Article

2007-09-14 Science

$25 Million in Prizes Is Offered for Trip to Moon

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by BrerRabbit 2007-09-14 07:34|| || Front Page|| [3 views ] Top

#1 Too bad Ralph Kramden died. He would have won this.

Posted by Jack is Back!">Jack is Back! 2007-09-14 11:09|| 2007-09-14 11:09|| Front Page Top

#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|| 2007-09-14 13:35|| Front Page Top

#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|| 2007-09-14 19:39|| Front Page Top

#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|| 2007-09-14 22:34|| Front Page Top

23:59 Red Dawg
23:50 JosephMendiola
23:27 Zenster
23:25 Zenster
23:22 Mike
23:19 Zenster
23:15 Zenster
23:11 Zenster
23:06 Beau
22:59 Zenster
22:56 Pappy
22:56 Zenster
22:56 lotp
22:44 Zenster
22:39 Pappy
22:34 Shieldwolf
22:29 Zenster
22:24 Frank G
22:24 JosephMendiola
22:17 Zenster
22:15 Frank G
22:05 Zenster
22:01 JosephMendiola
21:21 lotp