Monday, February 25, 2008
We all know Google as the conqueror of the cyberspace. While at this point of time, the Google Inc. leads the search engine segment, it has also become a necessity on other platforms like applications, online advertisements, social networking, open source apps, etc. Also, when it comes to technologies like satellite imaging Google has left all the companies behind. It is also known for its concerns for the society and has emerged as a socially responsible company. Their philanthropic endeavors include creating systems to help predict and prevent disease pandemics, empowering the poor with information about public services, creating jobs by investing in small- and mid-size businesses in the developing world, accelerating the commercialization of plug-in cars and making renewable energy cheaper than coal. Now Google has announced a $30 million contest, in association with X Prize Foundation - a nonprofit organization that administers competitions to spur the development of technologies that aspire to solve dire problems around the world, to send a space craft to Moon and gather images and data from the moon to get insights into the solar system and also to find natural resources on the surface of moon to find alternative clean sources of energy. It has recently announced the 10 teams which would be participating in the contest, out of the 567 applicants that 'expressed interest' to participate in the contest. However, only these 10 applicants, till now, have been able to deposit the participation fees of $10000 and have been able to display the capability of making their spacecrafts functional. Another 10 - 20 teams are expected to join the league.The important feature of this contest is that the spacecraft is not going to be funded by Google. The participants will have to themselves build a self financed spacecraft. Google would only give a prize of $30 million to the team winning team whose spacecraft is expected to roam the lunar surface for at least 50 meters (164 feet) and transmit a specified set of images and data back to Earth.It is speculated that Google's spacecraft would land on the Moon in 2012, which is far ahead of NASA's anticipated space mission in 2020.
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