| Submit your comments on this article |
| Science |
| $25 Million in Prizes Is Offered for Trip to Moon |
| 2007-09-14 |
| Posted by:BrerRabbit |
| #4 Besides which, it is going to cost WAY more than $25 million to do this so the prize money is not the real motivation : it is just the tangible prize for the winner. The real prize will be the commercial spinoffs for the winner : tele-exploration of the Moon via a rover put there by private enterprise; tele-tourism of the Moon as above; government contracts to land items onto the Moon, and then onto Mars; etc. This prize is just a way to prime the pump of private space development - like the X Prize did for the LEO commercial market now being serviced by Virgin Spaceways. |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2007-09-14 22:34 |
| #3 IMO #2 is dead-on. The issue here is Rocket/Space Capitalism in parallel agendas, i.e. dev a cheap and affordable Earth-based George Jetson-style flying car versus beyond-Earth commercial civilian space travel, all outside of normal or heavy Govt control and subsidation. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-09-14 19:39 |
| #2 The challenge isn't in building the robot. The challenge is making a successful rocket that can put a payload on the moon within a decent budget. Can a plane launched rocket put a ten pound package on the moon? How big of a rocket would you need? |
| Posted by: Penguin 2007-09-14 13:35 |
| #1 Too bad Ralph Kramden died. He would have won this. |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2007-09-14 11:09 |