To The Moon Alice

The X-Prize is back. It was announced a month ago, so you probably should've already heard that Google has upped the stakes. If you are the first group to land a rover on the moon which can then travel 500 meters while sending high definition images back to earth, you will win $25 million USD. An additional $5 million is reserved for extra credit such as traveling 5,000 meters or surviving a lunar night.

This prize, like the Ansari prize before it, has captured a large number of competitors eager for the publicity and global recognition. I don't think anyone is in it for the money. The problem being that it will cost more than $25 million to win the prize.

This guy did an analysis of the average cost of launching the shuttle into space. In order to place the shuttle in low orbit it costs $20 million. The shuttle weighs a lot more than the rover needed, but the moon is also a lot further away. This also doesn’t include R&D, the rover, and the active hovering mechanism needed to land. All together I figure a successful venture will run about $30 million.

Of course, this is using traditional launch mechanisms. One interesting idea is to travel the first 26 miles by balloon.