a smaller NASA budget. In fact, we might even hear a "we need more money to compete" argument, as is usually the case w/ gov programs.