Friday, September 14, 2007

More Coverage of the Google Lunar X PRIZE Rollout

The coverage of the new prize is overwhelming ... see my earlier posts to get a sample. I'll give some more examples below.

The Planetary Society posts a supportive message on the Lunar X PRIZE. They note how well this effort ties into other lunar exploration efforts they've been following and even getting involved with. They emphasize their support for private lunar missions.

Unreasonable Rocket thinks the prize is too difficult for the incentive, and it may go unwon. There is controversy about the same question in discussions at sites like NASASpaceFlight.com. Hopefully a low-cost Lunar Lander Challenger like Unreasonable Rocket gets to take part in winning the prize using the foundation they've achieved already in rocketry. It certainly won't be easy, but that's why there's a prize.

PC Magazine has an article that gives you the basics about the prize. From the article:

'"Now you know we were serious when we introduced Google Moon, a few years ago," Larry Page told the crowd. "Science has a serious marketing problem, and I think this is the antidote."'
GearLog has a detailed account of the actual WIRED NextFest opening ceremonies, which includes the Google Lunar X PRIZE announcement. The start of the X PRIZE part is about half-way down the page, but the rest is interesting, too. There are comments on the prize rollout made by many people: NASA's Shana Dale, SpaceX's Elon Musk, Buzz Aldrin, Peter Diamandis, Google's Larry Page, James Cameron, and the X PRIZE Foundation's Bob Weiss. There's also an interview with Larry Page on the prize.

Here are some video words of support for the private Lunar X PRIZE from explorer and filmmaker James Cameron, as well as science fiction author and comsat visionary Arthur C. Clarke.

I should have checked at RLV News (as I usually do) first thing in the morning, because I see a lot more comments and discussions there. I could have just pointed you to some of the above links, too. Check them out because there are some there I haven't seen, or posted about, yet (and I'll have to head out soon):

Lunar Prize Follow-Up at RLV News

Reactions to the prize from several perspectives, also from RLV News. He takes apart some of the objections to the prize from on artcle.