Google backs private Moon landing, Google is offering a $30m prize pot to private firms that land a Options

[SkyeLab]

FROM: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6993373.stm


Firms interested in trying for the prize have until the end of 2012 to mount their Moonshot

Anyone fancy a crack at this?

Cheers

Brian

[AscendingNode]

So google will give $20 million to the first private company to land on the moon, rove 500 m and return 'mooncast' video. see here: http://www.googlelunarxprize.org/lunar/com...tion/guidelines

So am I the only one to which this prize money seems like way to little to cover the cost of such a thing. At that pice you probably couldn't afford a launch vehicle and would have to launch piggy-back with another satellite... so you would have to get out of whatever orbit the piggy-back launch put you in and get to the moon... which probably would require electric propulsion. And you would still need chemical propulsion to be able to land. So that's two prop systems _and_ some way to locomote after you land _and_ you have to send back high def video (lots of power and lots of ground station fees).

It seems like for this to work you'd have to already have your own launch vehicle and tracking network all built and paid for... but the prize is only for a 100% private venture, so you coucldn't even use a donated vehicle or tracking.

Did they even think this through before they announced it? what am I missing?