Moon Express
THE deadline for the Google Lunar X Prize has been pushed back once again, from the end of 2017 to 31 March 2018.
The competition offers $30 million to the first privately funded venture to land a spacecraft on the moon. This is the third time its deadline has been extended since the prize was announced in 2007.
Competitors’ rovers have to explore at least 500 metres of the moon’s surface and send back high-definition images and video.
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Additional prizes have now been introduced, with cash up for grabs for those who do not quite complete the challenge.
The Lunar Arrival Milestone prize offers $1.75 million to spacecraft that either orbit the moon or try landing. The Soft Landing Milestone prize will award $3 million to any craft that successfully lands on the surface.
The original competition offered $20 million to the first company to reach the moon by 2012. The prize money has risen as the deadline has been extended.
This article appeared in print under the headline “Lunar delay”
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