News Bytes Of the Week—Robot Race to the Moon

This article is about a contest where private companies are fighting for the Google Lunar X Prize. It is a $20 million dollar prize for the first privately owned spacraft that launches and lands on the moon. Then must rove on the lunar surface for at least 500 meters then transmit video and pictures back to Earth. If no one completes the mission by the year 2012, the prize is reduced to $15 million. The contest closes by the year 2014.

I think that this is a great idea because it shows that companies can make their own launch sites and robots in order to do this. Maybe then the Government will realize that other people are capable of doing the kinds of things. On the other hand I think that the $20 million could be used for something else like feeding starving children across the world instead of redoing something that has been done already.