I read in the article http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/22/business/22space.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin, that Google is sponsoring a competition to get robots to the moon with $30 million in prizes for the winning teams. The competition is called Google Lunar XPrize. There are ten teams participating including 5 different countries. The first one to get their robot to the moon, to send images and other information back to the earth, to travel 500 meters and send another data package and then returns to the earth will win the XPrize of $20 million. However, the task of building and reaching the moon will be very pricey in itself, costing more money then the overall prize money.
It has been over three decades since the last Apollo astronauts roamed the lunar surface so Google's mission with this competition is to recreate interest in moon exploration and beginning an age of space commerce. To encourage even more exploration, there are bonuses for teams that discover new things or find lunar ice. Google is also making sure that this is done without delay by reducing the prize once it gets to 2012. This is a very interesting subject that Google has decided to push for. I wasn't able to figure out if they had a specific reason to be supporting space exploration.
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