Who will become the first private entity to land a robot on the moon?
This question will soon be answered as the race to become the first private entity to land a robot on the moon is down to just five. As reported in the Mother Nature Network, the field of 32 has been whittled down to just five. The finalists were announced Tuesday and they are scheduled to have launches this year.
The winner of the competition needs to land their rover on the moon by Dec. 31, 2017. They must also be able to explore at least 500 meters of the moon's surface and transmit high-definition videos and images back to earth. The first team to successfully complete the requirements of the competition will win $20 million. The second team gets $5 million while the remaining $5 million will be bonus cash for additional missions such as landing on Apollo sites.
The journey to the finals was not easy for the five remaining competitors. First, they had to secure launch contracts with space agencies before the end of 2016. Likewise, they had to design and build original spacecraft and meet flight regulations.Only 5 of the 32 contestants were able to satisfy the requirements.
The competition started in 2011 with 32 teams and it is now down to just five. According to the website of Smithsonian Mag, the prize is part of an attempt to open the moon to private exploration, which has long been overdue.
As reported by Motherboard, the aim of the Lunar XPrize was to promote innovation in the global space community. As mentioned, the winners of the contest will have an opportunity to implement different lunar exploration strategies and goals. The aim of the event is to encourage low cost means of robotic space exploration. The contest was started in 2007 by the nonprofit company XPrize.
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