Two Google XPrize Competitors Team Up For Moon Landing Alliance

[Buster's Uncle]

Two Google XPrize Competitors Team Up For Moon Landing Alliance
With $20 million on the line, making friends might be the best strategy.
Popular Mechanics
By David Grossman  Dec 20, 2016 



Indian Space Research Organization



Two teams competing for the Google Lunar XPRIZE have decided to join forces, signing a rideshare partnership agreement to get their respective lunar rovers on the same rocket to the moon.

Team Indus of India and team HAKYTO of Japan will share a ride to the moon on a tried and true PSLV rocket, developed and launched by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). "We're proud to verify HAKUTO's launch agreement and are pleased to see two Google Lunar XPRIZE teams collaborating on this mission to the moon," Chanda Gonzales-Mowrer, a senior director at Google Lunar XPRIZE, said in a statement. "The purpose of this prize was, in part, to foster collaboration in the private sector and this is a great demonstration of teams coming together in the next giant leap in space exploration."

The Lunar XPRIZE is a global competition to land on the moon with a privately-funded spacecraft, get it to travel 500 meters (1,640 feet), and transmit high-definition video and images back to Earth before December 31, 2017. Google is offering a $20 million to the first team to pull it off, $5 million to the second team, and $5 million more to be awarded for a unique scientific achievement, such as visiting an Apollo site.

"The Google Lunar XPRIZE has always pushed us beyond our limits" said Takeshi Hakamada, the team leader of HAKUTO. "We will continue to challenge ourselves next year and choose an optimal path to reach the Moon."

They're facing stiff competition. The Israeli team SpaceIL has already booked its flight on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The American team Moon Express will fly on a Rocket Lab Electron rocket, and the international team Synergy Moon has secured a NEPTUNE 8 rocket. It remains to be seen who will achieve liftoff first.

Getting a ticket to the moon has proven just as difficult as building a lunar rover for many teams. German team Part-Time Scientists announced they have also secured a rocket, but it has not yet been verified by the XPRIZE committee. Team Indus and HAKYTO made that part of the challenge a little easier by booking a rocket flight together. May the best rover win.


http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/moon-mars/a24435/google-xprize-competitors-team-up-moon-landing/