The Google Lunar X PRIZE is a $30 million international competition to safely land a robot on the surface of the Moon, travel 500 meters over the lunar surface, and send images and data back to the Earth. Teams must be at least 90% privately funded and must be registered to compete by December 31, 2010. The first team to land on the Moon and complete the mission objectives will be awarded $20 million; the full first prize is available until December 31, 2012. After that date, the first prize will drop to $15 million. The second team to do so will be awarded $5 million. Another $5 million will awarded in bonus prizes. The final deadline for winning the prize is December 31, 2014.
This is the perfect opportunity to get the creative juices flowing and spark some entrepreneurial spirit. Rockanomics.com readers are smart simply by virtue of being Rockanomics.com readers, so we know someone out there is up for the challenge. Below are some resources that might help. At this point it looks like there are about 20 teams registered to compete.