Welcome to Moon 2.0. Snip from announcement coverage at Wired News:
Google will award $30 million to the first private team to put a robot on the moon, the company and the X Prize Foundation announced at Wired NextFest in Los Angeles Thursday. Members of the public will also get the chance to send digital mementos to the moon. In this advance from the October issue of Wired magazine, contributing editor Spencer Reiss explains what's behind the Google Lunar X Prize, and what it will take to win it.Link, here's more about today's announcement.
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The "send digital mementos" linky no worky...
Where is the X-Prize for the 20,000 dollar carbon neutral house?
What I'd love to see is a permanent HD camera up there - looking back at us - with a dedicated link so we can all check in from time to time - like putting eyes on the woman in the moon.
"I can see my house from up here!"
Cheers.
Wait a minute, there are already robots on the moon. Ask Wallace and Gromit.
http://www.curzon.org.uk/images/AardmanMoonRobot.jpg
W&G would object that it's pointless to send a robot to the moon if it's not going to bring back any cheese.
Mmm, I could use a good Wensleydale right about now...
Excerpt from Gil Scott-Heron's "Whitey on the Moon:"
A rat done bit my sister Nell.
(with Whitey on the moon)
Her face and arms began to swell.
(and Whitey's on the moon)
I can't pay no doctor bills.
(but Whitey's on the moon)
Ten years from now I'll be payin' still.
(while Whitey's on the moon)
Taxes takin' my whole damn check,
Junkies make me a nervous wreck,
The price of food is goin' up,
An' as if all that shit wuzn't enough:
A rat done bit my sister Nell.
(with Whitey on the moon)
Her face an' arm began to swell.
(and Whitey's on the moon)
Was all that money I made last year
(for Whitey on the moon?)
How come there ain't no money here?
(Hmm! Whitey's on the moon)
Y'know I jus' 'bout had my fill
(of Whitey on the moon)
I think I'll sen' these doctor bills,
Airmail special
(to Whitey on the moon)
While the number of contestants will hardly compare to the number of people who pack landfills with empty plastic water bottles or plastic grocery bags, in a time where the earth's oceans and forests are becoming increasingly polluted, do we really want to set a new precedent by encouraging the accumulation of abandoned garbage on the moon? or does the contest also require that the robots clean-up after themselves and return to Earth or plunge into the sun after finishing their lunar mission?
I was going to suggest putting Keepon up there but the little guy would be lonely and have no music to dance to. That breaks my heart.
Don't forget that Jimmy Neutron sent his little robotic brother to live there!
Can we please stop abusing the number 2.0.
Unless your moon-bot can serve AJAX rendered rich user-generated content, I think you should leave 2.0 out of it.
They could send up a rhoomba vacuum and clean up the place. I hear the moon is really dusty.
I iz at yourz moonz, winning yar million$!
The wired site says it's 20 million, not 30 million. I think 30 would be better given how much further it is than 50km!
Just on a tangent, where does the use of "MM" to represent million come from, as in $30MM above. I only ever seem to see Americans doing it and mostly in reference to money amounts. Can anyone clear this up for me?
So the digital mementos are being sent on DVD. This begs the question: what DVD Region is the moon?
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Hey Google, the Moonrovers Prize was MY idea!!!
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Astonishing news.
$30 Million Dollar is kind of tempting, but still not enough to build, send and land something on the moon successfully.
Who ever wins the prize should do it quickly, because the Dollar is loosing ground to the Euro, so the $30 Mills are less ans less by every month.
Yours Sincerely.
wensleydale? oh no sir, that`s my name, mr. wensleydale.
Yeah, but it's an incentive for organizations that were thinking about doing something like that.